Cursemancer

by A P Gore

  Instead, Noah laughed. The goblins couldn't even guess what really killed them. The only bad thing was that he got no experience out of it due to the expansion site rules.

  30. Showdown

  N oah’s curse left a nasty odor behind. The air stank of goblin blood. At least the annoying goblin sounds were gone. If somebody had seen him standing between heaps of dead monster ash, they would have certainly thought: how badass he is? But Noah was far from badass. His heart was racing like frightened animal, and he knew it was all trickery. But whatever it took, he would kill those bastards who dared to touch his daughter.

  Noah gulped a minor health potion to refill his life. Only twenty more minutes were left for his reputation counter to reset. Rubbing some soil saturated with goblin blood over his face and arms, he returned to the goblin hide out. He had a plan, and smelling like a goblin was one of the crucial parts for its success.

  His heart seized up at his first close look at the big fat goblin. The goblin had red eyes—much more frightening than he’d assumed. He was fat, but he had the strength of a warrior too. A large, thick, metal staff resting against a nearby boulder was testament to it. He wore hard leather armor, and somehow Noah knew it would be tough to crack.

  The fat goblin sized him up as Noah approached. Thanks to his reputation hack, the goblin didn't attack him on sight.

  Noah stole a glance at his little girl. She was still unconscious, but her health was stable at the halfway mark. He wasn’t too worried about that. He had saved one health potion for her.

  “Human, what you doing here?” The fat goblin said. His language and pronunciation were much better than the other goblins.

  “Lord goblin, I come bearing bad news.” Noah made a sad face and moaned in fake pain.

  The goblin sniffed. “I smell goblin blood. Where are my guards?” He thumped his staff on the ground. For a moment, Noah thought his staff would generate the ripples Shui's staff had, but nothing happened. It was just a demonstration of discomfort.

  “A giant snake burned your army, goblin lord.” Noah lowered his eyes.

  “What giant snake? There is no giant snake nearby.” The fat goblin came forward and raised Noah's chin with the end of his staff. He stared in Noah’s eyes, evoking fright in Noah’s heart. “I sense turmoil in your eyes, human. Why are you here? Tell me the real truth, and your death will come easy.” His words had a razor-sharp edge.

  “I have proof, lord goblin.” Real fear leaked into Noah’s voice. He was afraid for himself, but he was more afraid of what would happen to Thia if he died before saving her. He dropped to his knees, pulled the white spear out of his bag, and presented it.

  The goblin snatched the spear out of his hand and studied it carefully. “This spear belongs to Cathial. Where did you get it?”

  “I stole it from the great snake, before running to you,” Noah answered.

  “And how did you survive the great snake?”

  “Your goblins killed the great snake before dying. The great snake left a treasure, but I came to get you.” Noah conjured the most innocent smile he could, but his insides churned with fright. This was the tipping point. Either the goblin commander would buy his lie, or he wouldn’t.

  The commander eyed him suspiciously. Noah knew the goblin's basic instincts might be telling him to kill the human, but his reputation prevented it.

  “Please lord, let me prove myself to you by showing you the treasure,” Noah added. He didn't have much time; the reputation boost was about to wear off.

  The commander looked at the remaining warrior and signaled him to wait, then followed Noah alone. It made little difference to Noah. He could fight the remaining goblin one-on-one afterword. Noah quickened his pace towards the boundary of the expansion site.

  “See, lord. The snake skin.” Noah pointed at the snake skin on the ground. He hadn’t known it was there; it was pure fortune that he noticed the dead skin sloughed by the snake at some point before it’d died.

  The goblin picked it up and sniffed it. After his nod, Noah pressed onward. They walked along a diminishing path as the forest grew thinner as they closed in the expansion site boundary. As the actual site of the ambush came closer, Noah’s pulse quickened.

  Noah halted when he spotted his stone-marked boundary of the expansion site. “This one is afraid, lord. Why don't you go ahead and check there?” He pointed at the ashes of the goblins. Two spears lay beside the ashes telling their last story.

  The fat goblin watched him carefully for a moment, then suddenly waved his staff, conjuring a purple orb with it.

  The spell flew at Noah, taking him by surprise in the face, scoring a crit and reducing his life by 60. But the loss of life wasn’t the real issue. The real issue was the burning skin and pain that followed the spell. For a moment, Noah thought he would lose control and fall down. Instead, he tumbled backward, landing hard on his back. Another big purple spell wooshed past, right where he’d been standing.

  Noah sighed with relief, but he wasn’t out of danger. The danger was just beginning. Another spell came at him. He rolled to his right, dodging it by a hair's width. The spell created a small hole in the ground, a hole that would have been in him if he’d been there. The hair on the back of his neck rose as he dodged another spell that pierced a tree trunk like it was made of foam.

  He couldn't take it easy anymore. He chanted the fire ball curse at the goblin. A black circle appeared around the goblin. Noah smiled inwardly, but then… the curse failed. The fire ball stuck an invisible wall and dissolved.

  “What the heck!”

  A quick look at his notifications provided the answer.

  Curse of Fire orb hit the goblin for 0 damage. Damage absorbed by mana shield.

  Damn! The fatso was using some kind of shield that prevented his attacks. He had already lost 100 spirit. That left him with 160 more. Wasting it on a mana shield wasn't an option.

  Noah jumped to his right, avoiding the next purple ball, but lost his balance and ran into a tree, loosing 20 life. The game was too damn realistic for such small things. Noah rolled away to avoid the next purple ball.

  How much mana does he have?

  A black spear lying on the ground caught Noah's eye, and he got an idea. He grabbed the spear and ran at the goblin commander. The goblin shot back-to-back purple balls at him, but somehow Noah dodged them all. When he was a couple feet away, he charged the mage commander, absorbing the next purple ball with his body. The pain was intense, and unconsciousness beckoned, but he pressed forward with all his might, thrusting his spear at the goblin's shield. If his guess was right, the shield only protected the goblin from magic attacks, leaving him wide open to physical attacks.

  The spear pierced into the goblin's gut, and the monster lost his concentration. He screamed in a high pitch and tried to grab Noah with his bare hands.

  Noah jumped back and cursed the goblin with his fire ball curse, setting the goblin on fire. The next curse was easy, and the fat goblin commander died in less than three seconds, leaving behind a rotten smell and a heap of ash.

  Noah dropped to his knees, drawing a deep breath. The last thirty minutes had been the longest in his life. He had killed four goblins with trickery and chance, but it had taken a lot out of him. Now only one goblin was left, and Thia would be free. He was left with 230 life, but it was enough for a fight with a level 5 goblin.

  He shouldn't have underestimated the last goblin.

  He realized his mistake when a spear ran through his heart and reduced his life by 200 points. He dropped to the ground with the spear still in his body, realizing the goblin warrior had managed to score a major crit on him.

  31. Expansion Site

  T he goblin warrior towered over Noah. Pulling his spear out of Noah's body, he loosed a limb-shattering growl. As the spearhead came out of his body, Noah felt every artery it cut through as if in slow motion. As he died, Noah wondered if the warrior was on steroids, as he seemed larger than the first time Noah had seen h
im. The pain intensified as Noah's life dropped below 10. Noah's consciousness faded into nothingness.

  A jolt of relief woke Noah as warmth spread through his body like someone was feeding him life. He cracked his eyes open, expecting to see the usual respawn room, but he wasn’t there. He was still in the forest. A thick green bush eased his pain further, and his life bar jumped to 100. He was laying below a tree. But how did he get there? And how was it healing him?

  Five seconds passed, and his life jumped to 139. Another five seconds, and it jumped to 178. It was then that he noticed that the poison debuff had expired, and his life was regenerating every five seconds by 39 points. The tree wasn’t healing him after all. Shui had saved his life once again, this time with the lingering effects of his potion.

  Noah tilted his head to check on the warrior. It was definitely the same one he’d left back at the goblin hideout. He was wearing a similar gray jacket to the one the remaining warrior had, but something had changed for sure. He was more muscular than before, and he had muscles where there were none before.

  The oversized warrior was on his knees, checking the ashes of his master.

  Noah cast a quick perception on the warrior.

  Goblin Warrior level 5

  Buff of Timura's blessing active.

  Health 400/400

  That's it. He has a buff active.

  Noah remained silent until his life reached 300. It was a precious 10 seconds to lose, but necessary. He wondered where Thia was. If the warrior was here, she was alone, and any monster could have feasted upon her by now. But he had to wait. The warrior had a buff, and Noah didn't really understand what kind of buff it was.

  When the warrior lifted the goblin mage's staff, Noah cast his curse of fire ball on the warrior. The curse hit the goblin for 20 damage, and that meant Noah would have to overcome the fire resistance penalty and penetrate the warrior's skin somehow.

  Shit!

  The warrior turned to face Noah.

  Noah shot a poison orb, which did 5 damage to the warrior. At this rate, it would take hours to kill the goblin, and the goblin wasn't going to wait around for it. He was charging. Noah had no ideas left, so he activated his poison shield and countered the warrior’s attack.

  Noah still took 50 damage, but as the warrior charged past, Noah sunk his dagger in the warrior's neck.

  The dagger slid off the goblin's skin like it had hit stone, doing only 1 damage.

  But it did what Noah was aiming for. It pricked the warrior's skin, drawing a single drop of blood.

  That was enough.

  Noah chanted his boiling blood curse, but it had no effect. The goblin warrior turned back with his spear extended in front of his body, ready to pierce Noah's heart.

  Noah chanted his curse again, and this time it worked. A tiny flame emerged out of the goblin's neck where Noah's dagger had pricked him. The fire burned the warrior's skin, exposing more blood. Noah repeated his curse, and the small fire turned into a raging inferno. Fire burst through every hole the goblin had in his body, and then it devoured him like he was made up of paper.

  By the time the fire was finished eating him, the goblin was just another pile of ash.

  Noah dropped to the ground. He was mentally and physically exhausted, and his stamina was low, but Thia was in danger, so he got to his feet and ran for the goblin hideout. Running with all the speed he could manage with such low stamina, he cursed the glass-man relentlessly. But the gods were smiling upon him that day. Thia was safe. Half tied to the pole, but safe and stable.

  Noah untied Thia and took her in his embrace. He kissed her forehead; he had missed her. With teary eyes, he vowed to himself that no matter what, he would protect her from all the dangers. She would be safe with him going forward.

  He poured his last health potion into Thia's mouth, and her life bar refilled. When it reached full, she opened her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Surprisingly, it wasn't her usual tough and rough way of showing affection. She hugged him like a real-world four-year-old girl, gentle and soft. Maybe she was still afraid of the goblins.

  “Don't worry, sweetie. Daddy won't let anyone harm you again.”

  She replied with a silent nod and dropped her head on his shoulder.

  “Ohh sweetie. You are sleepy, I understand.” He lifted her in his arms and turned back to return to town. On the way, he dropped by the expansion site and accepted the claim there.

  A golden-brown notification popped up.

  Congratulations! You have claimed an expansion site, Bones of Fire Dragon. Now you can expand your settlement using this site. Note: You can't build a town hall on the expansion site.

  Congratulations! You have gained new passive skill. Breath of the Fire Dragon: -10% enemy fire resistance. +10% poison resistance. When fighting on the expansion site, +10% experience gained. -10% to enemy fire resistance.

  Wow! This was awesome. He’d gained a passive power.

  He also spotted a new menu below the notification menu.

  Town Builder: You have gained access to the buildings available for the expansion site.

  Builders Hut: Provide basic shelter for the builders. Requirement: 100 Builder Points. Do you want to insta-build it? Yes/No?

  He selected yes out of curiosity, but nothing other than an error appeared.

  Sorry. Not enough build points. Do you want to direct a builder to build a hut for you? Yes/No?

  He again selected yes, and another error popped up.

  Sorry. No builder available. Build a town hall to produce builders.

  What the heck is all this?

  He wanted to explore more, but Thia was on his shoulder, and the night was coming fast. He could always come back and find out what else the expansion site provided to him.

  32. Curse of Sumara

  T hat night, Noah slept like a dead man. He had no energy left even for eating dinner, and the same was true for Thia. She was subdued, far from her usual boisterous self. Noah assumed she was exhausted too.

  The sun came up with bright and shiny light, enhancing his mood. Many things waited for him today. He was planning to return to the expansion site and explore it more thoroughly. There was something at the center, he just knew it, and he needed to know what that was. He wouldn’t take Thia with him today. He couldn't risk her life. The whole ordeal with the goblins made one thing clear to him: he couldn't lose Thia. He cared for her a lot.

  Wondering why his little demon girl hadn't awoken yet and licked his face, he looked over at her. She was sleeping, but her features were pinched with pain. He shook her shoulder gently to try and wake her, but she didn’t stir. He touched Thia's forehead. It was hot. She was burning up with fever. Her health, too, was reducing slowly. But how was that even possible? How could someone get sick and have a fever? Sickness like this made little sense in a game world. Noah hurried downstairs to check with Mathial. Mathial was his go-to guy.

  The sound of hammer kissing metal told him where he would find Mathial. In hopes of putting him in a good mood, Noah presented him with the goblin spear. Mathial's face brightened as if he’d found his long lost love.

  “Thank you, human. You are proving to be of good use to me. Fock the goblins!” he yelled in happiness.

  Noah saw a couple of notifications but ignored them. He knew what they were for: reputation and experience. Then there was a third one of congratulations as well. The game had decided that he’d earned a point in some random stat for some random thing. He ignored everything. The girl's fever was most important.

  “Can you come upstairs with me? Thia is burning with fever. Is that something common here?” he asked.

  The blacksmith's face darkened, darker than the night. “Did you say a fever?”

  “Yes, and her health is slowly dropping.”

  “So, it's time. I thought she might be an exception.” Mathial shook his and hit his hammer on a nearby piece of metal breaking, it in twain. “Go to the high mage and ask for temp
orary relief. I'll help her here. Don't worry, a good dose of food will bring her life back and help her for few hours. But you must ask the high mage for relief as soon as possible. Otherwise I won't be able to save her.”

  Noah grabbed blacksmith's collar and pulled him forward. “What do you mean by all of this? What would happen to her?”

  Mathial pushed him away like he was made of air. “Ask the high mage.”

  “I'm going there straight away. Take care of her please,” Noah asked with watery eyes and got going to meet the high mage.

  High Mage Roderich lived in a half-broken house near the ceremonial grounds. Noah avoided even looking at the grounds.

  “The human. How may I help you?” Roderich asked.

  “The girl with me, she has a fever. Mathial said I should check with you.”

  Roderich’s face darkened.

  “Can you please tell me what is happening with her?” Noah said.

  “Come in, human, and we shall discuss this over tea.”

  “Tea.”

  “Yes, a rare substance in the demon side of the realm, but not impossible to find.”

  “She is sick, and you are talking about having tea?” Noah was about to grab Roderich's collar too, but he suppressed the urge.

  “There is nothing I can do here. We can only pray to the Goddess Sumara.” He looked up and chanted something. “But don't worry. Mathial will make sure to stabilize her life until we finish our discussion.”

  “Why do you keep talking like she is in trouble? What danger is she facing?” Noah growled. He wanted to yell, but he again suppressed his anger. There was no need to piss off the one person who could help him.