End Online: Volume 1

by D Wolfin

  I have seven goblins directly in front of me, and two on either side. My skills are high enough I should be able to deal with them relatively quickly.

  “Perceptual Sight!” Time slows down, unlike when I use this technique with Fen the goblins become abnormally slow. I probably don’t need to use this sacred art but I need to be able to react to the goblins in time, otherwise they will swarm me.

  I decide to make the first move, lunging to my right I activated ‘CrossX’ on the nearest goblin, using both swords to cover its torso with a large ‘X’. I also make a rapid slash across its neck as I move to the next goblin. This goblin has already started its attack, a straight vertical slash with a szabla. Twisting my body I narrowly avoid the blade and counter attack directly to its throat and chest.

  Of course considering all of a sudden now that I am standing still I no longer have the advantage of speed to penetrate their natural defences. It is probably due to having weak weapons but the skin on these goblins is extremely tough and difficult to cut.

  I take a slash across my back, giving me a numb pain, it removed a little over a quarter of my health and an icon for bleeding appeared in the corner of my vision. The attack came from the first goblin I had attacked, it had made a quick recovery and still has sixty percent of its health left!

  ‘Curses!’ I have no hope of winning this battle. Unless I do something fast, the second group of goblins are going to be here and the enemies surrounding me will double or more.

  There is no other option, I never planned to use this but with no one else being around it should be okay to reveal my face for a moment and double my speed. I raise my hands up to my hood in preparation to take it off of my head. Grabbing one side with each of my hands I tried to pull it off but...

  ‘Huh? It’s stuck!’ Holding onto the hood no matter how hard I pulled I couldn’t budge it an inch. No, that’s not correct at all, no matter how hard I tried to pull I couldn’t move my arms and inch. It was not a matter of the hood being stuck but a matter of me not being able to bring myself to remove it.

  It was almost as if there is a second set of arms holding them and preventing them from moving. Quickly removing my hands in panic of the current situation I open my equipment menu, pressing on the cloak and then attempting to press on the unequip button. Once again something felt like it was grabbing my hand, preventing me from pressing it.

  I understand the shame I feel by removing my hood and revealing the face I wished to hide from everyone, but that can’t possibly be what is preventing me from removing my hood.

  ‘Is it the system? If it is, then why? Who is causing this?’ It has to be the effect of someone’s or something’s actions that is preventing me revealing my face.

  An impact to the back of my head brought me to my knees stunned, the equipment menu automatically closing. My health falls into the red zone and I can feel the world around me start to blur.

  Closing my eyes I morbidly accepted defeat, even with my high stats there was nothing I could do against this weak enemy. Weak weapons and armour prove to be a fundamental barrier for me at this moment.

  Fighting enemies stronger than wolves? Who am I kidding, my weapons are for level 4 and level 5 players after all.

  Soon my vision turns black, followed by my hearing and other senses. However the entire time my anger at Fen remained, I wonder if I will get the chance to be a vengeful spirit for a little.

  ***************************************************

  Stalagmites forming on the ceiling, a large slightly run down church and enormous ornate glass window behind me, I must have died. I should have followed that stupid wolf and jumped over the group, my agility is high enough that I should have had no problem doing so. But I wanted to test the experience points of a new monster too much and was overconfident in myself.

  Those goblins were far from weak too, how is a person supposed to judge the strength of a new monster before fighting them? I assume there should be some compendium of information about it somewhere on the internet at least, but I don’t have the time to log out and delay myself to do that.

  It is at this very moment that a thought appears in my mind. I run outside the church and directly into the confessional booth off to the side.

  “Welcome adventurer, to the place where you can define your destiny as you strive to become stronger. Under the light of the sun goddess Verde, speak your name.”

  “Lost.”

  “… Welcome back, Lost.”

  Once again with this weird way of talking after hearing my name, what is up with that?

  “As a follower of the sun, a devotee of the Radiant Church. Allow me to hear what it is you wish for.”

  The list of skills I can buy appears in front of me. If I remember correctly there was a skill in here that would help me determine the strength of a monster. Ah, there it is!

  You have bought 'Creature Analysis' for 4 Levels!

  You have no empty skill slots so this skill will be placed in your skill reserve, you may change the equipped skills outside of combat at any time.

  Creature Analysis (SLvl 1, 0%) -Active

  Looking through a discerning eye for so long you have gained to skill to accurately gauge the strength of all creatures.

  The stronger this skill is the easier it is to analyse more powerful creatures.

  Cannot be used on players and NPCs.

  SLvl 1:

  - Able to determine the name of a creature

  - Reveal the level of any monster up to 1.1 X Player Level

  Perfect! This is just what I need! I replace my currently useless ‘Smithing’ skill with my new ‘Creature Analysis’ skill and run off to the great white wolf’s cave to retrace my steps and find where that goblin encampment was.

  I dropped back down to level 24 but it isn’t so bad this time and I should be able to get it back relatively quickly.

  Along the way I test out my new skill on some wolves that were unfortunate enough to cross my path.

  Name: Grey Wolf

  Level: 10

  Health: 100

  Magic: 0

  Stamina: 0

  Through countless encounters and battles you have become highly knowledgeable about the Grey Wolf. Living in the frozen Kingdom of Glace, these animals are not only highly ferocious but also adapted to fighting in the cold climates. Where most people will get weaker in the cold the grey wolf becomes stronger...

  There was some more information but I will have to go through it later. By the words it used it seems like the more I battle a monster the more information I gain on it, even if most of it is useless.

  I have a serious issue with Fen right now, I looked at my status window after I was revived and losing one point in every stat was completely wrong. The higher the skill was the more that was lost. My mid level stats lost two to three points each and my agility stat lost a massive six points!

  At the cave I calculated the trajectory I took when I left during the storm. Instead of walking to town I appeared to have walked considerably south of it, hopefully I walked in a relatively straight line otherwise I will most likely not be able to find the camp and Fen.

  I’m not entirely sure when it started but I take notice of a small list of messages a corner of my vision, using a hand I pressed on it and it expanded in front of me where I could easily read it.

  Companion Window:

  [13:11]'Fen' has gained a level.

  [13:32]'Fen' has gained a level.

  [14:09]'Fen' has gained a level.

  [14:48]'Fen' has gained a level.

  [15:21]'Fen' has gained a level.

  Unbelievable! I die and that god damned wolf finally decides to do something! Stealing all the experience and gaining five levels since my death!

  I start running faster than I was in order to find the goblins. I can’t see any wolves around the current area I am in which is a good sign, but I am running through a decent crop of tree’s so they could still be out there.

  I
finally break out of the trees into a large frozen tundra, low hills and snow expanding as far as the eye could see. I couldn’t see during the storm but the goblin camp should be hiding somewhere around here.

  Walking up the first hill I stood at the highest point and scanned the surroundings. The village was well hidden according to my memory. However a few hills away with my ‘Hunter’s Eyes’ skill I spot a little green thing running away from a white wolf at least five times its size. At least it was running until a large icicle impaled it into the ground, followed by some razor sharp claws cutting it to pieces.

  Fen! I broke out into a run in the direction of the wolf and arrived in front of it in minutes. Fen was startled that I was in front of her, even more so I bed when I launched a fist onto the top of her nose.

  “FEN! ****! How could you just leave me there to die! I get you’re grumpy over me dragging you out of the cave, but it had to be done so get over it! Else we are going to have a serious problem, okay?! ****!”

  Maybe I let loose a bit too much, should I prepare to be a toothpick? Although, I really can’t afford to lose even more stat points.

  In front of me the wolf started wagging her tail and rubs her great big head against me, throwing me off balance. I scold this wolf and it starts acting friendly? What the hell is up with that?

  “Cut it out! Now I’m going to go see how strong those goblins are and you’re coming with me as my guard! I’ve seen how easily you handle them and you better not abandon me again!”

  I climb the hill I am currently on to get a good view of the goblin encampment just ahead, Fen following behind happily wagging her tail.

  Poking my head over the ridge I look for a goblin to test my analysis eyes on. All around the camp were goblins, little boxes of loot hanging over their dead bodies.

  “You seriously ran away when you can do this?!”

  I shoot a piercing glare at Fen, this whole area is a slaughter, she has the same speed I do only much more brutal attacks. I wonder what her level is, “Analyse.”

  Name: 'Fen' (Queen Class)

  Level: 35

  Health: 730

  Magic: 310

  Stamina: 362

  Being your companion you can always view Fen's current status regardless of any skill restrictions.

  Little is known about this great white wolf except a few rumors that she is one of the offspring of Fenrir. Can use ice based magic and physical techniques related to extreme speeds. Immune to the cold and highly resistant to most magic.

  Impressive! Fen has some really nice stats, although the ‘Queen Class’ next to her name confuses me a little. She also has incredibly high stats compared to her level. Perhaps it is similar to how a boss monster naturally is much stronger than a normal monster.

  I turn around and spot a goblin approaching the camp from the hill on the far side, looking at it I activate analyse to get its stat.

  There is no creature in your field of view, analyse failed.

  Tch, it seems to be too far away, but I still have a method to still analyse it, first staring at its location considerably hard to silently activate ‘Hunter’s Eyes’ my sight zooms in on its position, not enough to make out any detail, but enough to analyse it.

  Name: Goblin

  Level: ??

  Health: ??

  Magic: ??

  Stamina: ??

  Goblins will attack in groups. While they are lacking in brains and tactics, they make up for that fault with an unnaturally strong strength.

  Damn, that was useless. I guess I am not high enough level to reveal its any information on how strong it is.

  “Fen, that goblin over there is mine and mine alone! You take care of any more that come.”

  The wolf gives me a look that seems to be an affirmative and casually follows behind me, looking for prey to the sides.

  Racing through the desolate camp I meet the goblin in the central area. A few crude pole torches are scattered around like poles of twisted metal, and off to the side is a considerable crevice in the ground expanding about ten meters long. Interestingly I failed to notice that from outside the village.

  It also appears to have a ledge running down it to go deeper, it must be some dungeon. I will have to come back with a stronger weapon to explore it

  No matter, my attention needs to be on this goblin. It does not look very menacing, it’s half my size and carrying a rusty machete. ‘Aggravation’ takes effect and the goblin seems to lose all reasoning as it blindly charges at me, preparing its weapon to slash directly down.

  At two paces away the blade of rust came swinging down, directly vertical as predicted. I place one foot behind the other, and using that as the pivot point I spin to the side. I use the momentum of the spin to swing one of my swords at high speed.

  The machete strikes empty air but my attack lands, even if it is only across the goblin’s shoulder. I feel a little resistance from its tough body but I had enough speed in the swing to break through its defences and land the attack.

  A bar shows it only lost about ten percent health from the attack but it’s better than nothing. My speed outclassed the goblin to the point where it simply is not even a fair match. Slipping behind its back and I activate ‘Triple Thrust’.

  An ear screeching howl broke my concentration as the goblin cried out in pain, thankfully there were no more goblins in the area to hear the noise and come rushing over. No surprise, I used a sacred art to score a critical hit on the goblin’s back after all. The health bar had fallen well below fifty percent and the little green thing appeared to be panting for breath.

  A fistful of snow flew at my face from the goblin. Not expecting such a tactic, it hit me in the eyes before I could react, the goblin taking the full advantage of me being momentarily blinded swung its machete into my thigh.

  I can feel the strength draining out of me as my health drops to seventy percent, such a heavy blow for such a small creature completely astonished me. It is no wonder I was slaughtered before by these little things surrounding me!

  I start to get the feeling that these aren’t particularly the weakest creatures in the game. But no matter if it is just one then I can handle it. Wiping the snow from my eyes I retreat backwards to avoid the goblin’s next swing, before running in a circle to flank it.

  It turns itself to follow my movements but I circle faster than it can turn. Once I feel like I am safe enough I close the gap at high speed to slash the goblin across the back of the neck, striking fast enough to cut its tough skin like a hot knife through butter.

  I don’t stop moving, continuing my momentum through the attack and opening some distance in returning to circling the goblin. I repeat this technique of striking from the blind spots and in two strikes the goblin keels over and dies, and I receive a massive fourteen percent experience towards my next level!

  From the loot menu it dropped thirty copper coins, a rusty machete, and a piece of rotten meat that it had in its pocket.

  Rusted Iron Machete

  The machete is a great weapon for not only cutting

  through jungles but also cutting through your opponents.

  What a shame the materials were so poor that it only

  took moment before the entire weapon oxidized and turned

  into a blade of rust.

  The blade is 43cm long.

  Requirements:

  - Level 3

  - Str 13

  - Dex 15

  Weapon Type: Single Edge/Short Sword

  Attack: 2 - 14

  Durability: 11/16

  Weight: 2.8 lbs

  Fortunately when death comes, while you may drop all the coin pouches you have, you gain another one when you respawn.

  I take the money but everything else is absolute rubbish, even the weapon. Clicking discard on the items left in the menu I admire how much strength it was to deal that kind of damage to me, the damage output of the weapon was so poor I would have a better chance of killing monsters by giving them teta
nus.

  Behind me Fen is sprawled out on her stomach expressing her boredom at me.

  “Sorry Fen, but you got to have your fun before! Anyway let’s go collect this loot that you have left lying around everywhere and go back to the city, I won’t get lost this time.”

  If anyone else were to enter this small gap in the hills they would most likely be shocked, all around me up to the tops of the hills are little black loot boxes littered all over. Fen follows me as I approach the nearest one.

  Normally only the person who deals the death strike can see the loot box but being a companion I can see and loot Fen’s kills. Not that she could do much with those giant paws, I was simply relieved that the loot boxes didn’t appear two and a half meters in the air at her head height.

  Well, loot menu’s become universally accessible after a certain period of time anyway.

  ‘Time to get my money’s worth out of this wolf!’ Oh the joy of being the only person who can gather such a large amount of loot!

  ***************************************************

  ***************************************************

  -Verde-

  After that night came to pass where the intruder broke in and murdered my character, I logged to a cold sweat breaking out on my face, traces of the pain seemed to reside in my chest.

  ‘That was NOT natural! What the hell was that?!’ I screamed in my head remembering the pain. Not only did someone break into an area where it was supposed to be completely private and secure, but launched a death dealing attack which somehow managed to induce severe pain, something that is supposed to be impossible.

  Unfortunately for them, this will not scare me off! That person clearly has something to do with the hooded person I stole the cheap weapons from. If I can follow him in secret I can probably find out exactly who that person was!