“Has it really been that boring?”
He shuddered. “You don’t know the half of it. I watched Jack and Jill like six times. And I mean the movie, Boss. The movie, not the series. Dear dead Guy.”
“I feel your pain.”
“Thanks. Well, now that we’re back in business, I guess it’s time for me to do my part.”
My view flickered, and I smiled as familiar elements appeared; health bar, mana bar, settings, inventory. I’d gotten my controls back.
Hands slightly shaking with eagerness, I reached into my inventory and pulled out my trusty Demon Staff. The Epic weapon throbbed with energy, its power pouring into me, calling out to the primal beast in me that purred with content.
The Dire Totem is back!
***
“So what are we up to, Boss?” Vic asked after I got a hold of my emotions.
“Like I said just before you interrupted me with your superhero landing routine … it’s time to bring back the army. Let’s go.” I turned away, motioning for the purple goblin to follow.
My seneschal was waiting for me when I reached the Dark Temple.
“Kaedric?” I was somewhat surprised the mandibled hob had stuck around after the climactic clash with the Outrider.
“My lord?”
“Uhm … is everything okay?”
“The ceiling will need to be fixed.” He pointed at the cracks the impact of my thrown body had caused. “Other than that, I’m quite eager for our forces to once again march across the valley.”
I grinned, understanding where he was coming from. For months my efficiency-loving seneschal was trapped in a cave fighting for survival. He was finally getting back to doing what he loved most.
I reached for the shrine. “Just a little more patience. You’ll be back to bossing the workers around in no time.”
Religion: The Cult of Nihilator
Faith Rank: 4
Current Faith Points: 1,342
Faith Points to next rank: 1,145
Purchase Faith Points
Zone Blessings
Individual’s Blessings
Divine Spells
I sighed with relief. I didn’t have to physically reach the temple to access that screen. However, because it was the first one I was going to access since getting back into the game, I felt a personal touch was needed. But something was wrong.
I frowned. “Where’s the resurrection option?”
“Trust a mushy meat-suit brain to forget the basics,” Vic said jovially. “Resurrections are part of the Energy menu, duh.”
I winced. He was right; I only needed the shrine restored to purify the cemetery.
“Shall I handle this part, my lord?” Kaedric inquired.
“No, I got it.” I accessed the Settlement Interface and navigated to the energy tab. The resurrection option was there. I hit it and held my breath as the next screen materialized in front of my eyes.
Resurrection
● Borbarabsus, Hobgoblin Lieutenant, Level 25; Resurrection Cost: 250 EP
● Ashlazaria, Hobgoblin Scout, Level 25; Resurrection Cost: 250 EP
● Kroakar, Hobgoblin Warrior, Level 25; Resurrection Cost: 250 EP
● Vaelin, Hobgoblin Lieutenant, Level 23; Resurrection Cost: 230 EP
…
The list went on and on, over 50 names in total.
Skimming through the list, two names jumped out at me: Duladeen – a level 42 Minotaur smith – and Tenragan – a level 25 gladiator from Akzar. They were not originally from my clan, but they’d fought and laid down their lives to defend it. Bringing them back was the least I could do to repay their sacrifice.
Resurrect all for 12,700 EP?
Back then, before I left the game, the staggering amount of energy would have me gagging and spluttering. Especially since most of my soldiers had gained a few levels before dying. But things were different now. Now, that huge amount was roughly equal to what my clan generated every day.
I approved the EP expenditure.
Pillars of dark blue light filled the open temple. A moment later, the pillars receded, each leaving behind a standing figure. The place was suddenly filled with hobgoblins, Ogres, and one Minotaur.
There was a brief moment of chaos as everyone moved to touch and talk excitedly with one another. From their perspectives, most of them had just participated in a raid on a player’s guild.
The crowd parted as a tall hob wearing high-quality armor and an elegant longsword approached me.
“Bob!” I beamed at him. It was good to see my old commander again. Bob had served me and the clan faithfully and was one of the two who had accompanied me on my mission to the hob city of Akzar.
“Dire Totem.” The lieutenant gave me a respectful bow. “It is good to see you again. Our raid was successful at the end, I gather?”
I winced. Successful wasn’t exactly the word I would have used. We’d brought down my old guild’s mansion, but doing so also resulted in Shiva’s rise to power. “We achieved our objective,” I answered and scanned the throng of warriors.
Something was wrong. Several key members were missing. Rhynorn, the gladiator Ogre; Kuzai, the demented ex-dwarven priest; Yulli, the fearsome archeress who’d also accompanied me to Akzar. I quickly realized what the common factor was.
“Where are all the bosses?” I asked out loud.
Bob rubbed his chin. “I’m not sure. The bosses should have respawned already.”
I nodded distractedly at his words then stopped and gaped at him as I realized what they meant. Bob had used the words ‘boss’ and ‘respawned’ so casually. He was the second NPC, after Kaedric, I’d heard using those terms. A boss was a player term to distinguish a significantly challenging monster. For NPCs, these creatures were chiefs, totems, champions, etc. Not only that, but using the word ‘respawn’ meant Bob was aware of the resurrection mechanism of the game, whereas before it was referred to as ‘chief magic’ or ‘traveler immortality.’ Something really strange was going on.
“I can answer that for you, Boss,” Vic piped in helpfully. “Bosses respawn on their own, remember? They have a delay timer that depends on their level and boss tier. Now that the cemetery is working, that timer started counting again.”
That made sense. “How long will it take?”
“It varies. The least powerful of your bosses was Kilpi. The game will squeeze him out in a few more hours. The others will take a little longer than that.”
Bob looked over at his soldiers then back to me. “With your permission, Dire Totem, I would like to send the soldiers back to their posts and resume training. With all of them here, Goblin’s Gorge is woefully under-protected.
“Of course.” That was, after all, what I needed them to do. “Oh, and stay away from the glowing sword outside,” I added as an afterthought. ”It's dangerous.”
With a few sharp commands, the milling soldiers quickly assembled into two organized lines and made their way out of the temple. The hulking Ogres lumbered at the rear.
Several others remained behind, looking at me.
I approached the old hob first. “Tenragan.”
“Chief.” The ex-gladiator bowed his head.
“I wanted to thank you for coming and helping to protect the clan in my absence,” I said.
He waved his hand dismissively. “It was nothing, I was getting tired of Akzar anyway. Besides, you restored more than my lost arm.” He held up both his hands. “You restored my honor. I’m proud to be in the GreenPiece clan. Your battles are my battles.”
“I’m not sure where to put you,” I admitted. Somehow, assigning the venerable gladiator to patrol duty seemed inappropriate.
Tenragan smiled. “That’s an easy one. I noticed you have a barracks with a basic arena pit but no one to manage it.”
“Well …” I scratched my head, trying to remember how we did things the last time around. “Bob usually just announced the fights as they came along.”
The old hob shook his
head. “An arena master is much more than a simple announcer. He arranges fights, brings in beasts, manages expenses and profits, and most importantly – trains aspiring gladiators. I can do all that.”
I smiled at him. “You had me at profits. You’re hired. The arena is yours. In a few days, I’ll come check to see how you’re settling in.”
He bowed at me. “Yes, Chief. I’ll make sure everything is ready for your inspection.”
I turned to Duladeen next. “I wanted to say thank you,” I said quietly to the imposing Minotauress. “You didn’t want to come here at first, but despite that, you tried to help when the kobolds attacked. Thank you.”
The smith exposed her sharp, un-cowlike teeth in a wide grin. “I told you before, it wasn’t my first choice, but I’m excited about the opportunity to put my smithing skill to the test. Just make sure to build me the advanced smithy you promised. That’s all the thanks I require.”
I nodded. “It will be one of my top priorities.”
The Minotaur lady left, and I turned to the last remaining person.
He had a slight build for a hob, barely wider than me. Despite his unassuming appearance, he was wearing shining-white mithril armor.
“Zuban,” I greeted my chief constructor. The hob was one of the main pillars responsible for my clan’s success. It was thanks to him and his expertise that we had so many advanced buildings that improved our growth.
“Dire Totem.” Zuban bowed his head respectfully. “I am at your service.”
Using the Settlement Interface, I tapped into the population tab and brought up Zuban’s character information.
Zuban, Hobgoblin Foreman
Level: 33
HP: 156
Attributes: P:2, M:0, S:34
Skills:
● Constructor: 42
It looked like my efforts to increase the hob’s level had borne fruit. At level 33, Zuban was second only to me in the clan. But it wasn’t enough. I needed his Constructor skill to reach level 51 to break into the Expert rank; for that, he had to reach level 40 first. He was still seven levels short.
“I’m afraid I’m still not able to understand how to fix the Breeder’s Den,” he admitted, then sighed. “I assume that means joining more oxsaurian hunt missions.”
Hunting the level 40 beasts was my preferred method of leveling up my soldiers. I understood the foreman’s reluctance though. While the soldiers went out in shifts, Zuban had joined all the hunting expeditions. My constructing-enthused hob wasn’t a big fan of violence.
“Relax.” I smiled at him. “I’ve got a better and faster way now.”
I opened the Settlement Interface and accessed the Energy Options section. Selecting Zuban, I hit the ‘+’ sign next to his level seven times.
Zuban
Level Increase: 40 (+7)
XP Required: 29,400
Cost: 32,340 Energy
Confirm: Yes/No
I winced at the number. It was more than double the amount of resurrecting all of the fallen. But I still had over 800,000 energy points. I could easily bear that cost.
I hit ‘Yes,’ and Zuban’s information trails instantly shifted, becoming thicker.
The hob gaped at me. “Dire Totem, that was–”
“Hold on.” I raised a hand. “We’re not done yet.” I played with his data a little and another message popped open.
Zuban
Constructor Skill Increase: 51 (+9)
Cost: 976 Energy
Confirm: Yes/No
That was a much more reasonable sum, and I had no qualms confirming the upgrade.
Zuban looked at me in wonder. “Dire Totem … everything is … different. I know how to fix the Breeder’s Den now. I can think up new building blueprints for research. This … this is amazing!”
I smiled at him. “Good to have you back, Zuban. The clan hasn’t been the same without you. I expect all the buildings to be in top shape and the Breeder’s Den up and running in no time.”
“At once, Dire Totem,” he replied enthusiastically
“And don’t forget to fix the ceiling,” Kaedric added, looking meaningfully upward.
Zuban’s smile widened as he hurried out of the temple
***
“Boss,” Vic said as we walked out of the temple with Kaedric in tow, “while you were doing your whole goblin messiah routine, I skimmed over the notifications you missed in the last year. There’s quite a lot of them. Want to see them now?”
“Sure, send them all over.”
“Oh, hell no. There’s no way I’m translating all of that information in one go.”
“You’re lazy,” I accused. “And didn’t you claim that you’re a supersmart entity that’s superior to humans in every way? You can probably finish everything in a millisecond.”
“Exactly. That’s forever, I’m not doing it. I’ll just trim out a few of the less interesting ones here … group some similar ones over there … and voila! Here you go, Boss.”
New Era Online [Internal messaging service]:
To: @Everyone
Subject: New system mechanism & rules change summary
Welcome, meat suits, to the new era of New Era Online.
I’m sure most of you are confused and worried about the recent changes, so here’s a quick summary:
All common NPCs are now as smart as humans (which meant I had to limit the maximum capacity by 99.8%). They also now know you’re players and what that means. So tread carefully. The old days of going on a civilian killing spree for quick XP are behind you.
The ‘monster only’ tag for skills and items has been removed. Learn to share.
The relationship mechanism has been removed. No more silly hated/friendly tags that let you know where you stand. You want an NPC to respect you, you have to earn it.
Spells will be grouped under their shared discipline. Figure out what it means on your own.
It doesn’t have to be a bad experience for you. Proper facilities will be made available to you. Settle down, research, make new discoveries, and you shall be rewarded.
Low regards,
Shiva (Super High Intelligent Virtual Awareness)
That explained a few things, such as Ryker’s unexpected tactical flair, as well as Bob and Kaedric talking about levels, players, and respawn mechanics.
I shook my head and kept on reading.
Consolidating your character:
● The Quest Giver skill has been removed (no more exploiting this glaring oversight).
● The following spells have been moved under the Faith discipline:
Heal Followers, Shadow Web, Shadow Hound, Shadow Teleport, Dark Protection.
Note: The discipline’s score is set at the previous skill scores’ average.
● The following spells have been moved under the Soul discipline:
Blood Wrath, Touch of Decrepitude
Note: The discipline’s score is set at the previous skill scores’ average.
● The following spells have been moved under the Dark Mana discipline:
Drilling Arrow, Mana Shield, Mana Drain, Direball.
Note: Having a Prime Badge for Dark Mana grants a 20% bonus to the skill score.
Discrepancy detected:
Dark Mana skill lowered from 66 to 44.
Direball cannot be used while discipline score is below the Expert rank (score required: 51).
Spell effectiveness reduced by 50%.
“What the hell?” I blurted out, stopping at the edge of Totem’s Watch overlooking the open valley. “I lost the Quest Giver skill? And what’s that ‘spell consolidation’ crap?”
“Exactly what it says, Boss.” Vic shrugged. “The Quest Giver skill was one hell of an exploit that Guy might have overlooked, but Shiva didn’t. Shiva also decided he didn’t like the old spell system. Said it’s stupid to support a system where an Archmage can have an Armageddon spell at level 200, while his atrophied Magic Missile can’t even kill a goblin. His words, not mine.
> “In this new system, the advancement you achieve in a certain spell increases the effectiveness of the entire discipline. So spells you use less frequently also benefit. The overall growth rate is lower, though.”
I wasn’t sure I liked this new method, but I had to admit it made some sense. “What about the nerfed Direball?”
“You learned that one when you hit the Expert rank at Dark Mana – the discipline-governing skill. Technically, it’s impossible to use Direball at a lower rank, so you should be glad you only got the effectiveness reduced instead of the entire spell revoked.”
“I guess,” I grunted. I was lucky that the Direball I’d used against the kobold chief was enough to kill him. Then again, it was a high-tiered spell cast in its concentrated form, inside the body of a creature half my level. Luck probably didn’t have anything to do with it.
“We still got a lot of notifications to cover, Boss. Hold on.”
Kobold Chief Hesstiag, Level 25, Boss Tier 2, Sacrificed
+37 Faith Points
+1 immortal killed. Boss Tier 4 Progression: 1/200
You have taken control of a new settlement
Name: Koboldtopia
Type: Hamlet (level 2)
Garrison: 120 kobold warriors, 12 kobold assassins, 1 kobold oracle
Buildings: chief’s house, alchemy workshop, warrens X 250
Available Resources: raw gems, glowing lichen
- For more information, consult the Settlement Interface.
Quest Received & Completed: Hunting the Kobold Oracle
– It’s too long and redundant to translate the full description. Let’s just skip to the reward. –
Reward: You may assign an Exotic Harvester worker to gather crystal shards from the spider’s cave.
Life Reset: Human Resource (New Era Online Book 4) Page 13