by Lucas Dunn
I took what she said all in as quickly as I could. This was my first interaction with a regular NPC and I was finally learning a little about this world. They clearly knew about quests, as well as experience. Wondering if there was anything else about the hiring process I asked a couple questions. “Can you decline my invite, and are you able to leave at any time?”
Looking at me unsure the dwarf said “My name is Gannon yer lordship and o’course we could decline ye offer yer lordship. But why would we want to? The quest already told us of yer deeds. Now had you been some insignificant bootlicker we would’a said no and been on our merry way. Should the quest have been misleading about ye we could easily just walk out of yer fortress right now. That being said, we would never with such an esteemed leader watching over us.”
Interested in the mechanics of the NPC’s I was none too surprised at the realism after all I had been through. The “Lordships” and “your Majesty” I could get used to I thought wryly. Now that we had been introduced I told them to follow me and explain a little about themselves as I headed out.
Gannon started. “Well yer lordship I hail from the Northern mountains o’course. What you can’t tell though is that I’m from the mighty forging clan called Stone Hammers, we can forge the mightiest armor and sharpest swords! Unfortunately, we …” His voice trailed off as we walked outside. “Yer lord this is magnificent.” He said staring at the castle. “I had heard rumors, and the quest had said you claimed a fort but I had no idea it was so grand.”
I stood staring at the two NPC’s with their mouths open. “Now that you know what we have to work with, we must build upon that which is broken.” I said it in a way to inspire and stay in character. “We must grow and build in a very short time. We will soon be defending this fort with our very lives.” I said pointing to the fort and then turning to the still broken town.
Elif then spoke “I am honored you would pick me for such a quest”
Relationship with Elif has risen from friendly to loyal.
“As am I my yer lordship” said Gannon
Relationship with Gannon has risen from friendly to loyal.
Well that interesting I thought as I read the messages. I don’t know what bonus’s that would give me, but it couldn’t hurt. Turning back to the two I said “alright first things first we need to get you two trained. We will head to the forest to level up for a time and then we can head to a static dungeon I have found in the mines. Let’s continue our chat about yourselves while we walk.
“Sorry yer lordship” said Gannon. “As much help as I want to be, me and my clan just aren’t the fighting type. That’s what I was about to say before I trailed off. Us Stone Hammers excel in smithing but we are bogged down when it comes to fighting. We receive a bonus which allows us to have a 30% smithing proficiency but in turn our attacks are decreased by 30%. Sorry my lord, my place is in yer forge.”
“That might be a problem, I don’t actually have a forge yet” as I said that I got kind of disappointed in the dwarf. Don’t get me wrong, a smith would come in handy. Just not at this moment. The next level of the dungeon was going to need to be done quickly now. Thinking quickly, I asked the dwarf a question. “If I were to give you four workers, do you think you could build own forge?”
“Of course I can build the tool that I work with but I’m going to need plenty of material. Wood, stone, and ore are all going to be needed. Of course I can mine myself. I just need the other four to grab the rest of the materials.
Sighing, I told him to stay here just one second and headed back in to summon 4 workers. After going to the command center as well as the altar to get the basic laborers, I hurried back to the dwarf. Ordering the laborers to follow the dwarf commands, I turned toward the dwarf and told him to get started as soon as he could. Quickly glancing at Elif, I nodded my head and we started towards the dark woods while Gannon worked on the forge. Luckily they both had Dark Vision. It wasn’t a boon given to me alone, but all dark races got it.
The elf ended up being a natural hunter, and on top of that knew a nature spell called “snag” which was pretty self-explanatory. We started off with her shooting our target once, after that I would cast my weaker version of paralyze and she would cast snag followed by another couple arrows killing most deer and wolves. At first her snag spell was only able to use the foliage to snag smaller animals such a rabbits, but it quickly leveled up to growing sharp thorns that would sprout from the ground and stop a deer from tearing out. We easily continued this cycle until she leveled up three times to reach level 8. Though it took around four hours it was well worth it. Her snag spell was a lot better than the original and she really increased her accuracy with the bow, putting all of her points into dexterity. The only bad thing so far was the fact that we had yet to find a tank to fill that role. For now, we would just have to make due by ourselves. After four hours of using my lighting spell, I had also gotten the two percent I needed from the small kills we had. Bringing me to level 14. I placed one of my points into strength bringing me to 20, and 13 into stamina bringing me to 19. A couple more level ups are all I needed before I could focus completely on my mage build. I needed to get there soon. I had started to notice my mana being eaten up a lot more by my leveled up spells.
Returning from the woods we dropped off the furs and started to eat when Gannon walked up to us.
“The logs have been laid for the forge yer majesty. All that is needed is stone and ore, but in order to do that I am in need of protection while I gather it.”
“That’s just fine Gannon, we are headed there as soon as we are finished eating. You can join us and then we will head there after” I said.
Chapter 12
After finishing the meal, we started heading toward the mine. Before we left, I showed Gannon the trash weapons asking if they could be smelted down and made into more serviceable weapons. With an affirmative nod from him we continued on until we reached the mine. “The first floor has already been cleared so it should be safe. The second floor is what Elif and I will work on while you mine.” I explained to the dwarf.
“That is fine, I do not need to go deeper today for ore, since we have all that iron back at the village.”
With that settled I told Elif to follow me into the tunnels. Upon reaching the door downward I looked at the elf with a serious expression. If we stuck in bad position, I want you to run and leave me no matter what. I will reappear, but you will not. Do you understand?”
Looking at me unsure the elf gave a slow affirming nod. Not wanting to waste any more time we continued downward.
The lower we got, the more it started to reek of piss and other filth. Keeping myself from gagging we pushed forward until slowly coming upon the first mobs of this level, luckily without being seen. Leaning around the wall I heard one of the four-foot-tall rats speak.
“This is so stupid. Why do we have to stay here all the time when nothing ever happens.”
“You heard what mister master said. Those disgusting spider-humans he created were all destroyed. He said we have to be on extra guard tonight in case whatever killed the nasty things comes back.”
“I know he said that, but who cares. No one…”
No longer paying attention to the rats I looked at the elf whispering. “I’m going to paralyze both of them. From there, you shoot the one on the left while I attack the one on the left. Tensing up, I jumped around the corner and started to run and cast my shockwave.
“Quick, alert mas…” that was all they had time to say before I released my spell and was on the first one. Stabbing his throat, I finished him quickly turning to the other one. Staring at the two arrow that were plunged into its back I shook my head approvingly and read the prompt.
56 of 100 damage done to level 5 Kobold baby.
44 of 44 damage done to level 5 Kobold baby. +.1% toward next level. Total: 3%
Well they definitely were low level but I expected they really didn’t expect to find anything. The mana manipulatio
n damage bonus was also a big win. Looking at their bodies I could also see there wasn’t any weapons on them. This meant they were probably expendable with one job. Alert others. Knowing it was going to get a lot tougher as we continued, I kicked the bodies to the side and motioned for the elf to follow. As we continued down the tunnels I quickly taught her hand signals for certain attacks and targeting so we wouldn’t have to speak. Though crude and probably inaccurate, it would help in future situations if we weren’t able to talk. After explaining the signal Elif finally spoke.
“Why don’t we just use the private chat option?”
“umm… We could do that I guess” I said scrambling to find the private chat option. I was starting to realize that not starting out in a big city was making me fall more and more behind.
Another hundred yards and we came upon the true Kobold mob. Only at five feet tall, I stared at it trying to figure out the best approach and its toughness, I got a couple prompts.
Congratulations! You have gained a new skill. Appraise: After studying enough creatures you are now able to gather limited information from just looking upon them. Level up skill to gain more information.
Congratulations! You have leveled up sneak. Current level is now level 2. 10% reduction to noise and noticeability. -45% reduction to speed.
Happy with the prompts I looked to the Kobolds again.
[Level 15 Kobold]
Disappointed that I could only see the level, I motioned for the elf to shoot after I attacked. Shooting my lightning bolt while the elf followed with the arrow, I was almost upon the Kobold before it leaped up and lunged at me. It moved incredibly fast. Much quicker than my 20 dexterity, and smashed directly into me sending us both to the ground and my dagger spinning to the floor. Biting my arm as we went down, I quickly overpowered the scrawny creature throwing it off me and grasping my knife. Standing up and blocking its only exit, it hissed at me unsheathing a short sword and lunged, only to be taken in the back with an arrow. As it stumbled I took the opportunity to shove my knife into its gut again and again ignoring its stab to my thigh before finishing it off with a stab to the neck. Covered in my blood and the kobolds blood, I started to heal myself before checking the damage prompts.
[Lucian]100 of 400 damage done to level 15 Kobold
[Elif]50 of 300 damage done to level 15 Kobold.
5 of 400 damage taken by level 15 Kobold
[Elif] 50 of 250 damage done to level 15 Kobold.
[Lucian] 15 of 200 damage done to level 15 Kobold.
[Lucian] 15 of 185 damage done to level 15 Kobold.
24 of 395 damage taken by level 15 Kobold.
[Lucian] 170 of 170 damage done to level 15 Kobold.
[Lucian] 220 of 220 damage done to level 15 Kobold.
You killed level 15 Kobold scout. Experience split due to assist. 10% towards next level. Total: 13%
Noting my increase in damage due to my strength modifier, I was definitely pleased with the attack. My dagger still did barely any damage, but that was going to change with the new Kobolds short sword being of common quality and 15 base damage. With my damage modifier that meant I would do 30 damage instead. The Kobolds build was definitely a little surprising. I was expecting it to be fast but it had a lot more health than I anticipated. From what I the forum said, the Kobold was a sub race. I don’t know who would choose it since they only got three stat points every level, I did know one thing about the races. If you were a small race like a kobold and put stat points into strength you would be penalized with a certain percentage reduced. This meant a Kobold couldn’t be stupidly strong but still look wimpy, as well as be a tank with stupid health. The balance to this would be their extreme speed and Constitution that got a boost when stats went into them, but not enough to make it worth it in most player’s opinion. The developers did this because they wanted it to be at least a little realistic. The Kobold I just fought had definitely pumped a little more into health than the usual, or it could be just its level. Once healed I checked the kobolds pouch and received a small sum of one silver and 53 copper bringing me to two silver and 103 copper. Giving my archer my previous dagger, we continued on.
We came upon two Kobolds this time one with a bow and the other holding an axe. The Level 14 kobolds stood guarding a large wooden door speaking casually. Not caring for what they had to say I looked at the elf whispering. “Could you use snag to grow thorns off the door to stop them”
“No, I cannot use the spell of already crafted things such as door. Only on living objects or if there was enough dead wood or other organic matter that hasn’t been shaped and crafted.”
Accepting it I discussed the plan. They were too far off to make it there in two seconds, and I didn’t want them escaping through the door. I would start off with shockwave followed by my lightning bolt to the axe wielder. While I did that. I would have Elif focus solely on the archer. By the time my lightning bolt was just finishing its effects, I should have made it there to finish of the axe wielder, and hopefully start on the archer.
Peering around the corner, I took a deep breath I cast shockwave and started to execute my plan. I was halfway to the axe wielder when the paralysis wore off, but an arrow had already been shot by Elif surprisingly knocking the helpless archer to the ground. The kobold with the axe turned hissing at me when he got a lightning bolt to the face. Making it to him quickly and slitting his throat, I turned just in time for the other kobold get up and try to escape through the door. Swinging my sword at his outstretched arm, I was able to chop halfway through. The kobold sprung backwards pulling a dagger out of his sheath. Facing me he had no way to see the arrow that sprouted from the back of his neck, dropping him.
33% experience towards the next level and 2 silver richer. I was definitely pleased with the experience I was getting. It seemed the level and sentience of your foe both played a big factor in experience received. Of course I already knew about the level part, but the latter was definitely something to note. The kobolds axe was useless to me, but Elif was able to add more arrows to her quiver and I was able to take the archer kobold’s knife to replace the one I gave to Elif.
Walking up to the door, I slowly pushed it open and got a waft of piss. Gagging and seeing another tunnel and a faint flickering light, Elif and I continued down the tunnel coming to an open caver on par to the last one with the Arachnid hybrid king. This was definitely more active though. These were not stupid mobs I realized. These were a subclass that could be chosen therefore making their intelligence on par with the other races. From my vantage point I could see the whole brightly light cavern. Two stone huts stood in the center each about 50 by 70 feet long. Other small stone huts dotted the cavern and over 70 kobolds meandered about. Some training with weapons, but the majority were mining and hauling stone. There was no telling how many were in the huts. Looking over the cavern once more I noticed a more carefully etched area in the back. Carved into the back of the cavern was a crude representation of a small palace in rock. Two guards in some form of hide armor stood at the entrance with spears. I assumed that’s where the kobold’s “Master” lived or in my case, the floor boss. Backing up, I knew there was no way we were going to be able to take this unless we stealthily made our way through when they were sleeping or had more people. Not trusting mine or Elif’s stealth ability we headed back up.
Once at the entrance of the cave, we saw Gannon hauling stone on some crude sled he had fastened. Following up behind him we escorted him to the gate and then headed to the forest with nothing better to do. Starting across the plain I started to notice something strange. All of the previous small rabbits had turned into the level 15 bunny from hell I had fought. The field was littered with them. Not only that, but animals resembling lions roamed the plain. Though fewer, they looked a lot more vicious than the bunnies. Observing the plains, I realized the land was adapting to us and our level. Amazed at the complexity of the game I continued to stare out over the land noticing more and more life forms become visible. So
me of the beasts looked familiar to animals in the plains, but each one had a unique twist to it, that usually made it more menacing and deadly. A rhino in the distance was charcoal black, with a horn extending four feet off of its spike studded body looked clearly deadly. Contemplating this, I could only shudder at the thought of what had happened to the forest. The plains had been the easy part compared to the forest and with the plains adapting, that meant the forest would be impossible to enter now without dying.
Chapter 13
Elif and I carefully farmed for three hours at dawn before I had to get off and eat breakfast. We stuck to the giant rabbits and lion looking things the game called Lin cats. All of the mobs in the area had been at our level or a couple above which made it pretty easy for us to double team them. Elif had made it to level 12, which was a 4 level gain. Most of her points went towards dexterity making her shoot with pinpoint accuracy, as well as shoot insanely fast. I myself had been boosted two levels and 50% into the third level when I was killed.
We were on our way back when we ran into a rhino, or the rhino ran into us. All I know is I was about 100 yards away from the gate when I was impaled from behind losing the hard earned experience. Luckily Elif was ahead and managed to sprint inside the gate before she was also attacked. That was the main thing that ended up causing me to rage and quit.
Before leaving I was able to get my stuff back from where the rhino killed me, and I also checked my new stats after distributing my points. I was Impressed with the new and upgraded fire and health spells. My stats were all pretty even making me one hell of a player to handle most situations. The only problem was I wasn’t specialized in any way whatsoever which is what I was going to start working toward.
Name
Lucian(Lord of Shadow’s Edge. First Priest of The Dark One.)
Race
???
Class