Second Skin Omnibus

by M Damon Baker

  Goblins.

  Ding!

  It was the sound of a new notification, but I would have to wait until the threat passed before I could dare to read it.

  I made up my mind to launch an attack and drew back on my bowstring. As I pulled the string tight, I looked to Zander with eyebrows raised, hoping he read the intention in my gaze–We’re doing this, get your shit together. His nod in return told me that he understood my meaning.

  As they came into range, I debated my strategy. I hoped to get off two shots before they could react, but should I try to hit one twice or both at least once? I decided to focus on a single target. Hopefully, two shots would take him out, and then we could double team the remaining goblin and overwhelm it. Since Zander had no ranged attack, I prioritized the archer as the primary threat—that one would be on the receiving end of both my arrows.

  As soon as the goblins were where I wanted them, I let loose my first shot. I aimed for his chest and was rewarded with a wet ‘thunk’ as the arrow tore through his thin armor and penetrated deep into his flesh. As I readied my follow-up shot, I could just detect the combat log at the bottom of my vision as it began to scroll. It wasn’t really a distraction, and I knew that it would eventually become something I would learn to ignore.

  But my plan to hit the archer with a second shot was ruined when his body collapsed to the ground. Quickly pivoting to the other goblin, I sighted in on the center of his chest and let my second arrow fly. My aim was slightly off, and the arrow sailed high. Fortunately, in this case high meant that the shaft impacted the poor goblin in the middle of his face rather than the center of his heart where I’d been aiming.

  With both goblins down, but in unknown condition, Zander and I cautiously advanced onto the road. As we approached, I slung my bow and drew my sword from its scabbard. Since this was the first time I had unsheathed the weapon, I took a quick glance at it as we closed in.

  It was a very rough-quality long sword. Long sword often meant somewhat different things in different games. In this case, it was a one-handed blade about three feet long. Serviceable, but definitely nothing special. Turning back to the task at hand, I stepped out of the forest and onto the road, and our quarry came back into view.

  The goblin who had taken the head shot was obviously quite dead. The arrow protruding from the back of his skull left no doubt about that. His compatriot was not much better off. While he was still alive, it was clear that my first shot had pierced his lung and perhaps a major blood vessel as well. His labored breathing was wet and raspy, and blood flowed freely from both the wound in his chest and the corners of his mouth. He lay still on the packed earth of the road with his eyes closed shut and only barely conscious.

  He might have been my enemy, even a monster that required killing, but I could not help but feel pity for him in his current state. I closed in on him, fully intending to end his suffering as I would have in any other game, but then faltered as the stark reality of it all suddenly collapsed in on me.

  Helpless on the road before me was a creature I had just shot with an arrow. Next to him lay another that I had killed. All this was arrayed before me with the same hyper-reality that I had been experiencing since the moment I initially logged on. The goblin blood staining the road was deep crimson red, and the harsh breathing of the one survivor echoed raggedly through my head. This was so different from the detached, abstract killing in the more primitive video games. This felt real. Shit, for all intents and purposes, this was real.

  Zander, noting my hesitation, stepped forward, and kneeling next to the goblin, calmly drew his blade and slit the creature’s throat.

  “First time can really get to some people,” he said as he stood back up. “Just remember, as real as it is, it’s still just a game. And if that doesn’t help, know this: If you don’t kill them, they sure as hell are going to kill you. Without hesitation.”

  I nodded silently as he spoke. He was right, of course. On both counts. Even ignoring the game aspect, the world of Second Skin was a rough place. If I did not adjust to the harsh realities here, I would perish. Repeatedly.

  Ding!

  I assumed that notification meant that combat was officially over. Before I could check the multiple icons that had popped up, Zander spoke again.

  “Your kills, so you get to loot them.”

  Loot! I almost forgot. That oversight would have been really pathetic.

  “For a defeated enemy, you just have to touch the body, and its inventory will pop up for you,” Zander added helpfully.

  He was really coming in quite handy. His hint reminded me of something else.

  “Zander, we never formed a party. Do you know how to do that?”

  “Yes, I do. I’m sorry, I really wanted to do it with you... I... I mean form a party with you before, but I forgot.”

  Oh my, that shade of red was so adorable on him. Wait… Did I just call him adorable? This is getting out of hand. Anyway, since he had been so helpful, I once again decided to let him off the hook.

  “Well, better late than never. Go ahead and party us together, but please tell me how to do it too, okay?”

  “Uh, sure. You really just need to focus on the person you want to add and think ‘invite,’ or ‘party.’ I imagine other words might work; the interface is kind of flexible like that.”

  Instantly, a party invite message flashed in the center of my vision. I thought ‘accept,’ and a little Zander icon popped up on the side of my screen. At the same time, a small dot appeared on my mini-map, apparently indicating his location. It was a very typical system, but also really useful.

  Turning back to the task at hand, I knelt next to the first goblin corpse and pressed my hand against its side. Instantly, I could see what it was carrying. Most of it was junk; literally, the description said ‘junk.’ I assumed that meant the items had no value, so I skipped over all of those. The non-junk amounted to a handful of copper coins, a crude-quality short sword, and two daggers, also listed as crude quality.

  The other goblin, the one Zander had dispatched for me, had only a little better. Aside from the junk, his body yielded a few more coppers, a crude short bow, seven arrows decent enough for me to use, and a second crude dagger.

  As I rose from looting the last goblin, I noticed Zander had an odd expression. My first thought was that he was awkwardly trying to hide the fact that he had been checking me out. Again. I had caught him doing just that several times during our trip so far. But it was clear that this was something else.

  “What’s up, Zander?”

  “These goblins,” he said. “I think they may just be scouts. There’s only two. That would be unusual for goblins.”

  Shit. If there were more of them, we could be in trouble. Two weren’t so bad, but a large group could definitely overwhelm the pair of us. And these had come from the direction we needed to travel if we wanted to reach the town. If we just continued on our way, we might stumble into an entire pack of angry goblins. That encounter would most certainly end very badly for us. We could hide in the woods, but if we left these bodies here, the other goblins would certainly investigate.

  “I think you’re right. We need to get these bodies off the road and hide,” I said after considering our options.

  Zander must have been having the same thoughts as me since he only responded with a quick nod. Grabbing the closest goblin, he began to drag it off the road and into the bushes. I did the same with the other body and then quickly returned to the road to obscure any signs of our little skirmish.

  We finished quickly, and with not a moment to spare. No sooner had we completed our task when we both heard the tell-tale sounds of voices approaching from the same direction as the goblin scouts had come. Returning to the relative safety of the forest, we once again concealed ourselves in the underbrush and waited for our adversaries to approach. While we waited, I nocked another arrow and Zander just shook his head.

  “Not if there’s too many, okay?” He whispered.
>
  “We’ll see.”

  Zander let out a soft huff that I was sure I was intended to hear, but I ignored him and kept my attention focused on the road and the increasingly loud voices of our approaching enemies. We didn’t have long to wait before they made their appearance.

  After only a moment, a group of four goblins rounded a bend in the road ahead of us. Three of them were equipped with multiple blades, but there was no archer among them. Instead, the fourth wore long robes and carried an impressive dark wooden staff. Both of those items were clearly much better quality than anything carried by the rest of the goblins. Obviously, the fourth was some sort of caster, and quite likely more powerful than the other three.

  Looking at Zander, I could see that he was conflicted. I understood his dilemma and could almost see the little wheels as they turned inside his head.

  On the one hand, this group outnumbered us two to one. It would be a difficult fight, at best. That wasn’t even considering the greater power of the caster. Ahh, but the caster—that was the rub for Zander. The goblin caster was a serious opportunity for him to upgrade his weak starter gear. Both the robes he wore and the staff in his hand were clearly superior to what Zander currently had. Even if he couldn’t use them, selling them in town would put him well on his way to better gear. And as everyone knows, loot and better gear are what all true gamers live for.

  That seemed to decide it for Zander, because he turned to me and in a hushed voice simply said, “Caster first.”

  I couldn’t disagree with his logic. Without question, the caster represented the greatest threat to us. If we could take him out quickly, it would increase our chance of success dramatically.

  I felt confident with my bow after our initial fight and prepared to fire my first shot at a slightly greater distance than I had in our previous ambush.

  When the caster reached the location I had chosen, I took careful aim at the center of his chest and let my arrow fly; the shaft hit with devastating impact. Although I had once again missed high, it was not by much. Instead of hitting him in the face this time, my arrow had pierced his throat. The shaft lodged in the goblin’s neck, and the caster thrashed about wildly with his hands around his neck in a vain attempt to halt the blood that was gushing forth from between his fingers.

  His fellow goblins appeared to be frozen in place. Perhaps it was the horror of the injury to their leader or the shock of the surprise attack, but the reason for their inaction did not matter to me. Nocking a second arrow, I fired at the closest goblin and was rewarded with another hit, but unfortunately, this strike was far less damaging than my others had been. I had merely managed to hit the goblin in his shoulder. Still, the wound was debilitating and seriously limited the goblin’s capabilities for the remainder of the fight.

  Zander had rushed forward once I fired my first arrow and was now closing in on the remaining goblins. Seeing him rapidly closing in triggered their sense of self-preservation and they finally overcame the initial shock of the battle. One of the two remaining uninjured goblins rushed towards Zander while drawing a blade. I took careful aim as Zander was somewhat between his attacker and me; then I let loose another arrow. An intervening branch deflected my shot, and it went low, but still managed a hit to the goblin’s leg. The creature cried out in pain and reached for his wounded limb as Zander closed with his staff and connected with a solid blow to its head. A loud crack rang out when Zander connected with the goblin’s skull, and it collapsed in a boneless lump, either dead or close to it.

  The last unscathed creature moved towards its wounded companion and tried to mount some semblance of a defense. They had not managed to get close to me, and I already had another arrow drawn and ready to fire. Zander circled them slowly, moving to provide me with a clear shot. Smart boy. As I waited for my opportunity, I could see the caster in my peripheral vision, or at least his body. He was laying in the middle of the road, and his head rested on the packed earth amid a dark bloodstain on the ground.

  As Zander maneuvered, I sighted in on the uninjured goblin and fired again. This time I was rewarded with another solid hit, one that finally went exactly where I had aimed. The goblin had a mere moment to stare down in surprise at the feathered shaft protruding from its chest before falling lifelessly to the ground.

  Zander wasted no time taking advantage of the remaining wounded goblin. Although it had managed to unsheathe its sword, the goblin was clearly limited to using its non-dominant hand. It clumsily tried to block Zander’s attacks, and even managed to fend off the first blow, but Zander quickly overmatched the hapless creature and beat him mercilessly.

  Ding!

  My notifications were adding up. I really needed to check them out when we were done here. But I had my priorities straight—loot first!

  As I walked towards Zander, I could see the smile on his face, and knew exactly what he was thinking, so I motioned towards the caster’s lifeless body.

  “Be my guest.”

  “Thank you; I think I will,” he said as he moved to loot the corpse. “You start on the others, and we’ll divvy up when we finish.”

  “Sure thing.”

  After pillaging the bodies, we tallied our haul. The caster had proved to be the most profitable, as we suspected. From his body, Zander looted the robes and staff we had already seen, plus a silver ring and a very fine-looking belt pouch. The robes and staff, while not magical, were high quality and offered Zander both better protection and higher offense, so I let him keep both without reservation. We couldn’t identify the ring or the pouch, so we decided to wait until we got to town where we could find someone who would be able to tell us what they were.

  The other goblins had more of the same low-quality equipment as the scouts we had encountered earlier. Mostly various blades of crude quality. The only exception was the goblin I had wounded in the shoulder. His short sword was of average quality, and it only had an Encumbrance rating of (25). He also dropped a basic leather armor chest piece that only showed (22) Encumbrance.

  I had no armor yet, so the leather chest piece was a must-have. I hadn’t even used my long sword, so I wasn’t attached to it in the slightest. If I could shave off 25 Encumbrance points without losing much damage potential that would be great. But how would I know?

  “Zander, my weapons all show an Encumbrance value, but there’s no damage stat?”

  “That’s very insightful of you.”

  Oh, dude. Not going to happen, I thought.

  “Damage in Second Skin is based much more on proficiency and Abilities rather than on weapon type. Obviously, there are weapons with the potential to cause more damage than others, but unless they are being wielded by one with great skill, it is still only potential.”

  “So,” I replied, “a person skilled with a dagger will out-damage a noob with a broadsword.”

  “Precisely.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  With that knowledge, I took the armor and the short sword and equipped them both, removing my long sword and dropping it into an Inventory slot.

  From our two goblin skirmishes, we had managed to loot 4 crude short swords, 11 assorted crude daggers, 1 low-quality bow, and the unidentified ring and pouch. As far as cash, there were three silver pieces, all of which had come from the caster, and 135 coppers. We split the coin somewhat evenly and divided up the other items between us. We would sell them all later and share the profits, but for now, we needed to share the burden of carrying all the dead weight around.

  Not bad. At least I hoped it wasn’t. I really had no idea about the economy in Second Skin.

  “Zander?” I began my now familiar refrain.

  “Yes, Dreya?”

  “I don’t know much about the economy here. How are we doing with the loot and coin?

  “Well, Second Skin has been around for almost a year now, so the economy has had time to stabilize and there’s some information available online. I would say that for our level, we did okay, but we’re going to need a lot m
ore to get all of our gear improved.”

  That was exactly what I was afraid of. I knew I couldn’t expect my first battle to drop a dragon’s horde worth of gold and gems on me, but a girl could dream, right? Wait, had I really just thought that? I needed to get out of here soon, this was getting a bit freaky.

  After a brief discussion, we decided to take a break and hunker down in the woods before moving on. We both had several notifications to review and needed a few moments to check things out.

  We cleared the bodies from the road and hastily concealed our latest battleground since we didn’t want to attract any unwanted attention while we were resting. Then, we sought out a hidden location off the road and settled in for a quick break. Once I opened up my UI, I began pulling up the little flashing icons one by one.

  Unlocked skill discovered! You have discovered the Perception skill tree and the Identify Enemy sub-skill.

  Unlocked skill discovered! You have discovered the Bow skill tree and the Critical Hit sub-skill.

  Experience gained – You have gained 50 Experience Points (XP).

  Experience gained – You have gained 50 XP.

  Experience gained – You have gained 50 XP.

  Experience gained – You have gained 50 XP.

  You have gained a level! – You have earned sufficient experience to advance to level 1. Your efforts have proven you have what it takes to begin down the path of a true adventurer. You can now choose your first Abilities. You must choose two of the following:

  Rapid Fire – After firing an arrow, your follow-up shot takes half as long as normal to be fired. Cost - 10 Endurance.

  Seeker – Your next single shot has an increased chance to hit. Cost – 10 Endurance.

  Ignore Armor – Your next arrow will ignore a portion of the target’s armor. Cost – 20 Aura.

  Stun – Your next arrow has a chance to stun its target on impact. Cost – 20 Aura.

  Your choice is final and must be made now.

  Damn. The game wasn’t going cut me any slack. I still had pending icons, but the level-up notification cut me off and was forcing me to make my choices before it would allow me to move on.