“Unbelievable,” Nick said, still grappling with the notion that all this was part of a game.
“You said it,” Lee replied, her gaze fixed on the pale terrain below them. “Is that an avalanche?”
Nick craned his neck to see. There was definitely a swirl of something far below them.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “But since we gotta go through anyway …”
Lee grinned. Once again Nick felt a strange sensation in his stomach. What was this girl doing to him? He couldn’t help but stare at her legs as she began her descent to the plateau. Not even her battered Corsair armor could hide the lithe figure under there.
Snapping himself out of his reverie, he followed her path. There were creatures below them, and they didn’t appear friendly. In fact, Nick wasn’t even sure if they were alive.
There were five of them, gliding through the air with smooth, inhuman movement. Wings of the purest white spread to either side, terminating in frayed and broken strands that dragged through the mud. Their bodies were pencil thin, grey and rotten. Nick got a whiff of hideous decay and felt like retching.
“Wraiths,” Lee said. “Your bow won’t be effective against them.”
Nick tested the theory, loosing an arrow from range that passed right through one of the creatures.
“Any weaknesses?” he asked as the wraiths cruised toward them at alarming speed.
“Fire,” she replied. “But we aren’t mages.”
Nick backed up the hill, equipping his plunge dagger. The weapon was a good one, but more suited to back-stabs and attacks of opportunity. Not open combat on uneven terrain. Lee recognized his vulnerability and moved in front of him, swords drawn.
Lee timed her first strike perfectly, opening with her power move. She spun like a lethal windmill, pounding the leading wraith with four attacks of escalating damage. The thing dissipated in a haze of purple vapor, delivering XP to both of them.
Nick smiled to himself - he could get used to this Bonding thing.
“I’m gonna split the pack,” Lee said urgently. “Use the opp to flank one of them.”
Nick nodded, keeping ten yards between himself and his partner. The Corsair rolled into the wraiths and unleashed several attacks. The move was risky as she was right in the middle of the throng and her stamina would be depleted. On the other hand, she’d successfully turned one of the wraiths, who was now open to a back-stab.
Nick rolled forward just as his target let rip with a blood-curdling shriek. A concussive blast of purple energy threw him backwards several yards and drained most of his HP. This was one of those moments when he hated being a DEX build. All it took was one mistake and you were fighting for your life with no HP.
Buffeted by two unholy shrieks, Lee was faring even worse. She was thrown to the ground in the middle of the wraith pack. Fuck that. Nick rose to his feet and sprinted down the slope. His objective was to draw the wraiths’ attention, so he didn’t care how much stamina he spent. He sank his plunge dagger hilt-deep into the neck of the nearest wraith, which dissolved immediately.
Snarling with feral joy, Nick used the last of his stamina to roll beyond the next wraith. Lee also managed to roll away, but both runners needed valuable seconds to replenish stamina. Exchanging a quick glance with Nick, the Corsair bolted one way and he went the other, successfully splitting the wraiths’ attention. Two headed Nick’s way, one followed Lee.
Two fast-moving wraiths with an unholy shriek ability were going to make short work of the pixel runner unless he did pulled something out of the box. An old RPG adage came to him - when in doubt, use the terrain to advantage.
Behind him, there was a boulder he could use. He backed around it just as a wraith launched a shriek. The blast ricocheted harmlessly off the rock. Unlike the human NPCs in Oakshield Junction, these enemies were strictly AI. No amount of coding could completely erase stupid decisions. Like allowing Nick to use the boulder as cover.
Exploiting his advantage, Nick sprinted around the rock and back-stabbed the trailing wraith. The thing dissolved in glorious purple vapor. The last wraith had already expended its special ability and its melee attacks were slow. Nick was able to evade its grasp and land a series of lightning fast dagger attacks that killed it outright. Panting, he went to see how theblueraven was faring. Lee was reclining on the slope with a sly expression.
“What took you so long?” she asked, fluttering her eyelids.
“Fuck you,” Nick said with a smile.
Love points came rolling in - the viewers clearly approved of their Bond.
“Help me up,” Lee said playfully. Nick felt giddy as his fingers locked with hers.
“You were rockin’ that dagger,” she said. “We’ll make a fucking DEX build of you yet.”
“All I can do is try, master,” Nick said, drawing one of those smiles he loved. “By the wondrous glow of your magnificence.”
“Don’t overdo it, asshole.”
The pair continued in companionable silence for several minutes. Nick was trudging through a wet bog when he noticed a foul smell.
“Over here,” he said, rushing to the aid of a fallen soldier. The man was half-submerged in the muck and was clearly staring death in the face.
“Are you from the mine garrison?” Lee asked.
The soldier nodded with difficulty.
“Was running … a patrol through Nine Mile,” he croaked. “Never seen wraiths here … before.”
“Where did they spring from?” Nick asked. It didn’t seem like the right kind of environment for the undead creatures.
“Coming in from … Fawn Swamp,” came the faint reply. “Troubling sign. Run … while you can.”
The man’s eyes lost their spark and he slumped back against the mud. Lee drew his eyelids down gently.
“Is he talking about an undead threat?” Nick asked. “Because I took care of that at the Tomb of the Fallen.”
“I know - I watched you do it,” Lee said with a faint smile. “This isn’t undead territory, that’s for sure.”
“Maybe they were running from something,” Nick suggested.
“Maybe,” Lee said, pressing on. “Let’s go and find out.”
The sun was about to dip behind the ridge to the west. Nick’s timer suggested there was more than twelve hours to go. Today’s session was a long one. There would be a lot of bleary-eyed viewers out there.
He glanced over his shoulder nervously - those other runners would probably be following in their wake. Nick and Lee were clearing the way for them. Which meant they were hoovering up all the available XP. Hell, he didn’t mind if he was supremely overpowered by the end of the session.
“I wonder if we should make camp,” Lee mused as they pressed forward in the weak dusk light. It wasn’t something one normally considered in an RPG, but Nick could see why Lee was concerned. There was no moon, and the darkness probably held any number of ambush opportunities.
“Not sure if we can afford the time,” Nick pointed out. “We have a lot of ground to cover.”
“Hate it when you’re right,” Lee teased. The light faded completely as the pair advanced through knee high muck. The plateau might have been beautiful from afar, but it was hell to walk through.
Distant specks of flame were gradually became visible to the east.
“Could be the mine,” Nick speculated.
Getting there was the problem. It was difficult to advance when the terrain beneath their feet was barely visible.
“Stop,” Lee warned. “Those lights are on the far side of the mine.”
Nick took a step back. That meant that the pitch blackness that stretched before them was an open pit mine. If they’d continued further they would’ve come to a painful end.
“I’ll test each step first,” Lee announced.
Their pace slowed considerably, but Nick was glad for Lee’s caution. Only thirty yards to the east they encountered a sheer drop.
“Left,” Lee muttered, leading Nick along t
he edge of the cliff until they found what they were looking for - the top of a path that spiraled its way into the mine. Hugging the outer wall, the pair began their descent.
Lee glanced at Nick, noticing his pensive silence.
“Inez is down there somewhere,” she said. “And you’re worried you can’t do a fucking thing about it.”
Leadora Hill was a lot more perceptive than she let on. Nick couldn’t deny that he’d thought of Gideon’s lost daughter as soon as they received their orders. According to a child in the Tower of Old, Inez had been transferred here, to the Grymdor Mine. But now that Gideon was dead, what could Nick do about it? There was no one to receive her in the real world even if he could somehow restore her consciousness.
Besides, the mine looked massive. They’d been walking for half an hour and still hadn’t reached the bottom. The chances of finding the poor girl were slim to none. Still, Nick couldn’t help but feel the weight of obligation as he trudged behind Lee.
“I’ll be looking for her,” he admitted finally.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Lee said. Nick wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or a moral requirement. Either way, he was committed.
The other troubling issue Nick’s weapon roster. Ranged attacks at night were extremely difficult. If he didn’t find a proper melee weapon soon he’d be a liability. He couldn’t bear the thought of holding Lee back. She was too skillful, too mercurial, to be weighed down by the likes of him.
“Battle ready,” Lee warned, drawing her scimitars. They rounded the last leg of their long, winding descent and saw a well-lit mine entrance ahead. Huge timber supports held the granite mountainside at bay. The gaping entrance was a hive of activity. Ore wagon after ore wagon spewed forth from the passage, pulled by tired oxen. Soldiers in royal livery checked the mineral loads and coupled the wagons using thick wooden pins.
“They’re gettin’ ready to split,” Lee said.
“Leaving the dwarves with nothing,” Nick offered cynically.
“Act natural,” she said, softening her stance.
“How the fuck do I do that?” Nick asked.
“No idea.”
“Good meeting.”
Several soldiers watched them suspiciously as they approached. Nick had to admit that two armed mercenaries emerging from the night wasn’t a great look.
“Stop there,” a guttural voice spat behind them. It was the officer in charge. “I don’t look favorably on bandits.”
“We’re not bandits,” Lee said calmly. “King Alain sent us to help you clear the mine.”
The officer looked them up and down. “You come from that High Temple?”
The officer was wondering if the pair was associated with the Order of Embers. A fair suspicion.
“We freed the Great Mage Picello,” Nick said. “Most of the Ember mages are dead.”
The implied message was clear - the runners were a force to be reckoned with.
“Might be I could use you,” the officer said grudgingly. “That mine isn’t a happy place. The Foreman - not a paid soldier - is crazy. Knocking women and children around, drivin’ ‘em to the edge. Me an’ the lads would appreciate it if you could bring him into line.”
Nick had to smile. A mine had to be cleared in almost every RPG since the beginning of time.
“We’ll do it,” Lee said grimly. “But if we get more than we bargained for, we’ll be coming back to deal with you personally.”
Nick couldn’t help but admire Lee’s sass as they headed into the mine. If they sorted out this little “problem” quickly they could move on to Ulferd without delay. Thankfully the main shaft was lit by regular torches. This section was filled with the shouts and exhortations of soldiers urging their oxen forward. The acrid smell of broken minerals and stale sweat was almost too much to handle.
After a while the frenetic activity petered out and the runners found themselves walking alone. The passage admitted into a cavern which was essentially a large-scale excavation. Alarmingly thin miners worked exhausted mineral seams along the rock wall.
There were no soldiers in the cavern. A tall man, presumably the Foreman, paced back and forth, cracking a whip across the backs of those he felt weren’t giving their all. A dozen or so cronies lounged against the walls smoking foul-smelling tobacco and occasionally cuffing miners over the head.
“Self-appointed rulers of their own little empire,” Lee said in disgust.
Nick felt the same. It was little wonder the soldiers didn’t venture down here - they just wanted to see the precious minerals and gems safely to Durandor. Still, their lack of intervention was a failure on many levels - these miners were effectively slaves.
The situation was clear - Nick and Lee could either assist the Foreman in extracting as many minerals as possible, thereby assisting the general war effort, or they could liberate these poor people and clear the mine immediately.
It was an easy decision. Like all Oakshield Junction NPCs, these miners were human-controlled. They spent each day breaking their backs and getting whipped for their efforts. What was the difference between slavery in-game and slavery in the real world?
One look at Lee confirmed she was feeling the same way.
“What do we have here?” snarled the foreman, regarding the pair with obvious suspicion.
“Shut the mine down,” Lee said belligerently. “This is dwarven territory now.”
The Foreman drew his lips back in what might have been a smile.
“Is that right? Tell me, lassie, how you intend to remove us. I’m not leavin’ until every last shiny stone has been dug out.”
Lee walked right up to the Foreman. It was a smart, bold play - the lanky Foreman’s whip was useless at close range.
“Get. The Fuck. Out.”
Nick readied the Bow of the Damned. There was nothing subtle about Lee’s negotiation skills.
The Foreman just smiled again and took a long step back. Lee was onto the move, drawing her blades. Several thugs stepped from the walls. From the look of them, they were self-appointed enforcers. Nick wouldn’t lose any sleep if he ended their pathetic lives.
Threatened by Lee’s advance, the Foreman cracked his whip. Lee was wrapped in a leather coil. If any those other brutes reached her she’d be struck down. Nick lined up his first target and loosed an arrow. The poor, armor-less fool fell with one hit.
The other thugs began running toward Lee, who was still squirming against the Foreman’s whip. The lanky villain had dropped the handle and was advancing with a long machete. Seeing the danger, Nick dropped two more thugs, equipped his plunge dagger and sprinted toward his Bonded companion.
He reached Lee first, cutting the clinging whip from her body. Free to fight, theblueraven rolled free of trouble and slashed at the nearest thug’s stomach, drawing his guts out. Nick backed away with dagger in hand, content to draw the Foreman away from his partner.
The lanky boss approached with deceptive speed, swinging his blade in unorthodox attacks. It made him difficult to read, and Nick received a glancing blow that drained 70 HP plus residual poison damage. That brought him dangerously close to death, considering his HP had been running low to start with.
The problem was he was still fighting like a strength build. He needed to roll through the Foreman’s attacks. He knew from experience it was difficult for enemies to do much damage during a roll animation. He needed to use his stamina and agility to advantage. The Foreman advanced arrogantly, clearly thinking he had Nick on toast.
The runner tumbled under the next attack, a singing cross-swipe, and sank the dagger into the Foreman’s right thigh. Time for his own residual poison attacks. The Foreman lost 110HP from the initial strike and his HP bar continued to fall. The machete flashed angrily through the air. Nick waited until he was certain the Foreman’s stamina bar had been depleted before rolling forward. He plunged his dagger into the tall man’s guts, twisting it with relish.
The Foreman lashed out, but Nick was alrea
dy rolling free from the danger zone. The beauty of the dagger was how little stamina each strike consumed. All he had to do now was dance on the edge of the Foreman’s long reach and wait for the poison damage to do its work. Another nice perk to the dagger was its critical effect. A stab to a man’s guts was likely to have twice the poison effect as a strike to the leg. And so it proved - the Foreman swayed on his feet and coughed blood as poison consumed him. Nick smiled maliciously as the boss crashed to the dust, shuddering uncontrollably.
Across the floor of the cavern Lee was making short work of the remaining thugs. With a shock, Nick realized that hundreds of miners were watching with dead eyes. The only sound was a bloody gargle as the last thug was dispatched.
“Walk free,” Nick called out. “The safest thing to do is follow the royal soldiers to the Winter Palace.”
At first no one moved, but one man stepped forward and spat on the Foreman’s corpse. Several miners followed suit, paying their last “respects” to their tormentor before leaving with dignity. Before long there was a steady stream of people downing tools, daring to believe their nightmare was finally over. Lee wiped her scimitars on the foreman’s jerkin.
“You did well,” she said. “Now take the fucking machete and see if you can wield it.”
Nick looted the Foreman’s corpse for three batches of figello leaf, which restored a small portion of health, and a Butcher’s Machete, which was ostensibly a DEX weapon but required a slight investment in STR in order to wield it. Unfortunately, Nick was one point under the required level.
“No good,” he said, transferring two figello batches to Lee.
Consuming the leaves boosted Nick’s HP to 50%. There was no question of Lee taking the machete and giving him one of her scimitars - effective dual-wielding in Oakshield Junction required two weapons of the same class.
The other thugs didn’t have much of value, though Nick and Lee found four more figello batches. That brought his HP back to a respectable 80%. It was nerve-wracking to drop below 50% HP as a DEX build. He desperately needed a Ring of the Succubus or something similar to build his HP with each kill.
Dexterity Build: A LitRPG Saga (The Complete Dexterity Build Cycle) Page 7