Village of Noobtown: A LitRPG Adventure (Mayor of Noobtown Book 2)

by Ryan Rimmel

  You have acquired: Average crafted Chain Armor (Suit), Defense 9, Durability 90/90, Reinforced +1 Defense, Draining, Bracers (8), Gauntlets, Helmet (Open Faced).

  That was a definite improvement over anything else I had worn here on Ordinal. The entire armor was listed as a single suit, however; most of the pieces didn’t work individually. I would have to wear the entire suit to gain the benefit. I was alright with that, for now. Of course, I still hoped that I’d find a magical gauntlet or something, soon. That would complicate using this armor, but that was for the future. For now, this was more than satisfactory.

  Draining indicated that I’d become tired after a certain period of wearing it, causing my Stamina to recover more slowly. In this case, it was after 6 hours and the penalty was 50%. I had Initiate Medium Armor skill; that increased the duration to 8 hours and reduced the penalty to 25%. Those were still pretty bad numbers for long term wearing.

  As was typical, the other bonuses were locked into pieces of individual equipment. The bracers allowed me to use my Block skill to reduce an attack by an additional 8 points. If the attack got through, it would affect my forearm. The gauntlets extended my armored protection to my hands. These particular ones were surprisingly nimble. The helmet, likewise, granted protection to most of my head, except my face. I wasn’t great with that. I obviously would have preferred something that protected my ability to be recognized by facial features.

  The armor also had boots, but those weren’t listed for some reason. I’d long ago given up on understanding the reasoning behind the system’s listings. At times, the info I was given seemed completely random.

  I checked my new Defense rating and was impressed.

  You have Medium Armor, due to your Chain Shirt Suit. Your total defense is 19 (10 base + 9 Armor). Your armor rating is 27. Being Medium Armored increases your Dodge skill costs by +100%. Initiate skill rank reduces that to 75%. Your Damage Mitigation is increased by 5 points (10 total). Threshold: 2.

  That was much better than the 10 defense I had been running around with when I fought Durg. Mentally calculating the numbers, I still wasn’t sure it would be enough. Durg had hit my arm with a 27 point attack. Reviewing the log, I could break that down based on his Dual Wielding fighting skill, and the weapon he’d been using. I had attempted to minimize that with my Defense rating of 10, and my Mitigate skill. Doing so allowed me to absorb another 5 points of damage with my Stamina. That reduced the damage to 22 points of Slashing Damage.

  Twenty-two points of Slashing Damage was a considerable amount. When I typically got hit, I thought I just took Damage. It wasn’t a specific type. If only I had taken the time to analyze the combat logs before now. Why did it take my Mitigate skill not working as effective as I thought it should for me to investigate my combat logs? Shit like this is literally why Shart thinks I’m an idiot.

  Slashing had an improved form of Damage called Severing Damage. The logs made it painfully apparent that Severing Damage was much more serious than Slashing Damage. Slashing Damage took many points before it actually became serious; you could cut off a limb with Slashing Damage, but you were looking at doing a 30-50 point wound. An attack made with Severing Damage could accomplish the same in 10-20. Severing Damage was much harder to ignore than Slashing Damage.

  As you leveled up, you tended to do greater Damage. My Sword Master perk didn’t just add 2 Damage to my attacks with swords. It added two Greater Damage to my attacks, meaning that all my slashing sword attacks did 2 points of Severing Damage.

  I had wondered about that. While some magical attacks did quite a bit of Damage, most of the physical strikes, apart from backstabs, were capped in the 20-60 point range. If that had been the case, killing higher level characters was going to be challenging. With Greater Damage types, smaller amounts of Damage would have a series of painful and potentially lethal status effects. Unmitigated Slashing Damage always caused bleed effects, but the amount usually wasn’t terrible. However, it did bypass defense. Severing Damage was likely to remove limbs and cause even more bleed effects.

  When Durg had attacked me, I’d used my Mitigate skill. One of its Initiate effects was reducing the severity of an injury type down a level. I was set to have my limb removed but was able to trade it down to a mere break. That was devastating in combat, but it wasn’t losing the arm. I hoped that getting Mitigate to the Journeyman rank would help. Right now, I needed to either invest in better armor or really tweek out my Dodge skill.

  My old leather armor had been converting Slashing Damage to just Damage, which I had plenty of resistance to. My skin was resistant to 10 points of Damage but was only half as effective against Slashing Damage. It was not effective at all against Severing Damage.

  It's kind of like the old Storyteller system.

  Durg’s attack could have severed my arm, if I hadn’t had so many hit points. Those reduced the chances of cutting my limb clear off, and the Mitigate skill allowed me to pay Stamina to ignore the injury. With my new Medium Armor, however, the damage would be reduced more significantly. It was much better crafted and actually resisted some Severing Damage, due to its Threshold.

  Threshold was an armor property that reduced Severing and Penetrating Damage by a like amount. My armor was rated as two. That would convert all the damage my Sword Master perk could output as Severing damage back down to Slashing damage. I’d still be taking Slashing Damage, but that was preferable to the alternative. Of course, I’d been Dodging at the time; that wasn’t likely to be as strong as he could hit me. With the increased Dodging cost in this armor, he would be hitting me more in the next battle. All things considered, being a tank that could just ignore Damage was going to require much better armor than I had yet seen.

  Mitigate and Dodge were two of my combat skills that allowed me to reduce or avoid Damage. Both were great, but both required significant investments in Stamina to function properly. I had a bunch of Stamina, but there were more than a few battles that I’d nearly run out. Running out of Stamina made you slower. Thus, it rendered you an easy target.

  I knew what my core problem was now. I also knew how to resolve it. I was just going to have to train myself up to that resolution. Sooner rather than later, as I was coming to the revelation that my skills and equipment were critical to my survival on Ordinal. In my rush to level, I had been neglecting both.

  Then, the door burst open. I turned, half reaching for my weapon. I halted quickly, seeing SueLeeta. Her eyes were tear filled as she stepped into the room. She grabbed my hand and began undoing the straps that held my gauntlet in place. I could have stopped her, but I didn’t. In moments, she cast it to the ground and looked at my hand.

  “That jerk,” she stated, growling as she turned to face the door. “He said you got maimed. I’m going to kill him.”

  “Wrong hand,” I said, undoing the straps on my other gauntlet. I gathered up its partner from where SueLeeta had dropped it and attached both to my belt.

  She grabbed my hand and stared at the nubs of my fingers. I could see the growth, but they were still down to before the first knuckle. I couldn’t even bend them, as the ligaments and tendons didn’t have anything to attach too. She held my hand to her cheek. I could feel her tears. “We should have tried to save you,” she whispered.

  “I survived,” I said softly. “I’m glad you didn’t come after me. It was terrible in there.”

  SueLeeta was my friend, big sister, and little sister, all in the same package. She was there to kick my ass when it needed moving and to share my pain, afterward. She sniffed once, loudly, and pulled back.

  “I need a new shield.” I informed her.

  She nodded. “I’m sure I can find you one. I’ve just got off the wall. Let me run back to my quarters really quick. Then, I will go on the hunt for one.”

  “Thank you,” I replied earnestly. “You know, I would have liked to have had your keen eye with us. I have had a bit of trouble with my bow, as of late.”

  Wiping her eyes on the
back of her hand, she looked at me. “Why? You fight equally well with both hands. Just use the other one.”

  “It’s a bit hard to draw the bow with this,” I said, wiggling my nonexistent fingers. I expected her to tear up again, but instead, she laughed.

  Grabbing her own bow, she drew back the string without loading an arrow and wiggled the fingers that were on the grip. “You shouldn’t be gripping the bow here. You can use your right hand to hold it and your left to shoot.”

  I must have been staring blankly forward for too long, because SueLeeta grabbed my hand and laughed. She continued, “You thought you couldn’t shoot a bow because of that little injury? “

  I nodded blearily. I was still thinking like a right hander. After I lost the fingers, I had tried changing hands with my bow once, and it hadn’t worked well. Then again, I had apparently been gripping the bow wrong all along. I wistfully thought of the number of times it would have been handy to have a useful bow in both forests.

  “Hey, Dum Dum. I believe in you,” thought Shart.

  SueLeeta let go of my hand, sniffling slightly. She used the back of her hand to wipe both of her eyes and collected herself. In moments, she had gone from a woman in turmoil to completely normal. This served to remind me that I will never understand women, no matter what planet they are from. Staring at me now was a hard edged female, ready for battle.

  “What’s the plan?” she asked.

  “We are all gathering up in the guard room. We’ll know then.”

  Chapter 46: The Plan

  The guard room was a simple place. A large wooden table, mostly used for card games, sat in the center. Around it were a weird assortment of strategists.

  Fenris had his arms folded across his chest. He was watching me intently. SueLeeta was busy peering over a map that I’d drawn. Zorlando was sitting next to her. His gaze was constantly shifting between SueLeeta and the map, depending on what she was looking at. Bashara was also present. She sat in the corner and looked playful.

  Looking back to Fenris, I saw the typical look he adopted before I planned out anything. I would best describe it as mild annoyance mixed with the knowledge that he would soon correct me on something. I noticed he had his back squarely toward Bashara.

  “I’ve reviewed our manpower and the two possible routes,” I began. “Obviously, the road to the west is not going to work.”

  “Because it's full of horrible monsters?” asked Zorlando.

  I nodded and continued, “So, that leaves the northern road, through the forest. We just need to cross Titan’s Chasm, at the bridge, and make it through to Narwal.”

  Fenris and Zorlando peered closer at the map. I’d drawn it with my Cartography skill, so it was very detailed. Those details included several likely ambush spots that the bandits would be able to attack us from. Neither man looked pleased.

  “How do you expect us to get through?” asked Fenris. “If there are that many bandits in the forest, they will eat us alive.”

  “Not if we ambush them,” I stated. Fenris and Zorlando both looked at me. I grinned back at them. Both appeared to be waiting for the other to ask how I planned on doing that.

  “I am also interested,” thought Shart. He could oftentimes tell what I was thinking. If he was having trouble puzzling my plan out, perhaps that meant I was getting better at blocking him from my mind.

  SueLeeta decided to move the conversation forward. “Even if we somehow manage an ambush, that still leaves their leader. From what I understand, Durg is a real piece of work,” said SueLeeta. She had talked to Bashara, it seemed, and the bandit leader was a point of concern for her.

  “I will have to defeat him in combat,” I stated. “I’ve not come up short in any engagement, so far.” I decided to leave out the pesky details of Durg breaking my arm and making me run away.

  Bashara opened her mouth to say something, then quieted. She frowned at me, considering her statement carefully. “Despite your luck in managing to defeat me, I don’t see how you plan on battling Durg. He’s a bit tougher than you seem to be giving him credit for. “

  “Jim is a capable warrior,” stated Fenris.

  “Jim is a capable warrior?” asked Zorlando. He examined me even more carefully. Shart groaned. Finally, after his very thorough inspection, Zorlando shrugged. “Durg is a journeyman, you are not. In my experience, that usually decides a battle before it has begun.”

  Fenris’ eyebrows raised as he looked over at Zorlando. He then turned to examine me again. “I can’t actually see Jim’s skills. Enlighten me as to how you know that he’s not a Journeyman.”

  “No title,” Zorlando chuckled. “He’s the mayor of this town, but nothing more. You get your Journeyman title when you make rank.”

  That was clever. I had a Rogue talent and a magical amulet that made it very hard to see my skills and abilities with Lore. You couldn’t hide titles, though. Not if one was looking for them. “I plan on correcting that while you two get your men ready. We’ll need to get some additional wagons from the town to make my plan work.”

  “Ohh, this should be interesting,” stated Bashara, grinning at me.

  I had almost sent her out of our little war room but decided against it. She probably had some useful insights about the enemy camp, I reasoned. “You don’t feel bad about planning your former employer’s death?”

  “Not really. It was just a contract,” she replied easily. “Though, I am not allowed to personally attack them for at least 30 days. I won’t be able to assist with your little ambush out there.”

  That was unfortunate. I hadn’t really counted on her help, but it would have been very beneficial to have such a powerful Wizard with us.

  “Then, shouldn’t she go now?” stated SueLeeta. I frowned. Sure, Bashara couldn’t help us with the attack but letting her in on the planning couldn’t hurt. Could it? I had talked to her about the enemy force already and had a detailed map of the area. On the other hand, I honestly couldn’t think of anything additional she could offer. Certainly nothing that would override the potential security concerns of her listening in on the plan.

  You have learned about the skill Mental Resistance. You are unskilled. Your mind is like a steel trap!

  Why did I just get a prompt? Looking around, I studied each of the people at the table. I must have gotten the prompt because I’d learned the skill. I learned skills when I was using them, even if I didn’t know I was. That meant that someone was using magic on me right now.

  I couldn’t believe it! I’d been so trusting. Zorlando was using magic on me!

  He didn’t look like a caster, but it was obvious. The way he looked around, twirling his mustache. It was all part of his image. In reality, he was a Wizard, who could cast spells to cloud people's minds.

  Bashara could probably help me. She knew how to cast spells like that. Fortunately, I could trust her. She had the same expression as my wife. The exact same expression as my wife when I needed her the most.

  The exact same expression.

  I used Lore on Zorlando. He had 20 Mana remaining. I then used it on Bashara. She only had 44 remaining, out of her total of 120. She was casting spells.

  She must be trying to counter Zorlando. But...that didn’t seem right. Zorlando couldn’t cast spells. He was a Mercenary Captain. I could feel a tugging inside my mind. It seemed to be getting stronger.

  “SueLeeta is right. I should leave,” stated Bashara. I was still wrestling with these weird ideas in my head. However, when she said she was leaving, I remembered how much I would miss her once she was gone. I shook myself. I had to remain resolute. She needed to go, because she wasn’t involved in this.

  As Bashara left the room, I realized how much time I’d spent dawdling. It had been so long that everyone was staring at me. “Right. We need to prepare, all of us. Here’s the plan.”

  I laid it out for them.

  Chapter 47: Brilliant Ideas

  I walked out of the meeting feeling like I’d just lost a hand of
cards. Zorlando had waited until we’d discussed what was expected of him before selling his men’s services. We had settled on 6 gold a day for his men. Thankfully, he’d needed some supplies, and I’d been able to use some of the town’s weapon production to offset the cost somewhat. I had two days free of charge, then I’d have to come up with the gold.

  SueLeeta followed me, her expression urgent. “This is a terrible idea!”

  “We can make maces and swords easily enough,” I replied.

  “I mean you fighting with Durg,” she replied sourly.

  “It must be done,” I said. “Someone needs to take on Durg, and that someone has to be me. You have your own role.”

  “Power Leveling?” she stated. “No one does that. It's suicidal!”

  I had explained my plan and used the term ‘Power Leveling’ to do it. As it turned out, they understood what Power Leveling was. It had a negative connotation, primarily because more than a few people died attempting to Power Level their skills. I didn’t have any other options, though.

  I needed to get my skills up fast. To level skills, you had to fight higher level opponents. That was the rub. I could fight lower level goblins right here in the valley, but they were worth precious few experience points and almost no skill points. I had to go where there were monsters that were higher level.

  I had to go back into the Fecking Puma Forest.

  Standing just outside the boundaries of the forest, this idea seemed way more terrible than when I devised it in the fortress. SueLeeta and Cat Three were standing behind me. SueLeeta was fidgeting. I checked my armor, my new shield, and my swords one last time.

  “Jim, you barely survived last time.” SueLeeta said. She had repeated herself several times now. That was never good, in my experience, but she couldn’t talk me out of this. I’d survived in there with worse gear and at lower level. I’d survive again. Then, I would be able to fight Durg.