Hoshisu smirked. “So apparently being a goblin isn’t the absolute magic solution for every problem. I’ll take care of it. Only one door will open, don’t worry your little green head over it.”
“Don’t you mean ‘Your pretty little green head?’”
“No.”
“Alright,” I conceded the point. “With only one door open, Malkyr should be able to hold them off. I’ll send my hounds in to harass them from behind. Use your chainsaw on one of the Pyroliths. Even if it won’t kill it, the constant damage should prevent it from using magic against us. Malkyr is going to be distracted by the melee, so it’ll be easier for him to intercept whatever fire spells they’ll launch if there is only one Pyrolith gunning for him.”
“So I’ll hold five Ogre zombies by myself?” His grin widened. “You got it, Chief!”
I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not.
Right.
“The zombies are susceptible to fire and I have a Fire Rod. I’m going to use it against the nasty looking zombie. Hopefully, it’ll immolate it and whatever is trying to get out.”
“Okay.” Hoshisu nodded. “Sounds like a plan. What about him?” She pointed at Bek.
I looked at the small goblin. “You don’t happen to have any more surprises like the opal you used before?”
“No Dread Totem,” he squeaked. “Only pretty stones that heal.”
Well, I had to ask. “Okay, concentrate on healing Malkyr, and throw in some drilling arrows if you get the chance.”
“Yes, Dread Totem.”
“I’ll take care of the door.” Hoshisu retrieved something from her inventory and crept forward.
As she worked, putting something along the left door’s seams, I loaded my Fire Rod with a level 20 void crystal. As the rod absorbed the crystal’s energy, it began to hum softly and its carved runes glowed dimly.
Hoshisu finished and gave us the ‘all clear’ sign.
Hoisting his Greataxe, Malkyr moved forward, his steps sounding like anvil strikes in the silent hallway.
I could hear movement coming from the other side of the doors. The guards were alerted to our presence. I hurried forward holding the Fire Rod, staying close to the big man.
Reaching the gate, Malkyr kicked open the right door, revealing the welcoming party that awaited.
The enemy reacted immediately. The Pyroliths each let loose with fireballs and the Ogres shambled forward in their version of a charge.
Malkyr easily intercepted both fireballs, absorbing them into his gauntleted hand. The axe flushed with the sudden influx of power.
My four mastiffs leapt forward at the hulking zombies. Hoshisu darted in through the opening and threw her chain at one of the Pyroliths, then darted back out. It was a beautiful throw. The chain covered the distance, its spinning wheels shrieking through the air, then wrapped around a Pyrolith. The demon screamed as the chain mercilessly sawed through its scaly body.
Stepping forward, I aimed the Fire Rod at the deformed zombie. A jet of flame erupted out of one end, bathing the zombie’s torso with intense cleansing fire.
Fire Rod hit Matured Possessed Ogre Zombie for 200 damage.
The zombie went down, a burning pile of meat. Crisis averted, I absentmindedly sent my dagger to slash at another zombie.
I stepped back, allowing Malkyr to take my place and block the path. The Fire Rod looked slightly charred from the intense heat and its durability was reduced by 20 points. That was the cost of channeling so much raw power through inferior material.
The first zombie reached us and Malkyr wisely took a half step back, letting the creature fill up the doorway and blocking the path of its friends. The man easily deflected a clumsy fist and delivered a devastating counterattack, his twice-charged axe cleaving through the Ogre’s shoulder all the way to its stomach.
Using her brother as cover, Hoshisu darted in with her daggers whirling, slicing chunks out of the undead creature’s flesh. Bek fired a duo of drilling arrows, downing the zombie.
Two down, five to go.
Another zombie stepped over the fallen one’s body. From behind him, I could see the saw chain finally cutting completely through the Pyrolith, ending him. My hounds kept jumping and snapping at the Ogres, taking no damage from their retaliation strikes. The zombie I downed kept on burning.
This is going easier than I thought.
The remaining Pyrolith fired another fireball, but this one wasn’t aiming at us. It hit the lead zombie, its blast radius reaching all of us.
Fireball hit you for 69 damage.
The twins and I could shrug off the damage, but poor Bek took a serious hit. His health bar was down to a sliver, and he fell to the ground thrashing in pain. If I hadn’t had the foresight of handing him Guba’s potions, he’d have probably died. I refrained from attacking and cast Heal Followers instead. A burst of golden-green light spread around me, healing everyone by ten hit points. The health bar on the twins’ icons barely budged, but the boost was enough to raise Bek’s health to a quarter, enabling him to regain control and cast his own, more potent, healing spell, getting himself back to 70 percent.
Meanwhile, Malkyr kept on fighting. His uncharged axe was doing significantly less damage than before, but with Hoshisu helping him, the two were quickly depleting the burnt zombie of its remaining health.
“Bek, get back, out of the fireball’s range,” I ordered. “Don’t worry if you can’t target the enemy, just keep on healing.”
The mastiffs inside the room were inflicting damage on the two remaining zombies, and we were holding our ground despite the unlucky fireball hit.
I couldn’t help my thoughts. We are going to win this.
Then the flaming zombie moved.
A two-meter spike erupted out of the downed monster. Burning flesh ripped open, falling apart. A giant-sized Stalker emerged from the burning shell. It was easily as tall as an Ogre. Its wide, fleshy body was riddled with dozens of lance-sized appendages, making me wonder how it fit inside the Ogre to begin with.
The gigantic Stalker wobbled on its legs for a split second, then oriented itself, turning toward us.
Well, at least that explained why the fire didn’t do any damage. As demons, Stalkers were fire resistant. Analyze.
Stalker, Greater [Demon]
Level: 33
HP: 335, MP: 190
Attributes: P: 28; M: 5; S: 0
Skills: Stab 43, Death Plunge 15, Whirlwind 37
Traits: Demon(summoned), Amorphous Regeneration
Resistances: Fire 100%, Cold -50%, Holy -50%, Armor 50, Mental 100%, Magic 40%
Description: The reincarnation of tortured souls who have been stabbed repeatedly until losing all sense of self. Operating on pure instinct, the Stalker knows no fear. Its only goal is to spread onto others the pain they endure every waking moment. The greater variety is even more ferocious, paying no heed to its allies in its urge to hurt its enemies.
“Oh … shit,” the twins said in unison.
The giant-sized Stalker rushed forward on its numerous two-meter-long spear-like appendages. Its body started spinning, revolving around itself faster and faster until it looked like a hazy mass of twirling spikes. It charged through the zombies blocking its way. The zombies, already severely damaged, were shredded to pieces, as if they’d been put inside a blender, showering us all with pieces of zombie flesh.
The Stalker didn’t stop with the zombies and continued whirling forward. I threw a Shadow Web in its path, and it tore through like it wasn’t even there.
Malkyr just managed to put his axe up to protect his front. We heard the clang of spikes on metal. The axe stopped most of them, but several spik
es pushed through and hit flesh, doing over a hundred points of damage, nearly half of Malkyr’s health. The Stalker, apparently unable to stop itself, kept whirling forward, its momentum carrying it past us, luckily missing Bek, who flattened himself against the wall.
The other two zombies, still harassed by my mastiffs, seized the opportunity to charge toward the gap in our defense.
“Shadow-crap,” I mumbled. “Malkyr, hold off the incoming zombies; Bek, heal him; Hoshisu, you guys have to take down the small fries as quickly as possible. I’ll hold off the Stalker.”
The Stalker’s momentum carried it several meters into the hallway before he finally stopped spinning and assumed his ‘normal’ pincushion stance. I moved away from my party toward the monster of spikes and pain. Standing in the middle of the hallway, I activated Mana Shield.
A bubble of shimmering dark-blue erupted around me, blocking off enough of the corridor and forcing the creature to concentrate on me.
I kept tabs on the information streams coming from behind me. Malkyr managed to block the passage before the zombies barged through and even intercepted another fireball. Bek was continuously healing him and Hoshisu and the mastiffs were gradually ripping the zombies apart. My dagger hovered from foe to foe, adding its small amount of damage to the mix. I had to hold out on my own for just a little while.
The Stalker charged at me, thrumming its legs at the ground, leaving in its wake deep gouges on the hard stone floor. I tried building up a mass of tangible shadow in its path, but it simply rolled over it. I braced myself for impact.
A barrage of piercing, stabbing spikes assaulted my shield. The protective field held off the sharpened points barely an arm’s length from my body. Then half a dozen more spikes hit all at once, piercing through.
Greater Stalker hit Mana Shield for 178 damage. 63 mana drain. You take 85 damage.
Ouch. I was stabbed all over my body, my crude leather armor doing little to blunt the damage. The Stalker immediately drew back, preparing for another attack.
I took advantage of the small reprieve to retaliate. I launched a volley of drilling arrows and recalled my dagger, slashing at the monster.
Sacrificial Dagger hit Greater Stalker for 39 damage.
Drilling Arrow hit Greater Stalker for 45 damage (SR ignored 15 damage).
Damn that thing’s spell resistance!
As I looked at the never-ending moving wall of spears just beyond my shield, its wounded flesh began to mend. The gashes I had opened in its body closed before my eyes. Crap. It had the ability to regenerate.
But as the wounds closed, the creature looked like it had deflated a little.
Behind me, I could sense Malkyr intercepting another fireball launched by the lone Pyrolith. Hoshisu and my mastiffs brought down one of the zombies and were doing a good job of sending the last one to its grave.
The Stalker before me wound back its front spears, then snapped them forward, as fast as an arrow. The first five spears were stopped by my shield, the rest punched through.
Greater Stalker hit Mana Shield for 158 damage. 63 mana drain. You take 70 damage.
Crap, I really should invest more time in raising my shield spell level.
Mana Shield skill level increased to 27.
I should have wished for a million gold instead.
Lucky Bastard skill level increased to 26.
Vic chuckled in my mind.
That’s not funny! I shot back at him, then sighed. I hated this method of raising my shield level. At least in this case, the system was working for me.
That thing’s level was too high for me to attempt a Freeze. Instead, I hurled more drilling arrows at it and slashed with my dagger. And since it was kind enough to injure me sufficiently, I also activated Blood Wrath, channeling the rage energy into a single, piercing ray which inflicted another 50 points of damage.
Large gashes opened in the mass before me and immediately began to close, the flesh knitting together. However, the Stalker was becoming visibly smaller as its wounds healed. Once it stopped bleeding, it was only about as tall as Malkyr.
“Hold on, Chief! Help is on the way,” Malkyr bellowed behind me. He lifted his glowing axe and cleaved the last zombie neatly in half. The mastiffs pulled at its hands and legs, ripping it all the way apart, finally bringing it down.
Hoshisu was already running at the lone Pyrolith. “I’ll distract the snake, you guys take down that Stalker.”
Malkyr and the hounds ran toward me, but I ordered two of the mastiffs to stay back and help the woman. In front of me, the Stalker prepared for another lunge attack. I was doing pretty well with over 500 mana at my disposal and 200 health, but I wasn’t looking forward to being perforated again. Instead, I drew in my mana and prepared to cast Shadow Teleport. I waited for the very last instant, just as the first spear contacted my shield, then finished the casting, appearing on the other side of the monster.
To my surprise, I found that my shield was left behind. I managed to see the other ten or so spikes puncture the shield, breaking it into magical vapors just in time for Malkyr and the hounds to close in on the creature. Apparently, Malkyr had managed to intercept another fireball, as his axe was glowing again. He struck hard, breaking spears and tearing flesh. My mastiffs leapt at the creature, but for once their innate immunity failed them. The wicked spears of the greater demon tore through them, and their shadowy bodies dissipated into black smoke.
The Stalker’s wounds had already closed, but it was now the size of a normal Stalker. We had already killed plenty of those. A few more strikes from Malkyr, coupled with drilling arrows, finished it off.
“Haaa-ya!” came a yell from behind me.
I turned to look at the scene beyond the gate. My two remaining hounds were pulling at the Pyrolith’s tail, preventing it from moving while Hoshisu rode on its back, repeatedly stabbing her dagger into the side of its neck.
I was impressed. That was some display of combat acrobatics.
A few more strikes finished the creature, and it collapsed to the ground, Hoshisu rode him all the way down then nimbly rolled onto her feet.
Show-off.
He got me there.
“Oh, man.” Malkyr sounded disappointed. “I wanted to juice up this baby with a few more fireballs.” He held up his axe.
With a deft movement, Hoshisu flicked the blood off her daggers and put them back in her belt. “You snooze, you lose.”
Level up! You have reached Character Level 24. You have 1 ability point to allocate.
Blood Wrath skill level increased to 31.
Heal Followers skill level increased to 11.
I frowned. Something didn’t make sense.
How come during the fight I received some notifications as they happened, but I only see these ones now? I asked my cloaked companion.
I sighed, rolling my eyes.
I wasn’t really upset by his answer. We were gaining good XP and raising our skill levels quickly. The challenges were a bit high for our level, but good teamwork made up for the difference. Fighting and winning against creatures of a higher level was very rewarding. The twins were both level 27 now and Bek had reached level 15. Since everyone else was a higher level than him, he only received a small share of the XP. Still, it was enough to make him the second highest-level creature in my clan after Rhynorn. I chuckled, remembering the small goblin’s humble starting point. The strings of fate worked mysteriously.
I looked into the now empty room and didn’t sense any more enemies, but I did sense another presence. “There’s something still in there,” I cautioned. “Don’t let your guard down.”
I didn’t recast Mana Shield, as I had to remain mobile. We moved in at a tight formation. We passed a stack of boxes and came to an abrupt halt, gaping at what lay beyond.
>
A cage.
Thick metal bars sectioned off a part of the room. And it was filled with prisoners. All of them dwarves. They looked to be in a bad shape. Some of them were sitting against the bars, but most were lying on the ground. They smelled of decay and fecal matter. Their faces were hollow, their clothes hanging loose.
Unexpectedly, I felt a sudden surge of rage. Dwarves! This accursed race hunts my people at every chance they get. It’s a sport to them! They even –
“Hey, are you guys alright?” Malkyr put his hands on the bars and looked inside, his face full of concern.
Oh, right. They’re prisoners, we’re travelers. This means we should probably help them.
I could sense Vic’s unease in my mind like it was a tangible thing, but for once, he didn’t voice his opinion.
“Who you be?” demanded one of the dwarves, squinting. He seemed to be in better shape than his friends. It made sense, as he had the highest level among them. Analyze.
Kuzai BoulderBelly, Dwarf Priest of Durang
Level: 28
HP: 68/185, MP: 0/210
Attributes: P: 10; M: 13; S: 5
Skills: Mace 25, Shield 25, Weaponsmith 25, Bless 18, Heal 18, Banish Evil 18
Traits: Dwarf (+5 max racial skills cap), Spiritual (grants divine spells)
Resistances: Physical 25%, Magic 20%
Description: Kuzai ‘War-priest’ is a decorated veteran priest of the BoulderBelly clan. Famed for his toughness in close quarters fighting, his mere presence is enough to bestow Durang’s divine blessing on his comrades, strengthening them. Kuzai is often chosen to lead explorations of new mining locations.
“A Goblin!” the dwarf uttered, finally getting a good look at us. His fists clenched, his body became rigid, and his lips peeled back in contempt.
I felt myself snarling back before I could even register the action. Well, he was a dirty, stinking dwarf. Literally.
“Wooah, wooah there!” Malkyr lifted his large hands reassuringly. “We’re not your enemies, buddy.”
The dwarf gave him a questioning gaze, then recoiled, almost stumbling back. “There’s some green blood in ya boy! I can smell it, and that wench got it too!” He pointed at Hoshisu. “Yer all be stinkin’ goblin half breeds.”
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