by Aaron Oster
Sweet!
Focusing on each of them in turn, Sam used Inspect , to see what they’d be up against.
DEMI-HUMAN
Name: Colton Gender: Male Level: 7 - HP: 170/170 - MP: 40/40 - STA: 160/160
Status: Aggressive Demi-Humans are one of the least common races in Somerset and live mostly in the Four Kingdoms. Demi-Humans are almost never alike and bonuses with each level vary wildly from one to another.
So, Sirus was a demi-human, Sam thought. Are all people conceived through a human and someone of another race, lumped into that category? And what if two people from different races had a child? Would they also be called demi-humans?
Sam shook his head to rid himself of those distracting thoughts. Now was not the time for them. He turned his attention to the gnome next.
GRAY GNOME
Name: Pompayous Gender: Male Level: 9 - HP: 110/110 - MP: 230/230 - STA: 100/100
Status: Excited Gray gnomes are a sub-race of the gnome race and receive bonuses to both Intelligence and Wisdom with each new level. They also, however, receive penalties to Constitution and Charisma.
Sam had to force himself not to laugh when he saw the gnome’s name. Pompayous seemed to suit him well, though he had to wonder about the man’s mother. Who in their right mind would name someone something so ridiculous?
He examined the other demi-human, discovering him to be at the same level as the other one. Then, he turned his attention to the final person the group, and the one he was the most interested in.
FOREST FAWN
Name: Lilly Gender: Female Level: 8 - HP: 140/140 - MP: 190/190 - STA: 70/70
Status: Indifferent Forest fawns are a sub-race of the Fawn race and receive bonuses to both Intelligence and Charisma with each new level. They also, however, receive penalties to Endurance and Constitution.
There are fawns is Somerset?
Sam had to admit that he was quite intrigued by the possibility. Lilly was more than a little odd looking, but he had to admit that she had a certain charm to her. Perhaps that was just her race’s naturally high charisma, or maybe he was just a sick bastard, but he had to admit to himself that he would feel bad if he was forced to kill her. After all, she seemed to be the only one who was not excited at the prospect of finding him.
“Are you sure he’s this way? If you’re lying to me, you’ll pay dearly!”
The voice of the gnome drifted over, carried on the wind, and Sam had to suppress the urge to come out and attack him right then and there. This gnome had been a total dick since the moment they’d first met and had nearly gotten him castrated by a psycho chick with a thing for bondage. Now here he was, not content with merely driving him out of the city, he had come to kill him.
Sam gritted his teeth and imagined all the lovely ways he would torture Pompayous before he killed him.
“Yes. I’m sure,” Emma’s voice reached him next. “And you’d better hold up your end of the deal. I expect to be paid in full. Don’t even think of cheating me.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’ll get your money. Now where the hell is he?”
Sam looked back to Gordon and gave him a nod. The dog nodded back and padded into the woods to take up his position. Sam waited for a full count of thirty, before rubbing his hands together and grinning to himself.
“Showtime!” he said, then abruptly stood and deliberately left his hiding place.
34
“There he is!” the gnome yelled, as soon as Sam emerged from his hiding spot.
His face was flushed red. If it was from anger, excitement, or both, Sam couldn’t be sure. He did know one thing, though. He had to take this bastard down without killing him, and his best chance to do so would be to separate him from his cronies so that Emma and Barry could take him out.
“Hey there, you pompous prick,” Sam said with a cheery wave. “I was wondering if I’d ever see your cowardly little face again.”
The gnome’s face darkened, as rage overtook him completely.
“How dare you mock me? Do you know who I am?”
“Yes. You’re a pompous prick with an overinflated ego and too much power,” Sam replied with a shrug. Then he winked to Emma and turned his back on gnome and his party.
“I don’t have time for you now, as I’m quite busy. Maybe you and your cronies can come back a different time.”
Sam had to suppress the urge to laugh at the gnome’s scream of rage, and just continued walking at a leisurely pace, disappearing into the surrounding foliage.
“After him! All of you! I want him dead!” Sam heard him screech a second later.
He heard the telltale sound of people crashing through the trees behind him and took off running. He knew that they would catch him in a matter of seconds, as his Agility was total crap, but all he needed were seconds.
“Coming through!” he shouted, making sure that Gordon knew he was coming and invariably letting his pursuers know his exact location.
He spotted the area up ahead and took a quick peek at his Stamina bar. It was still more than 70% full, which was quite surprising. The crashing sound grew louder and, taking a quick peek over his shoulder, Sam felt his heart leap up to his throat. The fawn and both demi-humans were right on his tail, with the Fawn trailing just a few feet behind the others.
Sam gritted his teeth and attempted to make his legs move faster, but it felt as though he were trying to run through mud.
Fuck me!
Leaning forward, Sam attempted to eke out as much speed as he could, pushing himself harder and harder. Then, without warning, his Stamina bar dropped by over half and he suddenly shot away from the three chasing him, much to all of their surprise. A message popped up, but Sam shoved it aside as his speed dropped just as quickly as it had risen. Thankfully, he had reached the trapped area and slowed to a walk.
The others, thinking that he’d nearly run out of Stamina, rushed forward in excitement and that was when Gordon triggered the trap. There was a sound like a thousand trees cracking all at once, then all the logs they’d hoisted into the trees came crashing down on the heads of the two demi-humans. The fawn was far enough back to avoid the worst of it, but she was still caught by a glancing blow and sent reeling.
Sam got the notifications, confirming that the two had been killed and that the fawn had been stunned. He grinned to himself, mentally slapping himself high five for a plan well executed.
“Alright, let’s go catch that gnome!” Sam shouted, running forward. He attempted to lift the stunned fawn from the ground, but failed miserably.
Damn pitiful Strength score!
Gordon came running from the surrounding trees and, after seeing Sam struggling to lift the armored woman, bent down and clamped his jaws into her breastplate.
“Thanks,” Sam said, as the dog easily lifted her half-off the ground and began dragging her toward where Emma and Barry were probably fighting the gnome right now.
As they ran, two notifications flashed quickly across Sam’s vision.
+1 Agility
+1 Charisma
He wasn’t too surprised at the first one, but wondered at the Charisma increase. Giving Gordon a sidelong look, he wondered if the successful plan had elevated him in the dog’s eyes. They emerged onto the path just a few short moments later and Sam began wildly looking around for the fight he was sure was happening right now.
“About time you got your cute butt back here.”
Sam turned to see Emma, standing next to a tied up and unconscious gnome. Pompayous had a nasty bruise on the back of his head, and Baron Von Tweet was in the process of defecating into his open mouth.
Gross.
“I guess you didn’t need my help, after all,” he said sheepishly, as Gordon dropped the unconscious fawn at his feet.
Emma’s eyes flicked to the unconscious woman and she raised an eyebrow.
“She didn’t look like she actually cared about killing me,” Sam said with a shrug. “I’ve got a feeling that most of the guildies aren’t
okay with what’s been going on, but are either too afraid or weak to do anything about it. I bet that we can make use of her somehow.”
“If you say so,” Emma said, bending down and hauling the unconscious gnome off the ground by his shirt collar.
“So, where to now?”
“It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to head to your house. How about we just go deep enough into the woods that no one will hear him scream?”
“Ooh, I like the way you think,” Emma said with a wicked grin. “Lead the way then, oh fearless leader.”
“And have you staring at my ass the entire time? No thanks,” Sam said with a snort.
Emma shrugged, then walked out in front, taking the time to turn back and wink at him. “Alright. Just this once I’ll let you stare at my ass.”
Sam just rolled his eyes, but followed her all the same, Gordon trotting behind him, still dragging the unconscious fawn along the ground.
They walked for nearly an hour, going in deep enough that the trees had started spreading further and further apart as they grew larger. While they walked, Sam took the time to check his notifications and discovered that he’d gotten some XP from killing the guildies, as well as a new ability- a surprising one at that.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Through the act of running for you life, you have gained a new ability.
Speed Boost: Massively increase your speed for a short burst Level: Novice 1 (33%) Effect: +100% Increase to speed Duration: 3 Seconds Cost: 40 STA
Sam closed his the notification, wondering at the odd ability. He hadn’t thought that he’d be receiving any Stamina based abilities, due to his Mage class. Even before he’d chosen the class, he hadn’t received any abilities that would cost him Stamina. Pondering this, he began to wonder if he might have been limiting himself up until now. If he could have access to abilities outside of his class, he wondered what else he might be able to learn.
They finally stopped a few minutes later, when they came across a small clearing with a narrow stream running along one side.
Emma dropped the now conscious and struggling gnome to the ground, and stretched, arching her back and letting out a long groan. He’d come to about ten minutes ago and had begun sputtering and cursing. Emma must have knocked him pretty hard on the head, as he had a sizeable lump there, and it probably hadn’t helped his mood that he’d woken up with a mouthful of bird shit. They’d been forced to stop and shove a dirty rag in his mouth to keep him from talking.
Lilly, the fawn, had also come to, but unlike Pompayous, didn’t put up much of a fight. After Sam had threatened to have Gordon tear her throat out, she’d been cooperative, albeit, reluctantly.
“I do not appreciate you treating as though I were some wild mongrel,” Gordon huffed, walking in a circle a few times, before dropping to the ground and pulling his stick from his storage.
“I don’t treat you like a mongrel,” Sam said absent-mindedly, kicking the struggling gnome in the stomach and making him double up in pain.
“The way you just casually threatened to have me attack someone else for you would suggest otherwise.”
“Aww, don’t be like that, Gordon,” Emma said, crouching down next to him and scratching him behind the ears. “You know that Sam values you very much. Don’t you, Sam?”
Despite his annoyance, Gordon’s tail began thumping on the ground as soon as Emma began scratching his ears and a low, satisfied rumbling sound came from deep within his chest.
“Yes, Gordon, I value you as much as any member of our team,” Sam said, keeping his back to the dog, so he wouldn’t see him rolling his eyes.
“Sarcasm does not become you, Samuel,” Gordon said, making Sam grit his teeth in annoyance.
“I’m sorry, but can you tell me why the two of you are talking to the dog?”
They all turned to see Lilly standing on the other side of the clearing and looking around nervously. She wouldn’t understand what Gordon was saying, and probably thought she’d been captured by a bunch of crazy people.
“Oh, don’t mind us,” Sam said, waving his hand as though to dismiss the entire thing.
He noticed that the gnome had recovered and was trying to wriggle away, and decided to put an end to that.
“Hey, Barry,” he called to the brightly colored bird, who had perched high in one of the trees.
With a squawk, the foul-beaked monstrosity took off, and came down to land on the ground near them.
“Don’t call me that! My name is Baron Von Tweet!” He cocked his head to the side. “Bitch,” he added as an afterthought.
“Right,” Sam said, doing his best not to stomp on the bird. “Well then, Baron Von Tweet, how would you like to guard our prisoner, while I question our other guest?”
“I’m not your slave, motherfucker! Do it yourself,” he then spread his wings as if to take off, when Sam held out a hand.
“If he misbehaves, feel free to shit on him.”
Sam had to suppress a grin as the gnome’s already red face went a shade darker, and his muffled screams redoubled.
The bird stared at him for a few seconds, as if to check if he were messing with him or not, then slowly nodded.
“You’ve got a deal. No take-backs!”
Sam nodded seriously, then turned to face the others. He didn’t know what was with that bird and his obsession with crapping on people, but he figured it would be a good way to get him to do what he wanted. Much in the same way he could predict Gordon’s actions, if he offered him a stick.
Emma stared wide-eyed, as her seemingly uncontrollable companion was handled and set to task.
“How the hell did you manage that?” she whispered as Sam drew near.
“Just gave him what he wanted, much in the same way you seem to have an easy time with Gordon. If you want my opinion, I think that dick of an Overlord purposely gave us companions we wouldn’t get along with.”
“I can hear you, you know,” Gordon said, but Sam could tell it was a half-hearted attempt.
His eyes were half-lidded and his tail was swishing slowly, as he drifted off under Emma’s lightly scratching fingernails. A thoughtful expression crossed her features when he said this and after a few moments, she nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“Excuse me, but are you planning on keeping me here all night?”
They both turned to see that the fawn was still standing there, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
Why hasn’t she tried to run? Sam wondered as he rose from his crouched position near Emma.
“No. In fact, we’re gonna let you go,” he replied, walking over and standing just a few feet from her.
Lilly’s eyes widened in disbelief, then narrowed in suspicion.
“And what do you want in exchange for my freedom? You gonna ra…”
“Nope, not really into forcing myself onto others,” Sam said, rolling his eyes.
Damn tropes.
“All I want is some information on the guild, then I’ll let you go.”
Lilly had stopped with her mouth half open, but closed it with an audible click when he cut her off.
“What do you want to know?” she asked, folding her arms over her chest and looking him in the eye. “I won’t give up anything that will hurt the guild. Even if you torture me.” Her fingers closed around the slim silver chain dangling from her neck, as though it gave her strength.
“Again, not gonna torture you. I just want to know what’s been going on the guild since Sirus took over.”
Lilly opened her mouth to speak, but Sam raised a hand to forestall her.
“I’m not asking for guild information. All I want to know is when he came in, how he managed the takeover, and how the rest of the guild members feel about it.”
Lilly was silent for a long moment once he’d finished speaking. So long, in fact, that he wondered if they would get any answers from her at all. Then, finally, she began telling her tale.
“It all
began about a year ago. Our previous Guildmaster died while raiding a new dungeon a few miles from here. Pompayous was second in command and he gathered all of us in the guild hall to tell us the news. We thought that he’d report the death and that the main guild branch in The Frozen Monarchy would appoint a replacement. Except, that wasn’t the reason he’d gathered us all there,” Lilly said with a sigh.
“As soon as he delivered the news, the exits were locked and a group of men emerged to block all attempts at escape. Then Sirus walked in. He was accompanied by his sister and an elf woman…” Lilly’s cheeks colored slightly at the mention of the elf, and Sam had a pretty good idea of who she was talking about.
“Sirus told us that the guild branch in Shtut would now be under his control and that he was appointing Pompayous as the Guildmaster.”
“Why did you go along with it?” Sam asked.
This was the only part that he didn’t understand about the entire situation. He still wasn’t sure about the guild as a whole, but there was no way they would sanction a gang running their business in their name. And why would any member stay and take those orders?
“A lot of us tried to leave, but then the elf… did something to us.” Lilly shivered slightly at the memory, and Sam’s assessment of the threat Milly posed went up a few notches.
“What did she do?”
Lilly bit her bottom lip for a few moments, before lowering her voice and answering.
“She… went into my head, and…” her face went beet red, and she buried her face in her hands.
“What did she do?”
Sam turned to see that Emma had risen from her position by the now sleeping Gordon and had come over to join them. Lilly lifted her face and seemed to take strength from Emma’s presence.
“She whispered my greatest shame, my deepest and darkest desires. Then, threatened to expose them for all to hear if I didn’t go along with what Sirus ordered.”