“Don’t bother to deny it. Tempest here,” I pointed at my mount who was now growling menacingly at the players, “smells their blood on you.”
The other three turned to stare at Riley with startled expressions.
“Heh, you could have told me you were looking for more sacrifices,” Fox said. “At least I would have figured out how to hide the evidence better. Sloppy work, Riley. Sloppy work.”
“It wasn’t me!” the dwarf protested, taking a step back from his friends.
Raystia looked at him thoughtfully. “Well … you did say you needed to take care of something before we left,” she said apologetically.
“I meant I had to log out for a bathroom break, not murder some goblins!” Riley exclaimed. “Don’t you know me by now?”
“And you did kinda enjoy sacrificing those stone creatures back at the tunnel,” Misa pointed out.
“That … that just gave me some nice bonuses! Come on, guys, back me up here.”
“So maybe he did or didn’t kill a few goblins, but that doesn’t matter. I’m guessing he’s already guilty in your eyes, right?” Misa said lightly. “So what’s the penalty, Mr. Boss Man? Jail time? A fine?”
I narrowed my eyes. She was taking this too casually. It was a grave matter, the murder of two of my …
Damn, he’s right. I rubbed my forehead tiredly. Players engaged in casual NPC killing all the time. It was no big deal, especially if no one saw them do the actual deed.
“Since you’re in a party, I’m considering you all equally responsible for the crime,” I told them. “That said, you will reimburse the clan for the resource loss the deaths incurred: 60 units of food and ten tree logs.”
Misa shrugged. “Sounds reasonable. So by the going rate of food, I’d say we owe you about 15 gold – 20 to include the wood. Come on, guys, cough up five gold each.”
Grim-faced, the players drew out some coins. I could almost hear what they were thinking; they’d just completed a two-day quest, finally got their hands on some gold, and now I was playing the bad guy, forcing them to part with their hard-earned loot.
The initial anger I felt disappeared, replaced by fatigue. “Forget about the money and the resources.” I looked at the dwarf. “What you did set me back a bit, but I guess it’s not a big deal in the end. So why not just admit it?”
“I’m telling you it wasn’t me!” he insisted.
“Fine. Since you won’t take responsibility, I hold your entire party in debt to me.”
“What do you mean?” Raystia asked hesitantly. “We already offered to pay.”
“Since you proved so capable at your previous quest, I thought I’d grant you a new one.”
Misa grinned. “If the rewards are similar to the last one, we can definitely discuss it.”
“What do you want?” Fox grunted.
“There’s a shrine or an altar to the southeast, about a day or two’s travel,” I explained. Using the two places of worship I had already sanctified as reference points, I could approximate the last shrine’s location.
“I want you to escort one of my goblin adepts there. The area is most likely under the control of some hostile monster. Clear out a safe path to the shrine, and help the adept consecrate it to Nihilator. Once that’s done, you'll leave the adept there to maintain the shrine.”
Outsource the quest [Dark Missionary] to The Mob Squad? Yes/No
I confirmed and doubled the rewards from the totem quest.
“What sort of hostile monsters can we expect?” Fox grumbled.
I shrugged. “No idea. I’ve already cleared two shrines. One was in the middle of a hobgoblin camp, the one you just came from. The other was deep inside an Ogre lair. Just be ready for anything. I see you’ve gained some levels, so this one shouldn’t be a problem for you,” I said with a straight face.
Each of them was level 12, and surprisingly, the shy one, Raystia, was level 15. If they encountered half the resistance I’d faced at the Ogre fort, they’d all be wiped out.
At worst case, if they all die, I still get valuable intel, I thought smugly. If the team failed the quest, I could always resurrect the adept and take him there myself, with some foreknowledge this time. It was a win-win situation.
“Find the place, clear it out, leave the goblin there. Got it,” Misa said cheerfully. “Then we’re good, right?”
“Not exactly.” I gave her a steady look. “Do you know how to sanctify the shrine?”
“Pour some holy water on it?”
“Offer a sacrifice,” Riley said. “Nihilator loves those. I guess we can capture another mob as the offering.”
“No.” I looked pointedly at the dwarf. “It needs a worthy sacrifice. Anything lower than an NPC boss will be rejected.”
“Be goddamn near impossible to hold down a boss over a shrine,” Fox said.
“You’re right. You will need another worthy sacrifice.” I kept looking at the dwarf. “A traveler soul, freely offered, should do the trick.”
Riley gaped. “You gotta be shittin’ me.”
I held his gaze steadily.
“Oh for crying out loud, I didn’t kill your stupid goblins!” he threw his arms up in anger.
“Let’s say I believe you,” I countered. “As a dark priest, offering your life freely to Nihilator is a powerful tribute. You should know that by now. Consider this a leap of faith. Who knows? You might actually benefit from it in the end.”
A thoughtful expression came over his face as he contemplated my words. “Fine!” he crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll be the freaking sacrifice, but there’s no way I’m plunging the dagger into my own heart. It might be just a game, but I draw the line at that.”
“You won’t have to. The adept can do the deed.”
Misa gave a short laugh, her eyes glistening. “Well, I’ll be. This game keeps getting darker and darker, doesn’t it? I love it!”
Fox rolled his eyes. “Once you finish picturing yourself as the monster queen of terror, we should go check out the marketplace. We got loot to sell and new equipment to buy.”
“Right you are, Foxy,” Misa said lightly and winked at me. “Come on guys, let us head out.”
The four headed for the marketplace, leaving the totem piece behind.
This had turned out better than I expected. With some quick thinking, I’d managed to get the now fairly accomplished players to do Nihilator’s quest for me. I chuckled as I recalled the game naming the quest as ‘outsourced.’
I turned my attention to my new toy. “Now let’s see what we have here.”
I rolled my eyes and analyzed the totem.
Totem Pole Piece: Hobgoblin
Description: This piece of totem pole represents a conquered camp of hobgoblins. It can be added to the main totem pole of another clan, granting it a hobgoblin-related feature.
Type: Settlement totem
Effect I: +10 clan morale
Effect II: Training combat skills is 50% quicker
That was fortuitous. Coupled with the new barracks, this totem was just what I needed to whip my soldiers into shape.
I spotted Rhyno and waved him over. He approached with heavy steps and scowled at me. “Boss-man.”
“Rhyno, put this totem piece on top of the other one,” I instructed and stepped back.
The Ogre grunted, then lifted the 50-kilo piece with one hand without any discernible effort and placed it on top of the Ogre totem piece already on the roof of my house. The two fit together perfectly and made an impressive, savage-looking, totem pole. I could already feel the settlement’s information streams updating, accounting for the increased stats. A fortuitous find indeed.
I entered my house and found seven weapons waiting for me on the table; four swords, two battle-axes, and a dagger. I had asked Kaedric t
o bring me all of the clan’s decent weapons, and this is all I got. It was barely enough for what I had in mind, but it would have to do.
I sat down and inspected each weapon. They could hold only three runes apiece, which was still better than crude items.
I picked up the first weapon, opened the design mode, and started working.
***
Weapon schema discovered: RaTog [Sonic Damage]
Runecraft skill level increased to 30.
I rubbed my tired eyes. I had enchanted for hours, meticulously working to make each enchantment perfect. The new schema was fairly simple. I started by placing the ‘Ra’ rune of sound on each weapon’s base, then drew the connecter rune through all the durability points to the blade, where I placed the binding rune.
As a result, each weapon now added 20 percent sonic damage to the attack and gained the ‘resonate’ trait, which improved its ability to penetrate magical shields. This unexpected feature was the result of channeling the sound rune through the durability points instead of the strengthening rune like I had done in the past.
The door opened and Tika came in. Once again, I had lost sense of time and had worked until late.
Tika didn’t seem to mind though. “You are easy game to catch lately,” she pouted. “Where’s the fun in that? Ah, if all my prey were as easy, I could have kept the whole clan fed on my own.”
I laid the finished weapons on the table, but I kept the enchanted dagger. “I didn’t notice the time,” I apologized. “Go to bed; there is something I must take care of first. I will try to finish quickly.”
She put down her equipment and came to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Where are we going?” she asked.
I hadn’t planned on her tagging along. What I had to do next was not the most romantic setting. “I, uh … think it’s better if I went alone.”
She raised an eyebrow. ”We almost never have time for ourselves, except just before or after going to sleep. This is an opportunity for us to spend some time together.”
I searched her face. She held my gaze steadily. “Alright, let's go.”
She followed me out the door. “Where are we going?”
“The Breeder’s Den first,” I said, opening the interface. “Then to the temple.”
The Breeder’s Den Interface showed it was loaded with 546 units of simple food. I queued in an Infernal Ogre and five hobgoblin soldiers.
I arrived with Tika at the front of the building just as it started to spew out the new troops. We waited until the last hob emerged from the building. Twelve eyes stared directly at me, waiting for their orders.
“Follow me,” I said and led everyone toward the Dark Temple.
***
I wiped my bloody sacrificial dagger and looked with dismay at the remains of the hobgoblin soldier splattered over the shrine. After a moment, the pieces turned black and liquified, transforming into a void crystal. The second one I had obtained that night.
“Oh, yessss … your offering pleases the master.” Kuzai was watching the ritual with eyes full of zeal.
Satisfying the demented dwarf didn’t make me feel any better about the sacrifices. On my beckoning, the unthinking soldiers approached the shrine one by one, like sheep to the slaughter, which I guess was exactly what they were.
As before, I imparted the Lucky Bastard skill to each soldier in turn, sacrificing those that showed signs of imminent implosion. Luckily, the Ogre survived the rite, but two hobs did not.
I tucked my clean dagger back in my belt and turned to the four seeded warriors before me. “Welcome to the GreenPiece Clan,” I said tiredly. “You are now immortal warriors, the protectors of our clan. Go find your bunk in the barracks, and report to your trainers first thing tomorrow.”
“Yes, Dread Totem,” they said in unison, the Ogre’s voice nearly drowning those of the three hobs.
Bek and a goblin adept rushed forward with a bucket of water and cloth and started cleaning the blood stains from the floor.
I followed the departing soldiers and my eyes landed on Tika. She had remained in the corner through the ceremony, watching the entire process.
She had witnessed me performing this ceremony before, but that time was special, a defining point in our clan’s history. This … this was just daily routine, murdering my own clanmates. I knew they were only pieces of computer code. I knew they were not even VIs. Still, knowing I killed members of the clan that were under my protection weighed heavily on me.
I looked at Tika. Her eyes were full of compassion. It was obvious she felt for the dead. I lowered my eyes. “I told you it was better if I went alone.”
She came to me and once again wrapped her arms around my neck. “I know you do what you must to protect us all,” she whispered. “You do not have to face it alone. I will always stand by your side … Oren.”
Hearing her use my real name snapped me back to my senses. My weariness faded and my burden eased. I felt a burst of love and gratitude for my beautiful goblin girlfriend. She didn’t judge me; her compassion was for me, at what I had to do. I embraced her tightly. Our lips met as we shared a deep kiss.
We kissed for a long moment, standing in the macabre, foreboding temple with blood splattered all around us. My pulse quickened as my passion rose. I yearned for her. My urges became more insistent, and dark impulses grew within me as well. I wanted to take her right then and there. I felt a compulsion demanding I lay her down on the bloody floor, make love to her, then offer her heart as the ultimate sacrifice to my dark deity …
“No!” I yelled, breaking away from her.
She looked hurt as she stood there, staring at me with those huge, green eyes.
“It defies the will of the master.” The damn dwarf was mumbling to himself again. “All life is meant to be his to devour. It should remember that –”
“Shut up,” I hissed at him, then took a deep, steadying breath, locking my eyes with Tika’s. “I’m sorry, Tika. This place … this is not a good place to be with the ones you care for. Let’s go home.”
She looked down. “Yes, Oren.”
***
I woke with a start, my heart beating fast.
While I slept, I was assaulted with nightmares: I was a feral goblin, a mindless, ruthless monster that took pleasure in sacrificing and destroying everything in sight.
This was not a Totem vision; I knew that for a fact. The nightmare touched on a deep fear I tried to suppress. I couldn’t avoid facing the issue any longer, I had to face the reality: Little by little, this world … this game was shattering my psyche, one piece at a time. I have to get out of here, or I’ll end up a savage, ruthless monster, I thought bitterly.
In order to do that, I had to reach boss tier 4.
I was only tier 2 at the moment. To achieve the next boss tier, I needed Goblin’s Gorge to become a level 3 settlement.
I opened the Settlement Interface to remind myself of the prerequisites.
Settlement Level 3 - Village
Requirements: 10% efficiency or higher, 5 Apprentice level buildings or higher, 200 members, 2 bosses
I was actually not far from that mark. Our clan efficiency was at an all-time high of 27.7 percent. We had eight appropriate buildings and three bosses, including me. The only limiting factor was the population count. My clan numbered 134 individuals and was well on its way toward 200. At least the foblins count toward the population goal. Which was about the only thing they were good for. My clan now sported 24 of those pests. With their breeding rate, we’d hit the 200 mark in two or three weeks.
There was another, more substantial obstacle. In order to reach the next boss tier, I needed twenty thousand energy points. The way things were going, it would take me a long time to get there. We just didn’t seem to be able to get past the four thousand EP mark. There was always something urgent that demanded a large expenditure of energy, holding back my own progression.
But there’s another way, I suddenly remembered. If I kill 50 players,
I’ll be able to achieve the next boss tier without needing the energy. Considering that an army of players was making its way toward us, there was a decent shot I’d manage to get the 50 kills. But in order to do that, I would have to be the one who landed the killing strike. Fifty times. That was a problem, I couldn’t order my troops to hold back while I took my time killing enemies one at a time.
I let out a regretful sigh. That tactic, though attractive, would lead to too many casualties among my troops, which in the end would only cost me even more energy in resurrections. I still had boss tier 4 to reach. I shuddered at the thought of how much energy that upgrade would require.
A devilish thought occurred to me. Maybe I’ll just kill some of the newcomers. I could enforce an execution system for slight offenses, but that would surely turn them against me. Better yet, I can offer them a quest to be willingly sacrificed; Nihilator wouldn’t care. That idea had its merits. Players didn’t mind dying so much, especially at the lower levels where the death penalties were reduced.
That was a shame, but I had a third option for reaching the twenty thousand energy mark. I could convert void crystals into energy. As Vic reminded me, players left especially powerful crystals when sacrificed, and I planned on harvesting the attacking players for as many crystals as I could.
I grinned. My feverish preparations gave me a sense of confidence. I imagined the approaching army as a field of fruit ripe for the picking. All I had left to do was go harvesting.
I gently detached myself from the still sleeping Tika and exited the house.
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