by J R Davis
Over the course of the next few minutes, I had drained most of my mana, having to resort to running and punting the rabbits when the opportunity presented itself, which only did about 8 damage per kick, but they deserved the disrespect. The two that ended up surviving my gorilla style attack patterns were following me all over the damn field. My mana just barely recovering enough to use one last another Dark Orb. Just as I was about to cast the spell, the intended target jumped at me for an attack. With Half reflex half sheer panic, I yanked my staff to intercept and managed to hit the critter point-blank.
You have hit Field Rabbit with Dark Orb for 32 Dark magic damage.
Field rabbit defeated, you gain 51 experience.
With its other compatriots gone, the last rabbit looked significantly less menacing. Which, for a rodent, looking menacing at all was an accomplishment. I smugly walked up to the rabbit with but a sliver of health left, reared back my leg, and punted the fucker halfway across the field, ending the little bastards reign of terror. Overall, the whole experience only got my exp bar up about 40% which was not too bad. The drops of rabbit fur and meat were also welcome. The only issue being, that given the chuckling I heard from behind me, someone had apparently witnessed my struggle with the hoppers.
Turning around I took notice of a rather large man with a bemused expression on his face. He was tall, about 6’3 and built like a tank with long red hair braided at the back. He also sported a thick beard, looking like he could have been a Viking if not for the bear pelt cowl and what looked like an animal tribal necklace around his neck. Save for that, he was bare-chested, a perfect portrait of one of those "man's man".
“I’m just surprised the wee ones gave you such trouble” he responded, chuckling.
“Well, if you would like to show this feeble magician how it's done...” I trailed off as I gestured to another 3 rabbits, a sly grin clear on my face. If this guy thinks he’s all that, better see what he can do.
“Well, I’d hate to disappoint you.” he said, then cracked his knuckles, making his way over to the mob.
As he approached, the rabbits took notice of him, fur bristling, readying themselves for battle. It was then that he glanced back at me, winked, and then something odd began to happen. His figure began to change, shifting and becoming larger and furrier. Within seconds a large grizzly bear stood where he just was, a towering figure of intimidation. The bear then inhaled deeply, letting out a ground-shaking roar. What was odd though, was that the rabbits didn’t run away, they seemed to all target him and rush in. It must have been a taunt skill, I mused to myself. The bear then proceeded to swipe, bite, and stomp the mobs until they were all wiped out, seemingly taking little to no damage. Afterward, the large bear trotted back towards me and shifted back into the man.
“That, is how it's done," he said smugly. Names Ogma O’Sullivan, must have been unBEARable to have them give you the runaround, perhaps you need a tank? I joined the game with a couple buddies of mine, so you're welcome to join if you don’t mind some ballbusting here and there. Judging from the dark magic you use, I’m guessing you are some kind of ranged dark magic class and those are usually pretty handy to have around.” He said with a wide grin.
So, this Ogma guy basically scouted me to be pulled into his party. I could always use a meat shield, I mused. Besides, these kind of games are always better with a group for dungeons and stuff. The benefits clearly outweigh the risks.
“Alright,” I said as I put out my hand, “names Robin Graves.” A shit-eating grin appeared on Ogma’s face as he grabbed my outstretched hand and shook it with an iron grip.
“Pleasure's mine, and uhh..nice choice of a name there," he said while chuckling. Damn thing was so powerful I got a -1 health notification in the battle log, hell.
“Where are these other members,” I asked, glancing around the area and seeing not a single person.
“Oh, bear with me a second," Ogma said, his eyes going distant for a second. "Map says they are a bit closer to the town, just outside the gate. Something tells me my sister is messing with the guards”.
“How would she be doing that?” I asked, curiosity written on my face as we made our way over.
“Well” Ogma mused “she is our resident edge-lord and thief so I would imagine she is testing out the limits of her Sneak Skill. Hopefully, Okane can keep her in line.”
Getting closer to the main gate, I saw what looked to be someone in dark brown clothing with a hood trying to shoot rocks at the guards without them noticing. The guards themselves visibly restraining themselves as someone, whom I could only assume was Okane, tried to placate them. Wait, was he trying to bribe the guards? I wonder how effective that would be here. The man was decently tall, from what I could tell, short brown hair, wearing what I could understand to be some light leather armor around his torso. He seemed to be trying to offer them money or something to look the other way. Pretty ballsy for what I could only presume was still a low-level character, so what he could even have to offer is beyond me.
As we approached the new party members, it seemed as if Okane had succeeded in placating the guards. “So, What did you offer them,” I asked. “I couldn’t help but notice your little wheeling and dealing there,” I said, mouth angled at a smirk. Okane let out a smug grin. I took a second to take in his appearance, standing at around 5’10” with short brown hair and a latin accent.
“Well, it cost me a little outside of some pretty words If you play the fool, the NPC’s will usually overlook this kind of stuff. I told them that she was simply testing out her new skills against a strong opponent and that being a traveler takes some time to adjust to our new bodies here and that Morrigan meant no real harm” he said while gesturing to the thief to our left, a woman seeming to be around 5’9” with wavy black hair that swept down to her shoulder blades. “Speaking of which, who might you be?”
“ I'm Robin” I replied in a casual tone “your resident necromancer and future dark lord”.
Okane chuckled, “Well the robe and staff do give off that ominous vibe, man.” Ogma then put his arms around the three of us, grinning widely.
“I figured we could use us some DPS, and rabbit slayer over here seemed to fit the bill,” (DPS meaning Damage Per Second) he said and chuckled. “You have met Okane, our resident merchant, and Morrigan here, is my sister. I would say don’t try anything funny with her but, frankly, I’d find it entertaining if you tried.”
I glanced over at Morrigan, who simply smirked and pulled back her thief’s coat revealing twin daggers.
“Try me.” she said in a coy voice.
“Well, introductions aside, why don’t we test out this party comp eh?” I said rhetorically. “So, we got a tank, two DPS between myself and daggers over here, and we have a merchant. What exactly does a merchant do?" I asked, looking a bit skeptical.
Okane smiled, “Well, better to ask what I can’t do. As a Merchant, I do have the wheeling and dealing you would imagine, but the class also has other perks in combat. I have attacks that scale with the amount of money and depending on my carts weight.”
“What do you mean carts weight? I don't see anything." I asked.
“Give me a second,” Okane said as his eyes went distant as Ogma’s had previously. A second or two later, a small pull car appeared behind him. Okane then proceeded to walk around as the cart followed behind him in close proximity. Okane grinned and slapped the cart, “this baby can fit so much stuff in it!”
“Ok, but what else can it do?” I asked, mild annoyance in my tone. I was a bit skeptical about what some pull along cart could do in battle.
“Well, since you asked so nicely,” Okane said as he took a very ominous pause. He then proceeded to grab the personal cart by its handles and swing it almost effortlessly in my direction.
The cart came to me at dizzying speeds full-on. Smacking me and knocking me back a few feet. The system log showing what had happened in the lower-left corner of my vision. You have been hit by Cart Dest
ruction for 15 Damage, you are now dazed for 5 seconds.
My head was spinning, and after a few stumbling attempts I saw that I couldn’t get up. The world shaking in my vision. In the upper left corner of that vision was a small icon of a head with a dizzy symbol above it. Huh, so that's how status effects work in this game. It feels so real, not that I have been smacked with carts frequently in my childhood. After the counter for the status effect blinked out, I slowly got back up.
“Sorry there guy, I made sure to lessen the weight in the cart, so the damage should have been minimal,” said Okane, slight abashed.
“Damn, if that was a light tap, I’d hate to see you hit with a full cart," I said as I rubbed my arm. My HP was recovering slowly, which was pretty good. Not that I was a fan of being in the game for less than a few hours and having already gotten smacked by players and monsters alike. I hadn’t even gotten the chance to get some of the sweet sweet necromancy skills to back up my orb game yet.
“I take it you don’t doubt my clearly elevated fighting prowess then?” asked Okane, clearly enjoying himself.
Yeah, yeah, you got me there, but let's stop with the smash the necromancer thing while we are ahead, already dealt with that enough with the rabbits” I said and we both chuckled. “Speaking of rabbits, why don’t we strut our stuff and go tackle some mobs?”
Chapter Two
A battle between packs
Ogma took the lead as we made our way out into the field once more.
“What exactly do you have in mind?” I asked. I was l wondering what exactly the guy would consider a good challenge for the group.
“Well, I was thinking that rabbits are a bit too easy for our jolly group, so why don’t we try a little something else, like say...wolves?” Ogma stated matter of factly.
That didn’t sound like a bad idea, so I gave a curt nod and we moved forward. As we made our way through the fields passing players and monsters alike, Okane casually spoke about their ventures thus far. Apparently, the group started as beta players and as such were able to carry over a few perks from playtesting the game. For example, they got to keep some items and what levels or skills they had acquired. The window for such was small though so they were only around level 3-4 each. Apparently, I missed some good loot for not getting my stuff sooner. Still, I was just hyped to be in here and potentially have some gaming buddies in this new venture.
After about 20 minutes of walking, at the edge of my vision, I could see a forest. Large trees grew to ungodly heights. The brush in the area was also thick and provided good cover.
Ogma stopped walking, spinning around on his heel and proclaimed, “This is where we make our stand! There are wolves in these parts. They are strong, sneaky, and they work as a team, which makes it perfect for us to learn to do the same.” Ogma said as he folded his arms and gave a knowing grin.
“What level are these suckers,” I asked, looking around for signs of the mob.
“They range from about lvl 4 to lvl 6 from what I have seen thus far” Ogma stated. “It's the scouts that are lower and as we get real attention, expect to see more. What we will do is, I’ll take the aggro in bear form, Okane and Morrigan will flank the enemy while trying to give you some cover. You, on the other hand, hit em with all you got!” With that, Ogma turned around, his form growing and changing shape.
In mere moments, the man who stood there was gone, being replaced by a large bear.
“Here comes the fun part,” Morrigan said with a giddy expression. Ogma let out a giant roar, the projection intimidating enough to even make me flinch a little. The landscape then grew quiet, save for the sound of birds fleeing their treetop homes. It was at that moment, that as the birds were fleeing a lone wolf could be seen in the distance. At the edge of the forest, it stood watching us intently. After assessing us for a few moments, it too let out a howl. Suddenly, various patches of grass began to rustle as the wolf's compatriots howled their responses in the distance. Their mostly hidden forms moving into position for an attack.
“They are going to look for openings, don’t give them any.” Ogma’s ordered in my mind.
“Whoa, I yelled, what was that!?”.
“Party chat uses telepathy” Okane stated matter of factly. “It works quite well in that no one will know our plans but us. Just think of the response you want and will it to the party, we will hear you”.
“Fair” I responded to him mentally, trying to adjust to the new information. “I don’t have any usable skills or spells at the moment save for Dark Orb but Expect some spell flinging.” I didn’t bring much to the table at this level, but I wasn’t exactly planning on rolling over either.
“Just make sure not to hit me with any unless you want a knife in the kidney,” Morrigan responded.
“Uhh, she's kidding right?” I asked nervously. “I prefer my bodily fluids stay in their respective sacks and or pouches.” There was no time for a response though as it was at that moment that the wolves charged in.
Twin trails could be seen weaving through the grass at high speeds. The top of the wolves backs barely visible as they made their way towards us. Simultaneously, the wolves emerge from the brush, lunging at Ogma. His bear form smacked one wolf mid leap and send it sprawling to the ground, tearing up grass as it clawed to maintain balance. The 1 remaining wolf sunk its teeth into his arm. Ogma’s hp bar only dropping a sliver for the wolf’s efforts. The wolf held fast to Ogma as he raised his arm high above the ground. Ogma then proceeded to slam the wolf to the ground, the sudden impact stunning the wolf, its jaw releasing him. Ogma’s fur now sporting a red patch of fur for its efforts.
With two prone targets shown, the rest of us acted fast. Okane rushed to the stunned wolf from the left flank, lifting his cart effortlessly and slamming it into the side of the wolf, sending it rolling. It let out a loud yip as its body slid from the impact, shocking it out of its stun. At the same time, Morrigan managed to get a double stab with her daggers on the other wolf while its attention was on Ogma. Her form simply flickered and suddenly both her daggers had been deeply sunk into the unsuspecting wolf's back. She then proceeded to repeatedly stab the now prone target until it snapped back at her, forcing Morrigan to jump out of its reach.
Seeing that Morrigan had everything under control, I focused my efforts on Okane’s target. Getting into range, I raised my staff, aiming the tip at the downed wolf. After a moment's channeling, I fired a Dark Orb directly at it. As the ball impacted, it splashed onto the wolf, smoke seeping into its fur.
You hit wolf scout for 35 dark damage.
I kept channeling, releasing volley after volley as The wolf scrambled to its feet, baring its fangs at me. It was at this moment when Okane pulled out an axe, brandishing it at the wolf. Seeing it was outnumbered, the wolf attempted to fall back and regroup. So much for mindless mobs, these things are clearly thinking. Rough part though is while Okane’s wolf managed to escape, Morrigan’s was clearly having trouble between the thief and the large bear. Ogma and Morrigan kept themselves positioned so that one was always in the front and the other behind the wolf, not allowing it a chance to escape or get its bearings. While Ogmas large bear swipes were powerful, they were not as fast as the smaller wolves reflexes. Issue being, when one would attack, the other would plan to engage at the spot the wolf retreated to, never letting it fully disengage us.
Seeing this dance between my teammates and the wolves, I channeled and shot a few Dark Orbs at the remaining wolf. While the first one missed, as the wolf bobbed and weaved, my second orb landed right on its hind left leg. It let out a yip as the dark magic crippled its hind leg, dealing 40 magic damage on impact. It was then that Ogma mentally commanded us to stand clear.
“This is going to hurt if you get caught in the AOE!” Meaning the Area Of Effect, he raised his bear claw above his head, the wolf directly below him, attempting to get away, but to no avail. Ogma’s already intensified eyes and raised claw glowed a crimson haze as his claw descended onto the wolf, slam
ming into it and leaving a small indentation into the ground where the wolf was.
The wolf laid still, defeated, my notifications for the battle blinking in the corner of my vision.
You have defeated 1 wolf scout, experience 160.
This brought me up to 87% experience, which was by no means bad. Still, we had little time to celebrate, as the primary force of the pack descended upon us.
The one surviving wolf had regrouped with its leader, using the distraction of Ogma’s AOE to get away. The leader now seeing the shape of its subordinate decided to join the battle as well. It let out a piercing howl, which noticeably healed the remaining beaten scout and bolstered its defenses. After such, the lead wolf rushed down the field, the scout following in suit as well as two larger wolves that had remained hidden in the brush. Perhaps they were the damage dealers of the group. Frankly, I’d rather not test how my robes armor stands up against those fangs.
“Five wolves ...five freaking wolves, are you kidding me?” Okane exclaimed.
“Well, at least while your corpse is distracting them, we can finish them off.” Morrigan replied in amusement.
“I find your lack of faith in Okane to be unBEARable, sister” Ogma chimed in with a mental chuckle. The other two groaned over Ogmas wordplay.
Great, I thought, this is the group I am stuck with while fighting a literal pack of wolves, good stuff.
This time the wolves didn’t simply rush in. They drew close, attempting to encircle us as the leader challenged Ogma, baring its fangs. Ogma again letting out his taunting skill on the group yet it seemed to take no effect. They must have resisted the taunt due to the leaders buff. This was going to be rough then.
“The taunt isn’t working” Ogma mentally yelled. “Fall into a defensive position, protect our squishy!”
“On it,” replied Morrigan as she took position parallel to Ogma, with myself between them. Okane in turn nodded and took his spot to my left, leaving only small gaps in their position for the wolves.