He looked at me calmly and uttered five simple words. “The Mob Squad is back.”
***
I sat on Tempest’s back facing three weary-looking adventurers.
We were in the open forest clearing where I intercepted the players before reaching the settlement. My six hulking Infernal Ogres stood menacingly behind me, leering at the players.
The elvish-looking one, Misa, took a step forward. “I don’t know what’s going on, but this does not strike me as the proper way to greet the people who busted their asses for several days to fulfill your quest.”
I didn’t answer, but Tempest, sensing my emotions, growled at her, baring his teeth.
Misa rolled her eyes. “Okay, I’ll bite. What is it this time?”
“Before you left,” I almost hissed the words. “Did one of you sabotage the lumber yard?”
“What?” she asked, stepping back, surprise plain on her face. “What are you talking about?”
“He’s high on power,” the yellow bugbear huffed, crossing his arms. “If you’re trying to get away from paying us …”
I looked at the catlike one, Raystia. “Anything to add?”
She gulped. “Err … I’m sorry, Mr. Totem Chief guy, I … ahem … don’t know what you're talking about.”
I looked at the three with narrowed eyes. My Sense Emotion ability would not work on players, but the bugbear looked angry, Misa something between angry and surprised, and Raystia just looked embarrassed. Same as always.
“Where’s the dwarf?” I scanned the immediate area. “He’s not with you and he has not spawned in the cemetery.”
“Going to pin the fall on him again, for something you can’t prove, again?” Fox sneered at me.
I was stumped. I knew the saboteur was almost certainly one of them, but I couldn’t tell who was lying. This time, Tempest’s unerring nose was of little help. ”Stand down,” I said to the Ogres around us.
They exchanged looks of disappointment. One scratched his armpit.
I sighed. “Go, train with Rhynorn.”
“Yes Drea-Ed To-Tem,” they answered boorishly and lumbered away.
I addressed the three players again. “Let’s hear it. You claim to have fulfilled your part, but the missing dwarf suggests otherwise.”
“You want the short version or the long one?” Misa asked.
“The long one.”
She shook her head. “Nah, I’m too tired for that. The short version is that we found a derelict temple at the coordinates you gave us. A ton of undead was there guarding the place. It was a close call, but we killed them and mopped up the boss. It was some sort of skeleton with his entrails still in his rib cage.”
Raystia shuddered at Misa’s words.
“And …?” I prompted.
“That’s it.” Misa shrugged. “The boss was guarding the shrine. Your adept wanted to sacrifice Riley right away, but he didn’t want to respawn back here and have to wait for us to return. So he stayed behind. The undead are respawning slowly, so he farms them for XP. Your goblin priest has placed some sort of binding over the shrine to keep them away and prevent the boss from respawning. I just have to message Riley and he’ll finish up the quest.”
“Alright, go ahead.”
Fox looked at me threateningly. “You better cough up everything you promised us afterward.”
That guy sure had a short memory. I let my dagger hover out of my belt and point at him. He took my meaning and wisely lowered his eyes.
“Okay, I messaged him,” Misa said. “Should be any moment now.
Outsourced Quest Completed: Dark Missionary
The Mob Squad members rewarded: 2,000 XP, 200 reputation with GreenPiece Clan, 200 gold
Misa Gavriilu rewarded: Leather greaves (magical)
Raystia rewarded: 40 X arrows (magic)
Riley Stonefist rewarded: Reinforced gloves (magical)
Fox rewarded: High steel shield (normal)
Quest Completed: Dark Missionary
You have successfully sanctified three places of power in the name of Nihilator.
Quest type: Advanced
Time remaining: 4 days
Reward: 250 Faith Points, +250 reputation with Nihilator, 5,000 XP
Clan reward: Zone Blessings now available for purchase in all newly sanctified locations.
Special reward: The three places of worship empower the central temple. Eternal Night effect increased by 100%.
Yes!
I could feel the Eternal Night around us becoming thicker. It didn’t become darker, but the blessing’s increased power felt almost like it was smoothly caressing my skin.
I drew in a tendril of information and reviewed the changes. All Shadow-Touched creatures received an additional ten percent increase to damage, max HP and MP, as well as an extra five percent efficiency for non-combat skills. Enemies now suffered 20 percent XP penalties and their MP and HP regen were further reduced.
It was unfortunate that the upkeep wasn’t reduced any further. Still, the extra boost was incredible. I would have had to spend thousands of FP to purchase bonuses of similar value.
A smug smile spread across my face, and I experienced a feeling of magnanimity toward the troublesome players.
“Well, I see you’re happy,” Misa said dryly. “Glad you kept your word. I got a level from completing your quest, so I guess I ought to thank you.”
“Me too!” Raystia chimed in merrily. “I’m really loving this place!”
“Hmmm,” Fox grunted noncommittally. “I can afford better armor now.”
“Shopping time!” Misa declared. “See you anon, Dread Totem.”
I watched them head toward the settlement. Then I teleported to the cemetery.
I materialized behind the Dark Temple, standing in the narrow pathway between it and the valley’s wall, where the single tombstone lay hidden.
“Holy hell, where the crap did you come from?” Riley, the dwarf, nearly jumped when he saw me coming out of the shadows.
“I see you completed the quest,” I said, ignoring his question.
“Well, yeah,” he said. “And it’s the last time I’m willingly putting myself on an altar to be sacrificed. This is the stuff of nightmares, man. FIVR is no joke.”
“I know you got a decent enough boon out of the experience.”
“What boon? Your quest rewards are barely worth the experience, and the death debuff cost me nearly all the XP I earned by staying behind butchering skeletons.”
“I’m not talking about those rewards.” I looked at him pointedly.
The dwarf’s hand reached over his heart as if on its own. “That’s between me and the big guy.”
I shrugged. “Suit yourself. In any case, I consider your debt settled.”
“I didn’t bloody kill your stupid goblins, goddammit!” he yelled. “How many times do I have to tell you that?”
“And I suppose you know nothing about the lumber yard incident?”
He gave me such a vacant-eyed stare that I forwent inquiring further. He wasn’t the culprit either.
I waited until he disappeared behind the temple then teleported back to my house.
It was midday by now and I planned on taking the new recruits hunting the next day.
I sat at my table and took out one of the enchanted Viridium spheres and went to work.
***
Utility schema [Conduit] upgraded to [Inertia bead]
Finally!
After hours of trial and error, I had finally found the right rune combinations. The Conduit enchantment enabled the Viridium spheres to adhere to each other while holding the mana required to make them move. I added the Zu rune of motion I got from the old gremlin, then slapped on the Ko rune of strength, just because I had the room to include it – and a little extra strength is never a bad thing. I had two rune slots left, so I used the Mag rune of warding for the first time and connected it with the Esh rune, making the sphere highly resistant to fire. No one would be smelt
ing this precious.
I didn’t take the bait. “Just hold on.”
I retrieved two of the other partially enchanted spheres and applied the new schema on them, taking a few minutes to make sure everything was aligned properly. Once I was done, I put the spheres on the ground.
“Watch this.” I directed my thoughts at the spheres. They drew together and attached with a metallic click. The spheres rolled on top of each other like a snowman. With a mental command, the column rolled around the room, remaining upright.
Vic flowed off my shoulders. “Is that it?” He shook his head. “You already made them do that.”
“Not so,” I countered. “Before, I was actively directing them. I needed to use my mana to make them move as I wanted. Now, I just think ‘up’ or ‘move’ and they obey. I don’t have to invest a single MP.”
“So you got yourself a fancy kid’s toy. What’s the big deal?”
I didn’t let his criticism bring me down. I could feel the tendrils of information assuring me I was on the right track. “Check this out. Analyze.”
Viridium Bead Golem [Runecrafted]
Level: 3
HP: 37
Attributes: P: 3, M: -, S: -
Skills: Slam 13
Traits: Golem (enchantment immunity, nonliving, magic resistance, +25% HP), Metal Body (Viridium, ignore 20 damage)
Resistances: Armor 15, Magic 50%, Fire 93%
Stored Mana: 298/300
Description: This golem is a marvel of Runecraft ingenuity. Composed of separate self-propelling spheres, it can reshape itself freely to best accomplish its orders. The golem can run indefinitely, limited only by the amount of stored mana.
The golem cannot gain levels or skills; instead, its strength is determined by the number of spheres composing its body.
Each sphere adds: 1 level, 1 Physical, 5 armor, 100 mana capacity.
The golem’s martial skill is always set at its max cap.
This golem lacks a central controlling unit and has to be controlled externally.
“Oh wow, that’s pretty impressive for a pair of self-propelling balls,” Vic said.
“There are three of them,” I noted.
“Yeah, but the way I put it was funnier.”
I grinned and ordered the golem to attack the wall. The upper part wound back, then slammed powerfully into the wooden wall, leaving a discernible dent.
“Damn straight, it’s impressive,” I said, and with a few mental clicks paid three EP to repair the damage. ”And that’s from just three pieces. I have 12 more.”
Vic stared at me for a moment. “So it’ll be a level 15 golem, not bad.”
“That’s just the start. Once I find more Viridium …” I trailed off. “Think what kind of damage a golem with 200 spheres can do.” I gave him a huge, shit-eating grin.
“That’s actually not a half-bad plan, Boss.”
“Thank you.” Now that I had a working proof of concept, I could allow myself to be gracious.
“Wait a second, Boss, the description says you have to actively control this thing. It doesn’t sound like a good idea during combat. You’ll get distracted for sure.”
“It shouldn’t be too difficult, but I have a backup plan,” I reassured him. “I still have to finish enchanting the rest of the spheres. But first …” I sighed at the sight of the small pile of newly crafted weapons waiting for my attention. A working proof of concept would have to suffice for now. I had to finish enchanting the new weapons Kadoc had forged today. They would be needed for our hunt tomorrow.
I grabbed the first weapon and got to work.
***
The next day, I awoke to the chime of a new system message.
Quest Update: Unleash the Darkness
You have channeled 20% of the energy Nihilator requires to reach the next boss level and break the bonds that have kept him prisoner for centuries.
Progress: 20,003/100,000 EP
Bonus reward: +50 Faith Points
That was both good and bad. The fact that I had channeled twenty thousand energy to Nihilator was staggering. It had taken two months to reach this point, and with the vastly increased daily EP I had now, reaching a hundred percent wouldn’t be too far off. Then I’d have to deal with an unleashed evil deity.
But that was a future me problem. Present me had oxsaurians to hunt.
Tika pouted when I went to say goodbye. “You’re leaving again so soon?”
That was new.
“The warriors need the training; I have to go with them or they’ll suffer casualties,” I explained.
“At least you bother to say goodbye this time,” she huffed. “Last time you just disappeared. I was alone for three days, not knowing where you were.”
“Err, I’m … sorry.” This was definitely a new side of Tika.
She sniffed then embraced me tightly. “I’ll miss you,” she whispered in my ear. “Come back to me.”
“I will,” I answered clumsily, not sure how to handle this new aspect of her. It was out of character; she was acting weird, unusual, like …
Yeah.
***
My troops were waiting for me at the forest clearing before the valley’s exit. Rhyno was standing there as well, twice the size of the hobs and a good head taller than the other Ogres. The gladiator was the only veteran soldier present. Last time I had to leave him behind, as he was best suited to handle any threats to the clan in my absence. Now I had 20 veterans, all above level 10, who could watch over the settlement, so I could bring him along for some good old power-leveling.
All the new recruits were present: three Ogres, 16 hobs, and three ‘healer’ adepts. A veritable army.
Bob stood there as well, though he wouldn’t be coming with us. He was organizing the soldiers and handing out the sonic-enchanted weapons I’d made. We had enough to equip ten of the hobs. The Ogres still wielded tree trunks clubs. That won’t do for long, I mused. I needed my heavy hitters to, well, hit hard.
“Bob.”
“Yes, Dread Totem?”
“After we finish here, please instruct Kadoc to forge weapons for the Ogres. I think spiked cudgels would be best for them.”
“Yes, Dread Totem.”
Bob knew how to follow orders. He was an efficient lieutenant.
I formed up a war party and included the 22 newbies. With the progress I’d made in the last hunt, my War Party Leader skill was level 23. I could easily accommodate a group this size. I could even take in 11 more.
Wait a second … I stopped as a thought occurred to me. If I include non-soldiers in the party, they should still get some percentage of the experience, even if they stay back in the valley. If it worked, that could be an amazing way to level up my workers without having to waste precious energy.
I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind, looking for the tendrils of information of my most valued members. I added Zuban, Tika, Guba, and Vrick to the party. As an afterthought, I added the two smiths as well. The bottleneck of my mobilization efforts was the rate of arming my troops. A few levels would go a long way toward increasing my smith’s productivity. I decided against including the builders. I couldn’t accommodate them all anyway, and by now we were doing well on the building front. Instead, I added the two goblin researchers. After seeing the RP requirements of the Expert-ranked blueprints, they could also use a little extra boost.
I mounted Tempest and motioned to my troops. “Follow me.”
***
We made good time crossing the forest to the oxsaurians’ territory. The goblin adepts surprised me by keeping up with their longer-legged cousins. Though they couldn’t run as fast as the hobs, the thick forest hindered them less than it did the tall warriors.
After a few hours, we came out of the shroud of darkness that surrounde
d the area around the valley. Stars appeared in open patches of the canopy above us. We marched on.
We made it to the edge of the forest at daybreak. I ordered my troops to make camp. The hobs’ innate martial sense showed. In short order, a sleeping area was cleared, the fire was started, and sentries were posted.
That was when Kaedric contacted me with some good news. The builders had finished constructing the general workshop and three cabins. As our most pressing construction needs were met, I instructed my seneschal to use his own judgment for our next projects. The mandibled hob knew our priorities and had proven himself to be an efficient manager.
We slept the day away without incident. Very few things in the forest would dare attack a force as strong as ours. The oxsaurians beyond the tree line would be much less deferential.
Listen up. I used the Earring of the Warlord to communicate telepathically. I could have talked instead, but I wanted the soldiers to get used to receiving mental commands.
I’ll lead the way, remain 20 meters behind me. I’ll lure in a single enemy for you to kill. Melee fighters, attack the upper half of the creature. Scouts, shoot at the lower half. Adepts, alternate between Drilling Arrow and Drain Mana, but make sure to always stay above 50 percent, I want you to have enough for heals in case it’s necessary. Everyone clear?
All the soldiers nodded except Rhynorn.
IS THAT CLEAR? I asked more forcefully, aiming my question at the Ogre boss. Rhyno bared his teeth in a growl but then thought better of it and reluctantly nodded. Good boy. Let’s go.
I took the lead, riding Tempest on the open grassland. I kept scanning for oxsaurians but didn’t see any herds.
We marched on for another hour, then, when we crested the next hill, I found what we were looking for.
Oxsaurians.
Hundreds of them.
A huge herd roamed below us, grazing. They appeared carefree and with good reason. With so many of them gathered together, they could trample even a party of high-level adventurers. They had nothing to fear from a bunch of low-level mobs.
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