by M B Reid
“This would be for you, and you can have this one” He said as he passed the belt to me, and then the wraps to Logan.
“Oh, it just wouldn’t be a proper kobold friendship without gifts now would it?” He laughed, and then looked at me expectantly. Crap. I rummaged through my pockets, but beyond the rattling of kobold teeth and the clinking of coins, I had nothing much to offer him.
“Ah, here it is!” I announced as I found the one useful item left in my inventory. I extracted the little red potion of health from my pocket. If my experience in any other game applied to Liorel, that potion would harm the undead rather than healing.
Logan had a sheepish look plastered over his face, so I improvised.
“I do hope you’ll accept this gift from Logan and I.”
Jerry’s eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. Or maybe that was just because of his childish features.
“Oh, I love it!” He squealed, plucking the potion from my outstretched hand. Logan gave me a subtle thumbs up, clearly he hadn’t thought of handing over his potion - assuming he’d started with one as well. I’d have to call him out on that later.
I inspected the belt in my hand.
Belt of Disguise
Level Three
Grants the Flesh Meld ability.
As I read the words Flesh Meld another prompt appeared, as if the tooltip knew I’d need additional help.
Flesh Meld
Allows the user to temporarily change their appearance to match any other race.
Can be ritual cast.
Holy crap, this belt was amazing. The ability wasn’t much use in combat, but it had a polymorph ability, and the belt was Level Three piece of armour. It would definitely protect me better than the hemp cord currently tied around my waist. And if I was right it’d let me change my appearance to match the living, which would make wandering around Whiteridge a lot less stressful. Assuming I could get the ingredients I could also ritual cast it, which would undoubtedly make the spell last for a long time.
I wrapped the belt around my waist and buckled it tight. I wanted to ask Logan what he’d got, but it felt rude to do so in front of Jerry. If it was anything like mine though, it would be tailored perfectly to his play style. I couldn’t wait to see what he could now do.
“Right now, follow me if you please.” Jerry said as he slipped the potion into his pocket.
With that he started in the direction of the trees, not waiting to see if we would follow.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jerry led us toward the forest until a battalion of kobolds came into view. The were marching from the forest towards our position. If it weren’t for the amazing items Jerry had given us, I would have thought he were leading us into a trap.
“Oh no, I wondered if they’d seen us. You two are going to have to do your thing.” Jerry cried, coming to a halt.
“I’ll not be fighting, oh no siree. Might I suggest you let them come to you?” He laughed again, that infectious manic laugh that brought tears to his eyes. I wasn’t sure what was so funny, but Jerry had proved himself to be a strange fellow. Perhaps there was no joke.
“I’ll be back when the killing is done.” He smiled, and in an instant he’d vanished. Jesus, did everyone have an invisibility ability in this game?
I turned back to Logan but he just shrugged. I wanted to ask him about the equipment Jerry had given him, but I knew Jerry was just invisible - he was probably still within earshot. Best not to offend the invisible kobold that had better gear than us, and to whom we’d just given our healing potion.
As the kobolds marched towards us we held our ground. I wished we’d taken the crappy pointed sticks from the ones we’d killed earlier. Even though they wouldn’t be much use as a primary weapon they could have been dug into the ground here to fortify our position somewhat.
“You ready?” Logan asked, a smile painted across his face. There was nothing quite like risking death to make you feel alive.
I nodded, and hoisted my axe onto my shoulder in what I hoped was a casually threatening stance. The kobolds were only a few hundred meters away now, still marching towards us in formation. Their front ranks held spears outstretched. Behind them were a few of the larger kobolds with clubs.
It was time to start this battle.
Logan started mumbling something under his breath. His left hand flicked about, the fingers contorting into arcane shapes. A moment later the kobold ranks broke. A skeleton was clawing its way out of the dirt beneath their feet.
“Nice move”
The kobolds scattered out of their professional formation and all turned to point their weapons inward.
I activated Chameleon Cloak and shimmered out of view.
While the skeleton slashed its sharpened claws at everything around it, I ran as quickly as I could towards the outer ring of spear wielders. If I’d learnt anything from our previous fights, it was that sheer numbers were the biggest threat. A single powerful foe was preferable to a dozen weaker enemies that could surround and flank you.
Once I was close enough to one of them I swung my axe with all my strength. My cloaking ability shimmered away as I attacked. The axe cut clean through one of the creatures arm, severing it just below the shoulder. The kobolds arm, still holding its spear, fell to the grass. A critical hit icon flashed above its head as the creature staggered away from me.
As the other kobolds turned to see the new threat in their midst I spent the last of my mana activating Bull Horns. I turned my back on them and charged back towards Logan, using the immense speed of the ability to cover the distance in a few seconds.
Logan was already shooting bolts of purple energy at the kobold that I’d injured, and after a couple struck home it fell to the ground, deathly still. I slapped Logan on the back by way of congratulations and stretched out the muscles in my shoulders. Half the kobold horde had turned their backs on the skeleton and was charging towards us. The other half had encircled the skeleton and were wailing on it with their crude weapons. It had slain one of them but didn’t look like it would be fighting for much longer.
Logan changed targets to focus on the group running towards us. He peppered them with magical energy as they ran through the open field. They had nowhere to hide from his magical onslaught. Their only option was to charge into the firing line, hoping to close on us before Logan killed them. As they rushed us I stepped between them and Logan.
A second before they reached us, a black shadow engulfed them all. It seemed to fall from the sky like a meteor, and as I watched on in fascination it twisted and contorted around them. Then the sound hit me like a million angry wasps, and I realised the shadow was a cloud of black insects swarming over the kobolds. Logan must be using the new ability he got from Jerry’s item. God bless that little kobold.
I waited until the cloud of insects dispersed, and then leapt into the fray. The first kobold I hit dropped instantly. As did the second. Whatever spell Logan had cast, it had decimated their health. I scored a glancing blow on a third kobold which sent it reeling. The last kobold cracked me in the side of the head with his club. I stumbled a few feet to the side and dropped to one knee. My vision was swimming with stars and I had the sudden urge to vomit.
In the corner of my vision a little drunken star icon appeared, indicating I’d acquired the stunned status condition.
I took two woozy steps, stumbled, and dropped back to my knees. I was all but incapacitated right now, all I could do was wait for the effect to wear off and hope no one murdered me in the meantime. I checked my health and heaved a sigh of relief - although it had stunned me, that attack hadn’t done much damage. It seemed like the kind of ability that would set someone up so that your friends could knock them down. Only this guy was standing alone - his closest friends were all dead. The rest of his crew was too far away to help him.
The creature that had brained me took another swing, hitting me for ten percent of my health and knocking me flat on my back. A bolt of purple energy arce
d through him as he raised his club again. He smashed the weapon down on my chest. Another twenty percent of my health fell away, leaving me at about seventy percent. Then the icon in the corner of my vision faded away, and the numbing gel applied to my brain wore off.
I was pissed.
My axe lashed out at the creatures ankles, scoring a satisfying hit that knocked his feet from under him. I rolled onto him in an instant, straddling his chest and pinning one of his arms down under my knee. My axe handle was too long to make it effective at close range like this, so I dropped the weapon and began punching the kobold in the face.
The rest of the world ceased to exist. All that mattered was the battered face I was planting punch after punch into. Everything else was a haze of red fury. After what felt like the hundredth punch the creatures laboured breathing ceased. Its face was like pulverised mince. In the corner of my vision, amongst the haze of red, a small icon had appeared. I was torn between examining the icon and charging back into the fray when a spear skewered my shoulder.
I screamed in pain as my health dropped by a further ten percent. A teardrop of blood appeared in my status bar for a moment, before a large red cross stamped it out.
Being undead certainly had its perks.
I lurched to my feet, causing the spear to twist in the wound for a moment. The motion tore the shaft out of the kobolds loose grip. My health surged downward, angering me more than worrying me. In one smooth motion I picked up my axe and threw it. The spear-wielding kobold lunged for his weapon, and instead of grabbing the shaft he caught my axe with his face. He fell backwards, unconscious or dead.
No other kobolds were within striking distance so I took a moment to pull the spear free of my shoulder. My health dropped again as the bladed head tore free, dropping me to just 40%. This stupid fucking game didn’t make any sense. I was dead. Pulling the spear from my shoulder shouldn’t have caused any extra damage, my flesh was rotting anyway. A few more lacerations shouldn’t mean anything to me.
The group of kobolds that had been duelling with Logan's skeleton were charging towards us now. The undead warrior was no more than a pile of bones behind them. In the moments before they came within range I checked the mystery symbol in my status bar.
Rage.
Melee damage increased by 20%
Incoming damage reduced by 20%
Mana cost increased by 50%
Rage expires twenty seconds after your last melee attack.
As I was reading it, I noticed a little timer underneath the icon had dropped to ten. I watched it tick down to nine, then thrust the kobold spear into the leader of the charge. His eyes bulged and he dropped his weapon to clasp the spear in both hands. Without giving him an opportunity to react I twisted the shaft, causing the angled spearhead to tear at his intestines. Two more kobolds were almost within striking distance of me, both being peppered with bolts of purple energy.
I took a half step backwards, activated Bull Horns, then charged to meet them. Horns sprouted from my skull as I ran. I hit the first kobold in the centre of his chest, knocking him off balance. The second clubbed me across the shoulders. My health dropped into dangerous territory.
“Die!” Logan yelled, releasing a charged bolt of purple energy. If I hadn’t just been slapped across the back with a solid log of wood I’d have been standing directly in its path. Instead, I was half collapsed forwards, my fingers brushing along the ground as I kept running forward. With the big ball of energy hurtling towards us I decided to let gravity finish it’s job.
I hit the ground face first an instant before the crackling power rushed overhead. The kobold that had hit me vanished as the magical orb exploded. That god damned necromancer “friend” of mine had damn near killed me!
I struggled up slowly. The kobold I’d knocked over was already under fire from Logan’s weaker bolts of energy. Ignoring his grunts of pain and the sizzle of energy in the air I strained my ears for any other signs of life. The last kobold slumped as Logan's magic bored a hole through its chest.
“Dude, a little warning!” I growled as I stomped back toward my axe. Logan gave me a sheepish look.
“I honestly didn’t think it’d be that big”
“That’s what she said” I quipped. My frustration had vanished in an instant. It took me a moment longer to realise the rage status had worn off. Had my anger all come from an in-game status effect, rather than my emotions? That seemed insane.
“Hey, Jira?” I pulled my axe off the ground and slipped it back into the loop at my belt. My digital companion appeared a moment later in a puff of light.
“Yes?”
“Why did I get the rage status?”
“Certain personality traits can manifest themselves as character traits.” Jira said in her most matter-of-fact tone.
“Oh man, you are the king of rage.” Logan cackled from somewhere behind me.
“Fuck off” I growled at him before turning my attention back to the little sprite.
“So the game, like, read my personality?”
“The full immersion system monitors everything about you, including your emotions. These readings are used to improve the user experience for all players.” She sounded like she was reading from a user manual or something.
“Thanks Jira” I said, dismissing her. I suppose I shouldn’t complain, the rage status was mostly positive. Since I wasn’t planning on playing as a spell-casting race I wouldn’t need nearly as much mana. Still, I’d never really considered myself rage-prone in reality. Maybe there was a bug in the system?
“Oi, hulk! Check this out” Logan called, pointing.
I resisted the urge to punch him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The thing that Logan was pointing at definitely wasn’t an orc. It looked more like the bastard child of a rat and an ogre. It stood as tall as me and was covered in coarse black fur. A wicked looking curved sword glinted in the sunlight, held tight by long pink fingers. A long rat-like tail streamed out behind it.
And it was sprinting towards us.
“Do we run?” Logan shrilled.
It was a few hundred meters away, which would normally give us a bit of time to strategise, but it was covering that distance frighteningly fast. The only good thing about the situation is that we currently weren’t considered in-combat, so my health was climbing faster than a plane taking off.
“I mean, we’re doing a noob quest right? So we should be able to take him.” My voice came out a lot calmer than I felt. Logan nodded, his posture tightening a little. Had I just given the most effective terrible pep-talk of all time?
“Do you have a plan?”
“Same as always. I’ll tank him, you blast him, and your skeleton buddy pisses him off.” Simple, straightforward, and the best I could think of in that moment.
“Also, here’s an even better idea.”
I took a few steps forward and raised my hands, palms outstretched towards him.
“We’ve come to negotiate” I bellowed, impressing myself with how level my voice was.
If the creature understood me it didn’t react. Its beady eyes were fixed on me with single-minded determination.
“Okay, terrible idea. Blast him!” I stepped out of Logans way so that he could unleash a massive blast of energy, then drew my axe. I’d have to get a decent shield the first chance I got, going up against someone with a sword was outright terrifying.
The ball of purple energy hit the beast in the chest and exploded with a concussive boom and a flash of light. The monster stumbled through the explosion and took an unsteady swing at me.
Unnatural reflexes took over, swinging my axe up to deflect the incoming blow. An earsplitting shriek announced that our weapons had collided, and my axe was almost torn from my grasp. The shock-wave rippling through the axe numbed my hands.
Yeah, I definitely wanted a shield.
There was a scratching sound as a skeleton tore itself out of the ground behind the enormous rat. As the beast and I rais
ed our weapons the skeleton attacked, tearing at the creatures exposed spine with razor sharp fingers.
Bolts of purple energy were whizzing about wildly. They looked impressive, but the monster didn’t even seem to notice them sizzling against its hide. The skeleton scored a critical hit, eliciting a yelp of pain. In that moment of distraction I activated my Chameleon Cloak ability and shimmered out of view.
The beast rounded on the skeleton and cleaved it in half with a single blow. Bones clattered into a worthless pile as a critical hit icon flashed where the skeletons head had been. Everyone seemed to be scoring crits today. The rat monster turned back to face me, carefully studying the spot I’d been standing in a moment earlier. It gave up its search after a few seconds and turned its attention toward Logan.
I struck before it could take a single step.
I buried my axe in the back of its right leg. The enormous creature shrieked in pain as I felt the Achilles tendon pop. It had already committed to stepping forward, and as it tried to put weight on its leg it collapsed. My attack had caused my cloak to dispel, leaving me standing in the open behind the beast with a bloodied axe in hand.
Logan was still standing in front of it, firing bolt after bolt of energy from his wand. The creature seemed to make a decision, and spun with surprising agility to face me. Its swift movement caught me off guard and I barely manoeuvred my axe into the path of its incoming sword. The blade stuck in the hilt of the axe, and the momentum of the attack carried on into me. The blade bit into my shoulder before I managed to stop it. In the corner of my vision my health bar dropped by twenty percent.
My axe handle groaned as the sword was withdrawn. There was no way this axe was going to survive the fight. Even with one useless leg the beast staggered towards me, swinging its sword wildly. I poured mana into my Chameleon Cloak ability again and popped out of view.