“I wonder if it would work here?” I said allowed, half hoping my absent handler might pop in, but when he didn’t, I decided to go for it. After all, what was the harm in trying?
I dropped my scythe into the position it’d been in when I played Titan Gate and visualized the technique. I’d done it a bazillion times, so it wasn’t hard to see it in my mind’s eye. As I held the attack in my mind, I rushed forward.
Electric sparks danced across the surface of the blade, throwing arcs of blue light into the air as I sprinted through the mud and reared back with my scythe. As I reached the closest kobold, I brought the blade around in one huge movement like I was cutting down wheat in Harvest Moon. Only instead of aiming low to the ground, I aimed at the thing’s neck.
The blade whipped around in a flurry of blue light and struck the kobold dead on the back of the neck with a horrid wet thwap. The creature didn’t even have time to look at me before it vanished into a flurry of shards, dropping a gnarled wooden club and a tattered green robe to the muddy ground. Three Rhuvians were deposited in my inventory and my level shot up by ten percent, which was as much as I’d gotten from all the scarecrows. Yep, definitely not going back there.
“You have gain a new skill,” my HUD whispered seductively in Elizabeth Hurley’s voice. “You can now perform the Blade Rush technique. It is currently level one with one percent experience.”
In the corner of my vision, my skills window opened and Blade Rush sat at the top with a bar next to it. Hmm, in Titan Gate skills had leveled via use, so I guess the more I used it, the more it would level. Sweet.
A quick glance at my mana bar let me know the skill had used up five mana, and since I had around seventy mana, that meant I could use it a bunch before I ran out, which was good because the two remaining kobolds were racing at me from opposite sides of the wasteland.
I turned toward the farthest one, readied my scythe, and initiated Blade Rush. Crimson Power sparked around my body as I tore forward like I’d done it a billion times before. My scythe arced around through the air, ending the kobold in a single swing, and without even grabbing the drops, I spun on my heel and did it again.
The last kobold met a similar end, and as I gathered up the kobolds’ ratty belongings, a grin I couldn’t stop twisted across my face. I’d used about fifteen mana to take out the three monsters. If I’d had worse stats, I’d have to rest, but since I had so much mana, I could keep hunting.
I glanced at the gnolls and smiled. I had more than enough to take on all five without resting. Better still, they were pretty spread out. I targeted the first one and initiated Blade Rush.
A few minutes later, all but one gnoll were dead. The last one was too close for me to use Blade Rush since I’d just ended his buddy only a couple steps away. No, I’d have to do this the old fashioned way.
As I reared back to attack him, he swung his axe at me, and the blow caught me hard in the chest. Pain flashed across my torso, radiating outward as my health dropped a bit, only I didn’t care as I imitated another skill I’d used in Titan Gate: Sidestep. I hadn’t even done it consciously, really. It was just what I’d always done in the game, so my body tried to do it here.
My rogue had a maneuver where he could step through an attack, take damage, and wind up behind an opponent. Amazingly, it worked just like it had in game, and as I appeared behind the gnoll, I swung my scythe around.
I caught the creature in the side of the neck with my attack, but since I was so close, the bone handle struck him with an audible thud. The creature stumbled sideways, and as it did, I took a step backward and initiated Blade Rush from the absolute minimum distance allowed. I took the few steps forward and hit the gnoll again. The blow hadn’t been as strong as the others since I wasn’t as far away, but it was more than enough to send the creature sprawling to the ground.
It smacked face first into the mud, and as I raised my scythe to deliver the coup de grâce, I heard a cry of rage far behind me. Ignoring it, I concentrated on the gnoll at hand. My scythe came down, ending the gnoll and reducing him to a flurry of shards.
“Level up!” Elizabeth said as blue light flashed around me and my level increased to four. “Because you have twenty in dexterity, you receive one armor. You will receive an additional armor every four levels. Because you have twenty in constitution, you receive one physical damage reduction. You will receive an additional physical damage reduction every four levels. Because you have twenty in wisdom, you now have the ability to learn level one spells. You can learn a new level of spells every four levels. Additionally, you have learned the skill Sidestep. It is now available for use.”
A smile filled me to the core of my being as I stood there. My twenties were paying off. I wasn’t sure how often I’d have gained damage reduction and such if I had lower stats, but right now, I was ballin.’
Or at least I was until something hit me square in the back and sent me flying into the mud. My life dropped by a full thirty percent as I hit the ground hard. Mud filled my mouth as I lay there dazed. In my joy at leveling I’d totally forgotten about the rage-filled scream. Fuck.
Looming over me was the biggest, ugliest kobold I’d ever seen. Scars crisscrossed his gnarled features in a way that reminded me of the alpha tomcat in a city dump. He wore chainmail that glinted in the sunlight and carried a club so large he must have torn a giant redwood out of the ground with his bare hands.
“You killed all my friends!” the big ugly kobold said as it raised its club to bludgeon me into putty. “Now you die!”
12
The big ugly kobold’s club smashed into the mud beside me as I rolled sideways. Unfortunately, as I scrambled to my feet, the kobold lunged forward and kicked me square in the chest. Pain exploded through my ribs like they’d been shattered, and I flew backward and landed hard on my butt. The blow only reduced my health a little, but because I was on the ground, I couldn’t avoid his next attack.
I raised my scythe, barely catching the club on the bone handle as it came down at my face. The impact of it rang down my arms, and as I struggled to push off the attack, the kobold bore down on me, using all his weight to try to crush me. I immediately realized why. Jutting out of his club were what looked like rusty nails so it sort of looked like a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.
“Hey, have you heard the one about the kobold who liked to hop around on one foot?” I asked, bringing my leg back and slamming my heel into the kobold’s knee. A crunch filled the air as the kobold faltered, his leg giving out beneath him. He fell sideways into the mud, and as he did, I got quickly to my feet.
Because I was still too close to use my scythe, I started to back up, but before I could get far enough to attack him, the kobold raised his left hand and snarled at me. Glowing orange light rippled around his outstretched palm moments before a fireball burst forth from it.
I threw myself sideways in an effort to dodge it. As I hit the mud, the Hellish fire burned an angry path through the space where I’d been standing, and even laying here, I could feel the heat of it singe my hair.
My heart pounded in my chest as I shook myself and tried to get back to my feet. Had the thing seriously thrown magic at me in a newbie area? That seemed a bit extreme because the lowest level monster I remembered using magic in Titan Gate was over level twenty! Still, I couldn’t worry about that now. Magic or no, I wasn’t going to kick this guy’s ass.
“You know what us kobolds always say,” the creature said, and a quick glance revealed it back on its feet. Worse, white light was wrapped around his injured knee, and as it faded away, he looked good as new. So it knew healing magic too? Lame.
“What do you kobolds always say?” I asked, gripping my scythe and dropping into my Blade Rush stance. I was far enough away to be able to initiate it, but he was coming closer by the second. I’d have to use it now, but if I did, it would leave me open to attack.
“If at first you don’t succeed, kill it with fire!” the kobold replied as I used Blade
Rush and charged forward in a flurry of sparks. It was a mistake, and I knew that immediately because as I surged forward in a flurry of energy, the kobold raised his palm and blasted me full in the face with fire.
Burning agony screamed across my senses as I took the attack full on. My health dropped by fifty percent in an instant. The smell of burning flesh and hair filled my nose as Elizabeth Hurley screamed at me, and my vision took on a red tint.
I gritted my teeth and ignored it all because it had been a mistake. The moment I realized it was going to happen, I’d steeled myself for the damage and concentrated on my Blade Rush. I burst through the flames, my health draining from residual burns and brought my glinting scythe around.
The kobold took a glowing slash to the face and staggered backward, blood pouring from the wound. He took one look at me and began laughing. “I hope that’s not your best, adventurer!” With that he took a step closer and raised his hand like he was going to shoot me with more fire, only as his left hand started to glow, I realized he was faking it. That hand was covered in the same glow as the light that had fixed his knee. The son of a bitch was going to try to heal himself.
“We can’t have that,” I cried, darting forward and initiating the three move disarm combo I’d used on the goblin. My scythe swept upward, catching the wrist of the kobold’s glowing hand. The blow sent the kobold’s appendage flying like we were in Mos Eisley. A scream of panic flew from his mouth as blood fountained from the severed limb. He started to react to me, turning to smack me with his stump, but I was already moving. I drove the butt of the scythe into his gut, buckling the kobold over as I brought the blade down.
Unlike last time, the attack didn’t separate the kobold’s head from its shoulders. He hit the ground with a bone-rending crunch and lay there for a second, stunned. I took a quick step backward tried to bury my scythe in its back. Sparks flew from the impact point as my blade bounced off the chainmail shirt it wore. Fuck. I reoriented my attack, this time aiming for its thighs as those weren’t protected. More blood fountained from my next slash, but still it didn’t die. Jesus, how much health did it have?
By the time it got to its feet, I’d hit it three more times. Blood poured from wounds on its legs, but it stood and glared at me.
“Is that all you’ve got?” he asked in an eerily similar tone to the one it used earlier. “Because I’m just getting ready.” The kobold popped his neck, and as he did, the kobold’s skin darkened from brown to blacker than my ex-girlfriend’s soul. Red energy crackled across his skin as his eyes turned scarlet like he was Akuma in Street Fighter. “Final form! Kobold Overdrive!”
The sky thundered as he came at my, club whipping around so fast it created afterimages. I managed to dodge the first couple, but the last strike caught me under the chin, snapping my teeth together and dropping my health by nearly ten percent. My feet left the ground, and I flew backward, crashing to the muddy ground. Little tweety birds flapped around my skull as I tried to get to my feet.
“You are now below twenty percent health. Situation is critical. If you lose another ten percent, you will fall unconscious,” Elizabeth told me in a way that pissed me off. It was helpful information, sure, but it just served to remind me of how dangerous my situation was, and right now, I couldn’t think about that. No, I had to push forward and win, goddammit!
“Got it,” I snarled as the kobold leered at me and gestured for me to come get some. Well, thank God it wasn’t finishing me off.
“You going to come to me or should I start shooting you with fire?” he asked, gripping the club in his one remaining hand.
“I’m coming,” I said, narrowing my eyes at the creature as I got to my feet before I stretched once and yawned.
“Well, come on then,” the kobold replied as I dropped my scythe into Blade Rush position. The creature grinned and took a step back like Jim Abbott when he hit that homerun. There was almost no way he’d miss if I used Blade Rush now.
I sprinted forward as fast as I could anyway. He swung, his club whipping around in a blur. There was no avoiding his attack, so I’d just have to fucking tank it.
Then because I’d always been hard-headed, I ducked, so I took the blow on the top of my skull.
My health dropped by another six percent as his club bounced off my helmet. My vision went blurry as the force of the attack reverberated down my whole body. My feet slipped in the mud, and I sort of staggered the last step in my Blade Rush.
My scythe came around as I executed the maneuver and caught the kobold right in the gap in his armor beneath his left armpit that he’d created by attacking me.
The tip of my scythe pierced his flesh, burrowing deep into the kobold and skewering his heart. The creature had half a second to realize what happened before he exploded into iridescent shards.
“Level up!” Elizabeth whispered sweetly into my ear as the kobold’s gear fell to the ground at my feet. “Because of your twenty in strength, you receive one physical damage. You will receive an additional damage increase every five levels. Because of your twenty in intelligence, you receive one magical damage. You will receive an additional damage increase every five levels. Because of your twenty in wisdom, you receive one magical damage reduction. You will receive an additional magic damage reduction every five levels.”
Blue light swarmed over my body, returning me to full health as I stared in disbelief. Had the big ugly kobold been that much higher level than me? I mean, how strong would it have to have been to give me a level? I swallowed hard. Had I really just been that lucky?
I took a deep breath as I gathered up all the fallen drops. Unlike the normal kobolds, this one had dropped a chain mail shirt that even unidentified offered two armor. The gnolls had all dropped boots that gave me one armor unidentified, and I quickly put both the boots and chainmail on. The other stuff, including the club, I put into my inventory for Cain to identify. If I hadn’t gotten the drop from the kobold, I’d have probably used one of the gnollish chain shirts, but unidentified it wasn’t as good as what I’d gotten from the big ugly kobold. Something told me that’d be the case when they were both identified too.
Part of me wanted to stay and hunt a little, but I decided not to do so. For one, I wanted to get my gear identified. For two, I was now a high enough level to help out Gereng. No, it’d be better to do that. It would suck to spend time hunting things I might have to hunt all over again for his quest. Besides, I wasn’t sure I wanted to risk fighting another big kobold without knowing how good my new gear was.
13
“Interesting,” Cain said, eyeing the chain mail for a second before handing it back to me. I’d gone straight here after the battle while being careful to avoid Gereng. The last thing I wanted was to get caught up in something without having my new gear identified. Thankfully, the wizard hadn’t seen me enter town since he’d been yelling at a pigeon, but it’d been a near thing. “I’m surprised you found this. The big ugly kobold is level seven and is considered a boss so he is twice as strong as a normal monster of the same level. How were you able to defeat him?”
“I wanted it really badly,” I replied, taking the item back from Cain. Inwardly, I was shaking though. Had I really fought a monster three levels higher than me and won? It seemed a bit crazy, but then again, I’d barely won, and I had really good stats. Most players my level wouldn’t have as much health as I’d had, and those that did, probably wouldn’t have as much strength and dexterity.
Now that it was identified, I saw the kobold’s chainmail was called Big Ugly Chainmail and provided five armor, gave plus two damage and plus ten health.
As I put it on, I immediately felt stronger and my health increased which was awesome. The boots I’d gotten identified, like all the ones from the gnolls, hadn’t changed their stats, and neither had any of the other gear, which was to be expected.
That just left one last thing to get identified. The big ugly kobold’s club.
“Well, you should be a little more care
ful,” Cain replied, watching me as I pulled out the club. “The difference between an adventurer and an unmarked grave isn’t as large as most people think.”
“Yeah, I was sort of thinking about that myself,” I replied, rubbing the back of my neck with one hand. I’d nearly bitten the dust fighting the kobold. The smart thing would have been to teleport away and go back when I was a higher level, but it hadn’t even crossed my mind.
No, I’d been determined to kill it. Maybe it was because I was too used to playing games, but while I knew the dangers of dying were real, I just wasn’t as concerned with it as I probably should have been. I just found it too hard to believe dying in a game could actually kill me, which was saying something because my brain was is in a fucking box in a lab somewhere.
“Anyway, would you like me to identify that item too?” Cain asked, glancing from me to the club and back again. It almost seemed like he was as interested in identifying it as I was.
“Please,” I said, offering him the weapon. “Man, I can’t wait until I know how to use identify myself.”
“Oh, would you like to learn?” Cain asked, raising an eyebrow at me as the club in his hands glowed with faint light. “I’d be happy to teach you since you can learn level one magic.”
“Really, you’d do that?” I asked as he handed the club back to me. It was called a Big Ugly Club and did six damage to large monsters and six damage to small monsters. It had no other bonuses, and I eyed it carefully. It was a touch stronger than my scythe on large monsters, but I’d never used blunt weapons in Titan Gate. I decided I’d sell it and see if I could get some other gear.
“Yes, I’d be happy to teach you the identify skill,” Cain replied, reaching out one hand toward me.
Soulstone: Awakening (World of Ruul Book 1) Page 8