by Brian Simons
“We should back away now,” Sal said.
“Nope,” Aga replied. Behind them were a handful of smaller arackids, the kind Coral had seen before. The healthiest among them had all six of their eyes intact. They chittered and reared on their hindmost legs, twitching their fangs at them.
“That big one,” Coral asked. “Is that the Aracqueen?”
“No,” Sal said, pulling out his iron war hammer. “She’s just a female arackid. The females are larger than the males. The Aracqueen is a lot bigger and hairier than this old girl.”
“Let’s hope we never run into her,” Aga said.
The nearest arackid leapt at Varta, who had her claws out and started shredding at the spider’s thorax. Two other arackids scurried toward the trees while one hissed at Sal. It spun around and shot a gob of webbing at him, but Sal swatted it away with his hammer.
Coral drew a few arrows and shot at the male spiders in the front of the pack, killing them each with one shot.
>> Arackid dies. You receive 71 XP.
>> Arackid dies. You receive 74 XP.
She stepped backward as she shot, but then realized that would only get her closer to the large female spider still writhing on her back. Coral stood her ground and fired arrows at some of the healthier male arackids, forcing each spider back a few feet to give Sal and the others time to focus on one mob at a time.
“I’ve been waiting for a chance to use this!” Sal yelled. His stomach rippled for a moment as the phrase Bubble Burple appeared above his head. He emitted a large blue bubble from his mouth that wafted toward an arackid and trapped it inside. The spider scratched at the sphere from within, but couldn’t break free. Sal whacked the bubble with his hammer and sent the mob tumbling through the air before it landed in a heap on the ground.
Varta watched with rapt attention. “So primal,” she said. In her distraction, an arackid pounced on top of her, scraping at her face with the ends of its long, brown legs. Varta tried to swat the ugly thing off her head, but it held firm. Then Varta jumped.
Her cheetah leggings gave her improved jump height, launching her twelve feet into the air. She smashed her head through the spider’s body as they collided with the underside of a thick branch, covering her in a dense brown sludge before the dead arackid slid off of her.
The larger female continued to hiss and thrash behind Coral. She turned around and saw male arackids drop from the trees and scurry toward the large female, trying to help her onto her feet. “We’re attracting more of them,” Coral said.
“I’m on it,” Aga said. She summoned a mud storm that pelted the male spiders and kept them from coordinating to help their female compatriot.
The only saving grace of this fight was that all of the arackids were wounded or half-dead. Coral killed two with her arrows while Sal continued to pop bubbles full of dead spiders. Varta held one against her chest as Main Squeeze appeared above her. A moment later the spider burst open, spraying everyone with a layer of brown sludge.
All the while, Coral’s leg ached from the goblin digging his fingers in. She caught sight of another spider scurrying toward them and shot it dead, clearing the area ahead and leaving them the oversized female spider to deal with.
>> Arackid dies. You receive 69 XP.
>> Congratulations! You have improved your Ranged combat ability to 12. Total Dexterity bonuses: +24% at close range, +16% at medium range, +12% at long range.
“This is terrible!” Varta said.
“It could be worse,” Coral said. “There could be ruined souls.”
She could kick herself for saying that. It was as if the game heard her and decided to up the ante on this spider infestation. The two spiders that had escaped into the trees dropped down on them from long, thin webs, but the trees collapsed under their weight. Coral and the others dodged the falling tree trunks as two ruined souls emerged from the black, rotten innards of trees that were secretly dying inside.
Coral nocked an arrow and heated it up with the only magical attack she had. She peered at a ruined soul as she took aim.
>> Level 36 Ruined Soul.
“Is it just me,” she said, “or are they getting stronger?” She loosed her arrow and it plunged into the shadowy form of one of the ruined souls.
>> Ruined Soul takes 312 Damage.
>> Congratulations! You have improved your Hot Shot ability to 4. +6% to maximum temperature.
More injured spiders crept out of the woods. Sal picked up one of the spiders and threw it at the struggling female, knocking another male spider off of her. It scurried toward her side where two other arackids were rocking her up and down, coming closer each time to setting her right-side up.
A sickening squish told Coral that Varta had just squeezed another spider into pulp.
Aga’s Chocolate Rain stopped falling. “I have the MP for one big spell, but it takes some time,” she said.
“Get started,” Coral said. “We’ll do what we can over here.” She released a Hot Shot, but it sailed past a ruined soil and landed in the grass.
>> You missed!
Sal charged at the spiders and let out a glistening blue bubble, but a ruined soul swept in front of him and blocked the bubble from reaching its arackid target. The bubble encased the dark mob instead. Sal leaned forward. It was like a deep-rooted instinct refused to be ignored. Coral yelled out to stop him, but it was too late. He put his mouth against the bubble and sucked it into his mouth, swallowing the ruined soul inside.
Immediately his skin went from pale green to pale gray. A debuff icon appeared above his head of a black ghost. He was Blighted.
The other ruined soul lost no time. It swirled around the female arackid, dodging Coral’s arrows. It dived into the prone spider’s hairy, reddish brown body and emitted a quick burst of black fog. The male spiders touching her sank into her body and her sides sprouted extra legs and eyes.
Coral stared at the monstrosity in disbelief.
>> Level 54 Recombinant Arackid (blighted).
Its small male legs scrambled against the ground for purchase and pushed the monster upright onto its larger, original legs. All told, it had 17 legs of different sizes sticking out in random directions and too many eyeballs to count. It hissed once and then charged, bowling Sal over and brushing Varta aside before crashing into Coral and sending her flying a few feet back.
>> You’ve been hit! 208 Damage.
The little goblin detached from her leg after she landed and held out its fist. Then it charged at the spider as Headbutt appeared above its head. It didn’t seem to do much damage.
“Thanks anyway, Blat,” she said, peppering the mob with arrows. Sal sank his war hammer into the mob’s side, where it seemed to get stuck in its chitinous carapace. He pressed a foot against the spider and yanked the hammer loose as the bleeding creature spun around, kicking him in the face with several legs.
The recombinant arackid had its abdomen pointed right at Coral, and it spewed a sticky substance like a fire hose. It covered Coral and pinned her to the ground in a stringy sheet of webbing. The squeaky grunts coming from under the web told her that Blat was trapped under there too. The monster pivoted toward Sal and Varta, covering them with the same substance.
The mob crept toward them, poking each in the stomach with a long, brown leg. Then it started to chitter and work its front arms like knitting needles, wrapping Coral in a thick sack. She struggled against the fresh, warm webbing, but it was no use. It was stronger and stickier than the one she had landed in earlier.
Coral stared into one of the monster’s glistening yellow eyes and spat. The spider shook its head, lacking the eyelids to blink Coral’s saliva away.
Then something miraculous happened. The phrase Buried Alive appeared in the tree above her and dirt began to swirl in a mad cyclone. The spider started sinking into a hole in the ground. Not a sinkhole that would birth more ruined souls, but a grave, dug by Aga’s MP.
A knife blade poked through the webbing and began
to saw a hole as the spider receded into the ground. The goblin had gotten to his knife, and freed himself, then Coral.
“Help the others!” she yelled. The goblin obliged. The spider stopped sinking after half of its body and most of its legs were six feet under. It might try to climb out of that hole, but for now it was a sitting duck. A high level, blighted, sitting duck that was worth a ton of XP.
“Nice work Aga!” Coral yelled, shooting arrows at the trapped monstrosity. She shot its eyes first, Blinding it, then fired Hot Shots at the mob at a furious pace.
>> Recombinant Arackid takes 402 Damage.
>> Recombinant Arackid takes 379 Damage.
>> Recombinant Arackid takes 438 Damage.
>> Recombinant Arackid dies. You receive 16,950 XP.
There was no loot, but Coral didn’t mind. The tremendous amount of experience points for killing the high level combination of several disgusting spiders and an evil rotten soul were plenty enough for her.
Sal and Varta got to their feet as Aga climbed down from her hiding spot.
“Sal,” Coral said, “you look like death warmed over.”
“I just had to know,” he said. “When else would I have a chance to eat a ruined soul?”
“I think it was brave,” Varta said. “You guzzled that ghost like a beast.”
“Thank you,” Sal said. He seemed pleased that someone finally understood him. Coral guessed it wouldn’t be the strangest thing to see the two of them pair off.
“Aga, Buried Alive was a life saver,” Coral said.
“It has a two-hour cooldown, so I use it sparingly,” she said.
“Well, all in all that was great teamwork, everyone,” Coral said. Varta took a few steps toward the trees.
“Varta?” Coral asked.
“It was good teamwork,” Varta said. “It was good fighting. It’s what we’ve needed in the Ogrelands for a long time now. I’m a General and it’s time I acted like it. The elves are just like ruined souls. They’ve haunted us for too long. When I get home, I’m going to rid them from our land!”
“Good!” Aga yelled.
“And you,” Coral said, stooping low to pat Blat on the head. “You did a great job too. I’m glad you’re a friendly little guy and not just neutral.”
“Friendly?” Sal asked.
“Yeah,” Coral said. “I got a system notice that he was friendly toward me.”
“Oh,” Sal said. “That’s no pet. It sounds like you’re on your way toward acquiring a follower.”
“What does that mean?” Coral asked.
“It means he’s gradually bonding with you, and he’ll follow you around and do little things to help you out. He’ll become permanent if you get him from neutral to friendly to loyal and make him your follower without losing him. Followers are hard to come by in this game. Good for you!”
“Hmm,” she said. “You hear that, Blat? We’re bonding.”
Then a throwing knife sailed through the bushes and landed in Blat’s back. He fell forward, making a pathetic squeaking sound and landing on his face.
26
“Blat!” Coral yelled. She turned in the direction the throwing knife came from and saw a thin woman in brown pants and a green shirt with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She held knives in both hands, crouching in the bushes.
Coral whipped an arrow from her quiver and shot it at the woman as Sal and Varta took up arms. It lodged in the woman’s shoulder.
>> Jozlyn takes 150 Damage.
Coral and Aga rushed to Blat’s side. He blinked twice, proving he was still alive, but he was Bleeding. He may not live to blink much longer. It hadn’t dawned on Coral how quickly she became attached to the small, helpless goblin. Her heart had jumped into her throat when Blat fell. She was actually worried that he might not survive.
“Was he yours?” the woman asked, tucking her knives away. Her HP bar was nearly empty. “I’m really sorry, I thought he was feral. I was just trying to level up.”
“Don’t move!” Coral yelled at the woman. She had questions, but first she had to save Blat. She reached down to put both hands on the knife’s metal handle, but her hands passed right through it. She tried again, but it was no use. It was like she was a ghost. “Aga, can you remove the knife?”
“Sure,” Aga said, and reached down. She wrapped two green hands around the handle and yanked it out of Blat’s body. He spasmed as blood escaped his wound. Coral reached for her sewing kit so she could stitch him up, but her hands passed through the tin box.
“Something’s wrong!” Coral yelled. She swiped furiously at the kit with her hands as Blat bled out. Panic welled inside her. This little goblin had charged at an enormous mutated spider creature just to protect her. She wasn’t going to let him die.
“I can’t help him,” she said. “Somebody do something!”
“I have a potion,” the woman said. Her arms were in the air as Sal and Varta stood close by.
“Let’s have it,” Coral said. The woman pulled a health potion from her inventory and tossed it to Coral. She caught the glass vial and pulled the cork from the top. She pressed Blat’s cheeks together until his mouth opened and then poured the potion into his mouth. It brought him to full health for a second, until his Bleeding debuff continued to gradually drain HP from him.
“Who are you?” Coral asked, standing from Blat’s side with hands dripping blood.
“Jozlyn,” the woman said. “I’m not sure we’ve met before. I used to run with Devon’s crew.”
The woman’s face wasn’t familiar, but the name Devon Shirk was. “He’s the head of the Assassin’s Guild. So you’re an assassin?”
“Hardly,” Jozlyn said. “Devon tried to offer me up to a man called Daniel_of_Manayunk as a free kill so he could level up, but he refused to do it so Devon had Ram kill me instead. I should have realized I was just a throwaway to him. He always favored Ram more.”
“Wait,” Coral said, “so this Ram person just killed you?”
“Yes, and Januar blessed me with another chance. I’ve started anew as a Level 1 Huntress just like my life began so many years ago, before I met Devon. So here I am, hunting down big bad goblins all over again.”
“So you can get strong and prove to Devon that he should take you back?” Sal asked.
“Gods no,” Jozlyn said. “Before I died, he was becoming obsessed with some kind of portal to another dimension. I knew I wouldn’t follow him there. Maybe he figured that out and that’s why he had me killed. Either way, there’s no trusting him. I’m out.”
“What kind of a portal?” Coral asked.
“I don’t know,” Jozyln said. “I don’t care to find out. I just want to get to a respectable level so I can defend myself while I’m out gathering furs and pelts to sell in town. The shops need to get their inventory from somewhere, after all. I am sorry about your friend though. It looks like he’ll be okay now.”
Blat was sitting upright. Blood left his body in only a slow trickle now.
“And Devon?” Coral asked. “What does he want with Daniel?”
“I wish I knew what Devon had in mind. He seemed to think Daniel_of_Manayunk was the key to becoming a lot more powerful. He didn’t explain the details.”
Jozyln turned and parted the bushes. “Watch out for arackids,” Coral called out. “We ran into a female and a dozen or so males that were looking for lunch.”
“Thanks,” Jozlyn said. “I thought they were all gone. The elves came through here and killed a bunch of spiderlings. I watched the whole thing from the trees. You’d think the Aracqueen would be upset, but she loved it. The carnage, the display of power and brute force. The elves offered her meals better than stray goblins if she joined them and she agreed. Every arackid that could still walk followed her. I figured the injured ones died off, but maybe some are still lurking in the treetops. Thanks for the intel.”
“Likewise,” Coral said. Jozlyn nodded and disappeared into the woods.
“The Aracqu
een is working for Sivona?” Sal asked. “That’s bad news. Daniel and Sybil are on their way into the forest right now.”
“They really think they can take on Sivona with just the two of them?” Coral asked.
“Your friends are going to kill the elf queen?” Varta asked.
“Yeah,” Sal said, “they’re on a quest right now.”
“Are you helping them?” Varta asked.
“Yep,” Sal said. “So is Coral, probably?” He looked at her for a response. The elves were trouble. Ridding Travail of Sivona would make all of their lives easier, and would stop the elf queen from squeezing the lifeblood from Travail. Maybe, with Ze rescued, Coral could get a video of something that would pacify Domin. That is, if delving into Diardenna didn’t just get them all killed.
“We’ll see,” she said, shutting off her video recorder for the time being, “but first thing’s first. Let’s find some real water, catch us some fish, and go rescue Grum once we’re back at full health.”
27
Hector’s eyes were tired. It was getting late, and on a Saturday no less, but Domin had charged him with too much work and too little time to do it. So long as the CEO was still down the hall in his own office, Hector would stay in his, scanning his eyes across the data on the two monitors that sat on his desk. Maybe he should order some delivery.
He weeded through the AI personality files that fed into the game, looking for the building blocks he would use to create personality profiles suitable for a robot worker. He focused on harmless NPCs like stablehands and farmers. A good bot would be friendly and conversational, without sticking out.