by Jason Cheek
“We have goblin patrols incoming.”
A smile played across my lips as I saw the nervous faces of my teammates. It was kind of ridiculous. When they’d faced these Goblins yesterday, they hadn’t even been level 10. Now they were all level 21, except for Unalia who was level 22, and they were acting like nervous newbs. This wasn’t even going to be a contest. There was only one group of Worg Riders between us and the rocky outcrop. Some other group must have cleaned out the other group of Goblins which was interesting in itself. Behind us, I noticed a bunch of lower level players hanging back preparing to rush the gap as soon as we engaged the mobs.
Before I’d completed the thought, my teammates opened up their attack as Flurry bolts began flying over my head from Yun, while a stream of iron-tipped arrows flew past me into the oncoming enemy with pinpoint accuracy from Unalia as Sarka suddenly sprinted forward with her sword and shield. Flowing Yun’s example, I released my Flurry blasts as the Goblins’ Worgs tumbled to the ground dead throwing their riders as the Raiders’ entire attack collapsed.
Drawing my Brutal Skullsplitter and Marauder Warblade, a wave of ice spread out across the ground with the release of my Frost Nova spell freezing the heap of stunned Goblins in place as Sarka crashed into the closest Goblin with a combined Shield Bash and Power Attack. Behind the next Goblin, Tinyr appeared with a whirl of flashing blades as his wife’s blurring Quick Shot assault focused in the Goblins furthest away. I’d just about closed the distance to the remaining Goblin when another double blast of ice ended the mob’s life in a spray of bloody slush. Coming to a stop, I looked around for a new target, but everything was dead. Shaking my head in mock annoyance, I swore at my team.
“What the fuck guys, you can’t save one of the green bastards for me?”
“You know, I hadn’t realized just how slow you were until now. What do you think Sarka?” Tinyr said sheathing his swords with a shit eating grin.
“Yea, I used to think he was pretty badass but now I don’t know. What to think, do we still want him on the team?” Sarka asked with a laugh.
“Well, he did steal those four Worg kills from me,” Unalia said in mock outrage as she joined the conversation.
“Yea, maybe we need to come up with a better loot distribution system,” Yun said slapping my shoulder with a grin that reached ear-to-ear as the horde of low-level characters raced past us cheering.
“Seriously guys, that was pretty kick ass. Now let’s loot and get moving.” I said, getting my skinning knife out.
We looted the mobs quickly in high spirits and hurried to the mine’s entrance. It wasn’t that any of the drops were worth anything special, but money was money, and we all needed it. Besides, there was something about tromping the mobs that were just killing you the day before that made their loot that much better. The giddy smiles they all shared said it all. I hid my smile as we strode past the lower level players watched us with looks of awe and envy as we made our way to the red teleportation crystal in the center of the rocky platform.
The crowd of players gave away to two teams of Syndicate players standing directly before the glowing shard with a scattering of tombstones around them. They all had the red label of Player Killers over their heads. A few Syndicate Players sneered at Sarka as she approached, but the eagerness with which she whipped out her Marauder Warblade made most of them back away nervously.
“Looks like we have a little momma here that wants to have a good time.” A player named PunkuGood Syndicate said stepping forward waving his daggers around like some TV hoodlum as his partner in crime stepped up next to him drawing two basic swords.
“These suckers get a few levels and think they suddenly know how to fight. Maybe I’ll give her a good poke before we slit her throat.” Shankolots Syndicate said leering crudely at Sarka as he completely ignored the rest of us.
I felt my anger beginning to rear its ugly head as I reached for my hilts. Next to me, Tinyr was pulling his blades free of their sheaths, when Unalia put her hand on his shoulder to stop him. “Sarka and I have these two wannabe punks. How about you guys take care of their minions.” Sarka flashed a wicked smile over her shoulder at Unalia’s words as a motion behind me caught my attention.
“Mind if we take care of those minions for you instead?” A player named Ryns Hunter said stepping up before the Syndicate players as one of the tombstones disappeared.
“Some of us have a score to settle with those assholes.” Another player named Florindel Aerythlea said next to us as a burning flame burst to life in her open palm. Up and down the front of Syndicate’s lines, tombstones disappeared as more and more players stepped up. By the time the last of the new players stopped filling in around us, there was thirteen pissed of players surround the Syndicate group.
“Hold up there guys, you know we were just doing some role-playing. It’s nothing to get pissy about.” PunkuGood said nervously holding his hands up.
“Yea, ganking is just part of PVP. You don’t need to get your panties in a knot.” Shankolots chimed in.
“Oh, that’s good to know you feel that way,” Sarka said stepping forward menacingly. “Momma needs some beer money for tonight.”
“Uh, how much do you need?” PunkuGood asked nervously looking back and forth between the pissed off players that surrounded them.
“How much do I need?” Sarka repeated thoughtfully with as a smile played across her lips. “As much silver as your lifeless corpse drops when I slit your throat.”
Before the words had a chance to sink in, Sarka was already moving as Unalia’s bow began twinging like a semi-automatic. PunkuGood was blasted off his feet with arrows piercing his body in midair from Unalia. Without slowing down, Sarka backhanded strike slashed across Shankolots throat as she followed up with the iron edge of her shield. Unalia sent five arrows thudding into his skull killing him instantly as Sarka drove her Marauder Warblade up through PunkuGood’s throat and into his skull with an Execute, while the rest of the players slaughtered the remaining Syndicate players in a matter of seconds. Yun stepped up next to me wide-eyed as we watched the action while Tinyr spoke up next to us eying his wife.
“Dude, I think you’ve created a monster.”
“Make that two,” Yun said under his breath with a prideful smile as he watched his wife fight.
“Yea, tell me about it,” I added sadly. “I’m starting to feel like a fifth wheel here.”
While I might sound put off about being left out of the action, in truth I was thrilled to see my new guildmates’ newfound confidence in their own abilities. Also, it was nice to see them standing up like that against a bunch of PKing assholes. I wasn’t your typical PVPer. While I liked having guild battles and facing off against people of similar levels, I wasn’t one of those players that got off of ganking lowbies for the fun of it. Well, not unless they were griefing other players. I never did understand the draw of one-shotting low-level players or teaming up in a big group to gank solo players. On most PVP servers, that was just how the game was played. You might get lucky and have a friend or a bored high-level character come and give you a hand, but mostly low-level players that came under the eye of a high-level player were just ganked repeatedly. With The World, there were no official PVP areas except for the arena which were more like contests between players for a reward. Unfortunately, arena battles wouldn’t put a stop to most of the ganking going on in the wilds, since most PVPers didn’t want a fair fight.
“Is this anyone’s Cruel Bastard Sword?” Sarka asked holding up a blade after looting PunkuGood’s corpse.
“Um, I think that’s mine.” Ryns spoke-up with an embarrassed tinge of red to his cheeks.
“Don’t worry about it. This is our third run-in with these asshats.” Sarka said handing the sword over. “The first time they spawned camped us and nearly stripped us of all of our gear before Startum gave us a hand.”
“Ryns Hunter, thanks again for the help.” The warrior said introducing himself with a handshake along w
ith the rest of his team as several other players yelled out thanks before using the teleporter.
“Thank you for standing up to those losers.” A musical voice chimed in behind Ryns as the fire mage from earlier stepped forward extending her hand. “Florindel Aerythlea.” We all went through another quick round of introductions as we found out what had happened.
The two Syndicate teams had started picking off solo players as they came to use the portal. After being killed a few times, the players teamed up together and were going to take on their tormentors when we showed up. Both groups were friendly and even offered us a handful of silvers in gratitude, which we promptly turned down. We ended up adding each other to our friends’ lists before transporting together to the instance.
Warping into the cavern before the shimmering blue curtain to the instance, I heard a growing muttering fill the air as soon as started to make our way through the crowd of waiting players. More than one hand pointed accusingly in our direction as we passed by. The snips I heard were about the horde of Goblins that had overrun the entire dungeon or the prisoner quest we managed to complete. There was more than one angry glare directed our way.
“Hey Star, I think we’d better jump into the instance ASAP man!” Tinyr said looking around nervously.
“What the fuck man, did you just call me Star?” I asked, somewhat annoyed.
“Isn’t Star one of the Teen Titans?” Yun asked confused as I rolled my eyes at his words.
“It’s the natural tendency for people to create nicknames from the first 3 or 4 letters of a friend’s name,” Unalia said in a professor like voice. “Like Sar for Sarka, Tiny for Tinyr, Una for Unalia or Star for Startum.”
“What about my name?” Yun asked thoughtfully.
“Most players usually have a bit more creativity in their name creation.” Unalia semi-apologized with a grin. “I guess you just don’t have a good name.”
“Back to my point guys. We need to get the fuck out of here.” Tinyr hissed out in a low whisper all joking aside. “Like right fucking now!”
I had to agree with the little thief as I saw several groups beelining for us through the muttering crowd. Taking the lead, I stood-up straight pushing back my shoulders to make myself look even bigger as I focused on my Frost Magic. Immediately glowing, blue-white clouds of ice began whirling around my hands like the promise of death as I heard the rasp of iron on leather around me as the rest of the party drew their weapons. Instantly the players milling before the instance fell back out of our way as we stepped through the shimmering portal a moment later.
“What the hell was that all about?” Sarka asked as the blood-soaked room of the dungeon appeared before us with the mutilated, half-eaten corpse of the dead just like before.
“They’re probably pissed-off about the horde of Goblins that invaded the cavern from our escort quest,” I answered with a frown as we sprinted to the far side of the room like a well-oiled machine. Approaching the doorway on the far side of the room, we split into two groups on either side of the entrance. Tinyr fell in next to me while the rest of the team followed Sarka.
“They’re probably pissed we were the first to take out one of the bosses.” Tinyr huffed out while throwing his back against the wall. “Last I’d heard, no one had managed to kill any of the bosses. I’m sure they just want a piece of the title and reputation that goes along with the first boss kill.”
“Good point! Now, how about we quiet the fuck down before the mobs hear us?” I snapped in a harsh whisper. As soon as we came to a stop, a golden glow shimmered into place around Sarka as I prepared to cast my new shielding spell, Ice Barrier. I figured the golden glow now surrounding Sarka was probably Yun’s new shielding spell he’d picked up upon reaching level 20 in Light Magic. The stats he’d given me for the spell had been pretty impressive. Calling up the information on both spells, I quickly compared their stats:
Ice Barrier (30 Mana) – Instant cast – Shields caster for 1 minute, absorbing 1400% of ranged spell damage. Melee attacks against caster reduces the attacker’s movement speed by 50% for 5 seconds. Armor Class is not increased. Requires frost magic skill level 20. Can only be cast on self. 10 second cooldown. Expires automatically after a half an hour.
Holy Shield (80 Mana) – 3 sec cast – Absorbs 350 points of damage. Requires healing magic skill level 20. Range 60 yards. Can only be cast on one target at a time. 10 second cooldown. Expires automatically after a half an hour.
Although both spells were pretty awesome, they still had their plusses and minuses. While Ice Barrier protected the mage from about 420 points of damage and had an impressive slowdown for melee attackers, it was only good for ranged magic attacks, had a 10-second cooldown and was limited to being used only by the mage that actually cast the spell. Holy Shield, on the other hand, was slightly weaker, taking only 350 points of damage, but it was good against all damage types, had the same 10-second cooldown but could be cast on anyone. Alone each shielding spell was good for two high-level attacks individually and wasn’t considered overpowered since in most cases you weren’t going to have your squishy mage leading the group’s charge.
Fortunately for me, I was the exception. Although I had no idea when we’d be finishing up with today’s run, one way or another I would make sure to reach level 20 in Light Magic and make it back to the temple in time to learn Holy Shield before heading back to the small village I’d built for the refugees of House of Kayden. The thought of having two shielding spells that I could cast at the same time made me giddy in anticipation. Freaking Red mages for the win! I silently chortled.
As soon as I heard the scraping sounds of claws on stone, I cast my Ice Barrier spell and drew my blades as the rest of the team tensed for action. The nervousness that had been in the team’s eyes the day before was gone, replaced with excited anticipation. At the first sign of movement, I held my breath as the squad of twelve, level 20 Elite Goblin Guards burst into the room with their weapons bared. Behind the guards strode in the familiar looking forms of a Goblin mage and shaman with their staffs held at the ready. Catching Sarka’s eye, I nodded to her and lunged for a Sneak Attack against the Goblin mage closest to me.
Even though we’d slaughtered over a 100 Goblins last night, we’d been backed up with 35 NPCs and another whole team fighting along with us, not even mentioning the crowd of players waiting to enter the instance. Throughout the whole fight, I’d only needed to face two to three Goblins at any one time on a one-to-one basis. Even the Slave Master fight we’d only faced a total of 7 Goblins, and I’d managed to kill two of the Slave Drivers outright before the fight ever begun. The toughest fight, on a purely numerical basis, was the first battle of the instance where we’d faced these same 14 Goblins alone. I crossed my fingers hoping that Sarka managed to take out the Goblin shaman before the green bastard managed to get an attack off. The bad luck of the draw had put the Goblin on the far side, and there wasn’t anything I could do. Maybe it was a residual fear from my days playing World of Warcraft, but, for whatever reason, shamans scared me more than fire mages ever did.
My first dual-wield attack did over 1700 points of Sneak Attack damage in the first strike which killed the Goblin fire mage instantly. Unfortunately, the attack was a split-second quicker than Sarka, which meant the mage’s shrieking death cry gave the shaman enough warning to twist around and see Sarka’s strike before it could catch him unaware. Instead of doing a massive crit, her Marauder Warblade ended up only doing its base attack damage. That simple mistake turned the battle into instant chaos.
I swore harshly under my breath at the lack of forethought as I instantly realized the problem. I hadn’t brought Sarka with me on any of the scouting missions the day before. Also, she’d never gotten the chance to pick up the Sneak Attack or Backstab skills. I was ripping my blades free when I saw Tinyr sprint past me. In the blink of an eye, he dove for the shaman’s blind spot triggering his Sneak Attack, but before he could strike, Sarka Shield Bashed the shaman off his
feet into the Elite Goblin Guards who were swinging around to face us.
In that split-second series of mishaps, I did the only thing I could. Immediately a wave of ice blasted out from my body freezing the mobs in place, while a look of horror spread across Sarka’s shocked face as she instantly realized her mistake. The Shield Bash was a good strategy for stunning a caster to stop their spell cast, but we needed to take the green bastard out before he could react. I was sheathing my swords to free up my hands for my Frost attack when Tinyr spun around and lunged for the frozen shaman.
“No Tiny!” My shout of warning came too late as I helplessly watched Tinyr slam into the mob blades first.
“βrumur sprengja!” The shaman’s guttural shriek was instantaneous. As soon as Tinyr’s blades broke the freeze spell holding the Goblin in place, a brilliant flash of light flared from the shaman’s hands blasting the small thief across the room as thick bands of pulsating lightning momentarily lit-up the darkened chamber with harsh actinic light.
The strength of the blast made the hair of my arms stand on end as I threw my first Flurry blast. I saw Yun turn to face the unmoving Tinyr chanting away at a long healing spell as Unalia’s arrows began slamming into the Goblin in a blur as she triggered her Quickshot skill. The shaman’s health dropped to half as my second Flurry spell splashed across the mob’s bony breastplate as another lightning bolt flared from the mob’s clawed fingertips. Instantly a blue bubble flared to life as my Ice Barrier shimmered in the air around me. The shield absorbed the majority of the damage and collapsed in on itself as the residual energy danced across my armor momentarily locking my muscles up with spasms.
Fighting against the paralysis of the lightning spell’s effect, I forced my body to respond a second later as I flung another Flurry spell at the shaman, dropping the mob’s Hit Points into the red as another lightning bolt blasted into my chest. This time my body locked up as electricity surged through my body as I screamed in pure agony. Unable to move, I saw Unalia finish the bastard off with her arrows as Sarka plunged her blade into the chest of the closest Elite Goblin Guard.