Extra Credit

by J. Arthur Klein

  I crossed my fingers and walked up to the chest, looking inside to see what the RNG had wrought for me. I felt the warmth of the Scavenger’s Ringsheath against my tail and glanced down.

  “Yes” I hissed, seeing five icons. Two white, one yellow, one orange, and one clear, filled with the sparkles associated with my Scavenger skill. I crossed my fingers and selected that one first, watching it blur and resolve into a small scroll. I pulled it out of the chest and opened it up.

  Abjuration Skill Check: Fail. You lack the skill necessary to use this item.

  “Boo,” I said. “My Scavenger kicked in and I got this as extra loot, but I can’t use it. Do any of you know the Abjuration school?”

  My companions shook their heads, and Leilani added. “Priests don’t have the same schools. Our spells come from tablets, Old Testament style.”

  I chuckled, tucked the scroll into my bag and then reached for the orange choice. It spun in place and resolved into a kobold size staff. I pulled it out and looked at it.

  < Architect’s Staff>

  This staff can hold up to five charges of a non-channeled spell. Each charge requires five minutes to prepare. Casting time of the stored spells is instant.

  +1 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom

  Value: 25 gold.

  “Now we’re talking. A plus one to Intelligence and Wisdom and the ability to store five spells in it that I can cast instantly. Takes five minutes a spell to program, but in a pinch it’s hella useful.”

  The yellow option netted me ten gold, one silver, and four copper, and the two white selections gave me two potions of mana which could restore a hundred mana a pop.

  “Nice haul!” Cedric said, preening in his new helmet. “What do you think? Badass right?”

  Kelikk gave him a pat on the back. “Pretty badass, Ced. Pretty badass.”

  We searched the rest of the room, finding only the broken bones of my poor minions. “Can we pause for a minute while I fix up my minions in case we need to do that again?” I asked.

  My companions nodded and began doing some field repairs on their own armor while I did my thing. First, I summoned Gimli back and healed him back to full. It took a couple of castings as he was pretty banged up.

  Next, I raised two orc skeletons to replace Curley and Larry and equipped them, binding them and naming them after their predecessors. And the good thing was that these stooges looked identical, so no one would even know there was a cast change.

  Larry went back into the bag, freeing up that chunk of mana but leaving Gimli and Curley to do their thing.

  ***

  31

  We left the troll’s lair behind, closing the door to keep the smell contained and headed over to the door on the opposite side of the room.

  Pausing for a second to refresh my shield, I sent Curley forward to be our doorman and hoped I wouldn’t lose another skeleton to traps.

  With a mental nudge, he opened the door and stepped to the side, giving us all a clear path forward. Cedric and Gimli took the lead, forming a mini shield wall, while Leilani and I followed close behind.

  The center of the room was split by a series of long tables - high school cafeteria style - covered in wooden dishes piled high with foods of questionable origin.

  Seated at the table was a group of ten bandits. The nearest raised the alarm and the bandits leapt to their feet and drew their weapons, turning towards us with looks of pure malice.

  “Back to the door!” Leilani yelled and followed her own advice.

  I slipped out behind her, turning back so I could place my minions appropriately.

  Once Kelikk and Gimli were through, Cedric positioned himself in the door frame and raised his shield. I sent Gimli to assist, and together they formed a wall of flesh and bone across the opening.

  Fighting in the mess hall would have given us more room to maneuver, but we were outnumbered. Setting up a chokepoint at the doorway was a great call. Leilani knew her stuff.

  I called Curley to me and glanced at Kelikk who was watching me curiously.

  “Don’t judge me,” I said and climbed onto the skeleton’s shoulders. I hope this doesn’t need the riding skill, I thought as I peered over my companions’ heads.

  From the higher vantage point I could see the bandits forming into a line of their own on the other side of the door.

  There were four Bandit Rogues, four Bandit Enforcers, and two Bandit Lieutenants who appeared to be better equipped versions of the Rogues.

  I relayed the information to Kelikk and Leilani and started chain casting Rot onto their front line.

  My tenuous perch made getting the Bone Dust from my pouches a bit troublesome, so I cast the unbuffed version of the spell, afflicting the first three bandits to reach the door with the DoT.

  The one in the lead charged through the door, attempting to smash through our warriors but ran into the brick wall that was Cedric’s shield. Kelikk took up position behind Gimli, using his longer reach to attack the bandit over the skeleton’s shoulder, scoring a deep gash into the enemy’s shoulder that caused him to drop his shield arm.

  Cedric and Gimli struck simultaneously, their swords piercing the bandit’s body high and low, finishing him off.

  DoTs in place, I climbed down off of Curley and had him equip his bow. The added ranged damage more valuable than a little height at the moment.

  Another bandit tried the same technique as his friend and met a similar end.

  “Guess the AI’s a poor student,” Kelikk laughed as he buried his axe into the next bandit to try to break through. An arrow sprouted from the bandit’s eye as Curley landed a critical hit, dropping him to the ground.

  I heard someone shouting from the other room but couldn’t see what was going on. All I had to go off of was the system message that flashed across my view.

  Bandit Lieutenant uses ‘Band of Brothers’!

  Bandit Lieutenant uses ‘Band of Brothers’!

  “What happened in there, Ced?” I asked, but it was Leilani who answered. “The Lieutenants just buffed them somehow. Be ready for incoming!”

  Her warning was almost too late as the two Lieutenants charged together through the door, lashing out at the last moment with twin kicks that sent Cedric and Gimli staggering backwards. Their gambit opened up enough room for some of their companions to come through and widen the line of engagement. Kelikk stepped forward to plug the gap on the right flank, but our left was open.

  I blasted the Rogue that tried to slip through with a Necromantic Bolt and ordered Curley to draw his axe and attack. My bolt hit the bandit in the face, dropping his health by half and sending him stumbling back.

  Cedric activated his area taunt skill, tangling the enemy up as they all struggled to get to him. The paladin’s hit points dropped steadily from the blows they were able to land, but Leilani was on her game and kept the healing flowing to her brother.

  While the Lieutenants were focused on the paladin, I set my minions to full offense. Gimli began bashing at a bandit with his shield and sword, and even head butted the man when the opportunity arose.

  Seeing that situation well in hand, I sent another bolt at the flanking rogue just as Curley buried his axe in the man’s stomach.

  The bandit’s health dropped down to a sliver from the skeleton’s blow and my bolt finished him off. The light fled from the bandit’s eyes to be replaced with a dark purple glow as the rank ten perk for Necromantic Bolt took hold, animating the bandit’s corpse where he stood.

  A new minion bar popped into my view; a zombie to do with as I chose, well, for thirty seconds at least.

  I ordered it to turn on its buddies and smiled as it turned and stabbed its friends in the back.

  The battle was going in our favor. The Lieutenants were both on the ground, and only a single Enforcer and three Rogues remained of the enemy force. We’d forced the bandits back through the doorway, and their remaining Enforcer was at death’s door, trying to defend from three directions at once.

&
nbsp; Kelikk buried his axe in the warrior’s back dropping him to the ground but took a shortsword to the kidney for his efforts, sending him to his knees in pain, with barely five percent of his hit points left.

  Cedric stepped forward and intercepted the enemy’s follow up, taunting the Bandit and kiting it away from his brother-in-law, giving Leilani time to heal him.

  The remaining Rogues were quickly dispatched by Cedric, Gimli and Curley, with a bolt or two from me when I got a good line of sight, and Leilani was able to save her hubby from his ignoble fate.

  Your party has killed 4x Bandit Enforcer! You have gained 200xp

  Your party has killed 4x Bandit Rogue! You have gained 80xp

  Your party has killed 2x Bandit Lieutenant! You have gained 150xp

  QUEST UPDATE: Eviction – Clear out the Bandit Lair: 25%

  ***

  32

  After the rush of battle faded, I went to work fixing up my skeletons while Kelikk started looting.

  My bandit zombie turned to dust when the animation spell wore off, leaving a small pile of coins and a bronze dagger behind.

  I followed behind Kelikk, dissecting once he’d completed looting. I had enough bones to last me for quite a while so I limited my Dissection to the heart and blood.

  Removing the skeleton as a selection dropped the Dissection timer by almost half, so I was able to slice and dice the two Lieutenants, all four Enforcers, and one of the Rogues before it was time to move on, collecting four warrior hearts, one rogue heart, twenty doses of warrior blood, and four doses of rogue blood.

  I still had no clue what to do with it all and at this rate I was going to run out of vials, even with each vial holding five doses each. If nothing else, I should be able to get a few coins from Mistress Valynwood.

  The loot was pretty uniform, except for a better, studded leather tunic that one of the Lieutenants dropped. We put that on Curley and added his current armor back to the pile.

  So we’d gathered a decent assortment of random loot. There were a lot of leather armor bits that could be sold or broken down by a talented leatherworker, or scavenger; a decent collection of bronze weapons; and a few gold worth of silver and copper coins.

  And that wasn’t counting the boss loot which was unique to each person and not part of the communal pot.

  With the bandits disposed of, we were able to explore the mess. There were two doors leading off to the north at either end of the room.

  Kelikk walked around the perimeter, expanding the map with his dwarven racial Delver’s Sense. I did my own search, looking for that telltale glimmer of scavengable loot.

  Towards the far end of the central table, I spotted a glowing bottle and nabbed it.

  < Château de Verai, 402 >

  A potent vintage of the once prestigious winery, now known for brewing a vintage only the truly desperate would imbibe. Luckily, this is an older vintage from before the fall.

  Effects: Intoxication, +2 Charisma, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom.

  Value: 250 gold

  There was a tag hanging from the neck of the bottle, written in an elaborate hand.

  “To the most magnanimous Lord Bellwether,” I read aloud. “I was told of your love of fine wine and hoped this would satisfy your refined tastes. I look forward to our future business dealings. Your obedient Servant, Baron Carmichael.”

  QUEST UPDATE: Stolen Goods

  Optional Criteria: Deliver the bottle of Château de Verai, 402 to Lord Bellwether in Sommervale.

  Additional Rewards: Unknown

  “Hey. What’s that side quest? You found a bottle of wine?” Kelikk shouted from across the room.

  I held up the bottle and gave him a thumb’s up, dropping it into my bag and heading to meet the others in the center of the room.

  “What’s the deal with the bottle?” Cedric asked. “I saw the quest prompt. What kind of reward is ‘Unknown?’”

  I shrugged. “It’s a gamble. It could be really good, or a complete waste of time. The bottle itself is worth two hundred and fifty gold. So, the question is if the reward be worth that?”

  Leilani’s eyes widened. “Wow! That’s a lot of gold. Do you think the reward would be worth that?”

  Kelikk stroked his beard. “Hmm. I don’t know. This type of quest has its pros and cons. Turning it in might get us an awesome one-time reward, or a crappy reward but unlock some other quests down the road. Or it could just be a ‘ha, ha, stupid players’ kind of quest. We won’t know unless we finish it.”

  “True,” I added. “Last quest I had with this type of decision I chose the good guy option and got a unique item out of it. So, the gamble is definitely worth it in my book. If nothing else we earn the thanks of a Baron, and I’m guessing the merchant who was expecting that cloth shipment.”

  “All that gold though…” Cedric groaned. “That’s a lot of money.”

  Leilani nodded. “I see… It is a lot of gold but the favor of a group of nobles could unlock a lot for us in the future. Play the long game, bro.”

  “Ugh! Fine!” the paladin said, muttered to himself under his breath.

  Kelikk and Leilani shared a knowing grin and tried not to show their amusement at his antics.

  “So,” I said and gestured towards the first door. “What do we have behind door number one?”

  ***

  33

  Cedric started paying attention as Kelikk described our options. The closer of the two doors led to another small room. Normally Delver’s Sense could only give you a glimpse of what was behind a door, but the room on the other side was so small that the entirety of it fit within the skill’s radius, which was about fifteen feet.

  Beyond the second door was another tunnel leading deeper into the compound.

  Following our previous strategy, we decided to tackle the small room before heading deeper.

  Once again Curley got the honor of opening the door.

  A gust of hot air carrying the smell of roasting meat blasted out of the room followed closely by a massive, fat orc.

  It drove through Curley and into Cedric, pushing us back into the mess hall. I leapt out of the way and finally got a good look at our foe.

  Wearing a chef’s hat made of stitched together hides, the massive orc held a rusty cleaver in one hand and a meat hook in the other. The hook was attached to an equally rusty chain that was wrapped around the orc’s arms and lost in the rolls of his belly fat. It was both terrifying and hilarious.

  He stood close to seven feet tall and was almost as round. He shouldn’t have been able to physically fit through the doorway, yet by some miracle of game physics, he had.

  His sheer mass was enough to press us all back, and as we rushed to get back into formation, he struck.

  With a guttural laugh, the orc whirled the chain above his head and pulsed with a dim yellow light.

  The glow flowed up the chain which split into three and shot out, wrapping themselves around Cedric, Leilani, and me.

  My arms were trapped at my sides and I couldn’t move.

  With a mighty heave, the orc tossed the chains upwards where they attached to a set of previously unnoticed hooks driven into the rafters and lifted us into the air.

  Feruk the Chef has used ‘Hung out to Dry’ on you! You are imprisoned!

  A debuff icon appeared on my screen with a thirty second timer as the chef stalked Kelikk with his oversized cleaver.

  I tried to direct Gimli and Curley to surround the enemy, but the system said “no.”

  You may not execute external commands while imprisoned.

  Instead, the skeletons followed their basic programming, attacking the thing that had attacked their creator. So with little care for Kelikk’s ability to fight effectively, they charged in and began hacking at the enemy, opening large gashes in his bulbous flesh.

  Kelikk’s health dropped to forty percent as the orc landed a cut across his midsection. He staggered and tripped over a bench, falling under the table which like
ly saved him as the orc’s cleaver crashed into the table instead of his skull.

  His prey out of sight, the chef turned on the skeletons attacking his flanks. Curley blocked a massive slash with the haft of his axe but still lost eighty percent of his health as his skeletal arms gave way and he was slammed to the ground.

  Gimli drove his blade into the orc’s side while he was distracted, dropping his health down by a few percent before he too was knocked away with a backhanded slash. Luckily his shield proved more effective than Curley’s axe and the damage wasn’t too severe.

  My timer was in its final seconds and I was frantically planning what to do when Kelikk appeared from under the table a bit further down, his health back to eighty percent.

  He cracked his knuckles and let out a low grunt as he rushed back in. Halfway to the target the air around him started to shimmer and coarse fur the color of his beard sprouted from his skin. A set of small tusks poked out from under his mustache, giving the dwarf the look of a miniature boar.

  The cloak!

  The dwarf charged across the room and launched himself through the air. He brought his axe around in an overhand chop and buried it in the chef’s shoulder, dropping his hit points by fifteen percent. His second strike took off another five percent and sheared off a section of the obese chef’s gut.

  The timer hit zero and the chains unraveled, dropping us to the ground as they returned to the chef’s waiting hand.

  He whipped the chain around in a broad circle, the weighted hook smashing through Curley and knocking Gimli and Kelikk away, before whirling it above his head once again.

  The chains started to glow and Kelikk tried to yell something, but his words came out as savage squeal instead of words.

  I managed to get a single spell off before the chains lashed out again, my Cripple spell taking effect just as the chain left his hands.