by Shane Walker
“Hey Jack, there’s a group of kobolds trying to sneak up on you.”
Well, shit.
6-Hostile Takeover
“Nik, I can’t turn around or they’ll know I know. How many are there?” I ask, hoping it’s not too many. I mean, I’m only level two.
“I see eight. Two packs of four converged and saw you.” Nik said in party chat.
OK stay calm. We got this. I thought to myself, trying to calm my nerves.
At least I think we do.
“Grenades are going to draw attention, but it’s the safest bet right now. Throw one into the group and let me know the second it lands.” I say, then wait for a few brief, tense seconds.
“NOW!” Nik yells and I go flat. Instinct says to lie with my head pointed away from the point of origin, which means I end up feeling a slight flash of heat on the bottom of my feet through the boots I’m wearing.
You dodge blast damage!
Kobold takes 100 Damage!
Kobold has been defeated!
Kobold takes 100 Damage!
Kobold has been defeated!
Kobold avoids blast damage!
Kobold avoids blast damage!
Kobold avoids blast damage!
Kobold avoids blast damage!
Kobold avoids blast damage!
Kobold avoids blast damage!
Kobold avoids blast damage!
Kobold avoids blast damage!
“Sorry, Jack. I’m n-not exactly the athletic type so the throw sucked, and a few had time to get cover behind some rocks that were big enough to cover their bodies. It was stupid of me to throw it like that.” Nik said, frustration evident in his voice.
“No worries,” I say as I get back on my feet and draw my blades. For now we’ll pretend that it was a fluid motion and I didn’t almost trip trying to do two things at once. “Fighting six is better than fighting eight. And please be careful if you take shots with that crossbow!”
As I looked up, the remaining kobolds were moving towards me with their spears in hand. Time to dance. I thought.
You dodged Kobold’s attack! (-5 SP)
Off to a good start! I thought. The kobolds really tend to telegraph their attacks, especially with these spears.
Kobold hits you with Spear! (-3 HP)
Kobold hits you with Spear! (-3 HP)
In hindsight, telegraphing attacks doesn’t mean much when they attack en masse. When there’s this many enemies, it’s hard to read all of their body language at once.
You dodged Kobold’s attack! (-5 SP)
You dodged Kobold’s attack! (-5 SP)
OK, here we go. I’m finally starting to get into a rhythm of fighting these spear-wielding bastards
Kobold hits you with Knife! (-1 HP)
Of course.
HP 113/120
MP 100/100
SP 155/170
Well, if someone saw that it would have certainly been embarrassing, but from a simple numbers standpoint it’s not too bad at all! Maybe if I hadn’t tried fighting so many at once…
Like I had specifically told myself and Nik to avoid.
I’m sure several exes would agree with the observation that I am a bit “hard headed” when it comes to actually taking my own advice. Oh well.
My turn.
First target is Little Dagger Boy. He’s fucking up my rhythm.
You dodged Kobold’s attack! (-5 SP)
Unfortunately for this little guy, his smaller weapon allows me to take advantage of my size and range advantages. Stepping back as he goes for a horizontal slash across my abdomen, I bring both arms across my chest in an X shape. About a half second before he finishes the entire arc of his original slash-meaning before he loses the momentum of this attack and can bring a slash across in the opposite direction-I counter.
Kobold takes 5 damage!
Kobold takes 5 damage!
Kobold defeated!
Kobold hits you with Spear! (-3 HP)
Kobold hits you with Spear! (-3 HP)
Kobold hits you with Spear! (-3 HP)
Kobold hits you with Spear! (-3 HP)
Kobold hits you with Spear! (-3 HP)
And now I’m surrounded. Dammit! I was just starting to feel bad-ass. “Nik, little help here? Don’t you have magical flash-bangs or something?” I asked my teammate. The awkward pause that followed was about a second too long, which told me a) he did have them and b) he forgot he had them them. I guess I can’t judge too harshly, right? I’m the asshole that got surrounded by Kobolds so quickly after internally monologuing about their strength in numbers.
HP 98/120
MP 100/100
SP 150/170
“Oh shit. I’m almost at 75% HP!” I told Nik when I looked at my stats.
This is bad. I’ve barely started the game and I’m already getting my ass kicked. Why did I think this was a good idea? Why did I let that asshole make me believe this was a way to make money?
Why is Nik shouting at me in party chat?
And what just landed at my feet?
Oh. Oh fuck.
Effects of Novice Flash Grenade avoided!
I’m not sure if closing my eyes or looking away was the trick, but doing both definitely worked.
Kobold is blinded! (30 seconds)
Kobold is blinded! (30 seconds)
Kobold is blinded! (30 seconds)
Kobold is blinded! (30 seconds)
Kobold avoids effects of Novice Flash Grenade!
“Shit, Jack. The one that avoided it was looking my way. I’m spotted!” came Nik’s panicked voice in party chat.
The flash grenade may have snapped me out of my likely unnecessary freak out, but realizing a friend was in danger brought my mind to laser focus. Dropping into Stealth was pretty easy considering most enemies couldn’t see. Four kobolds were blind and one wanted only to hurt my friend. Well, I just couldn’t let that happen.
No. Never again.
Blind-20 seconds remaining!
The kobold was so focused on eliminating the source of the grenade he never noticed me come up behind him, short swords in reverse grip.
Kobold takes 10 Sneak Attack damage!
Kobold takes 10 Sneak Attack damage!
Kobold has been defeated!
Blind-15 seconds remaining!
Time to clean up! I moved towards the other kobolds and took a swing with one sword to check the damage while they’re blinded. I just prayed it worked the way I thought it would.
Kobold receives 10 Sneak Attack damage!
Kobold has been defeated!
Yes! I assumed a relatively helpless enemy like this would take more damage, and it turned out they took full Sneak Attack Damage. This meant I could double up on the two across the way since they were practically side by side.
Although...what if it was ever me that got blinded?
Yikes.
Note to self: stay away from negative status effects.
Kobold takes 10 Sneak Attack damage!
Kobold has been defeated!
Kobold takes 10 Sneak Attack damage!
Kobold has been defeated!
Another two run through and taken out, which means I’ve got one more to go out here. A single step, a flick of the sword, a headless kobold. Easy peasy.
Kobold takes 10 Sneak Attack damage!
Kobold has been defeated!
Well, except for the part where I was surrounded and might have died if it hadn’t been for Nik. That part was not lemon squeezy.
Alfred, no skill ups from that? I ask my inconspicuous English AI.
“Well, sir, you did receive skill level increases and experience, but due to the level of concentration you were maintaining on combat, notifications were not presented.”
Oh, I guess that makes sense. It’s easier than turning notifications on and off, or having to actively minimize them. And of course I got hit with all of them at once.
Dodge has increased to Level 3!
Light Armor has incr
eased to Level 2!
Short Swords has increased to Level 3!
Dual-Wielding has increased to Level 3!
You have gained 80 XP!
You have reached Level 3
You are awarded the following:
+3 Agility
+5 Intellect
+1 Endurance
+5 Free Attribute Points
OK, no celebrating yet.
“Hey Nik, how many grenades do you have left?” There’s a pause that I’m hoping is Nik counting.
“Oh sorry, I had to finish going through notifications. I’ve got two explosives and three of the flash grenades.” he told me after counting everything.
That’s a good start, but I don’t know if it’s enough. I just hoped we’d get a chance for him to make more.
After some thought on my bonus points I decided two Strength and three Agility were the way to go for this level. It would give a decent boost to my damage and it got my strength to a nice rounded number.
Also, so far my favorite parts of the game were the ones where I wasn’t getting stabbed, so I figure if I’m harder to stab then statistically I will enjoy more of the game!
Congratulations, you have met the minimum requirements to unlock your first minor trait! Minor traits are unlocked based on stats, skills, accomplishments in-game, quests, and other -hidden- requirements.
Minor Trait obtained!
Artful Dodger(Beginner)
Requirement: Dodge skill level and Agility score (without items) 25 or higher total
Effect: Increases Dodge chance by 10%.
Note: Reaching higher totals will grant upgraded versions of this Trait
Holy shit, that’s basically ten free levels of Dodge! I thought to myself.
“Congratulations, sir! If you have any more questions on Minor traits please feel free to ask.” Alfred said after I’d had a chance to read over the notification again.
Thanks Alfred, but maybe later. We really need to get to exploring.
Now that I’m recharged, I feel good enough to start being paranoid again! I drop back into Stealth and make my way over to Nik. As I get close to him I see his mouth start to open. Thankfully a quick shush signal with a finger over my closed lips catches him before any sound comes out. “Use party chat, Nik. We still don’t know if we’re in the clear. Give me one of the flash grenades. I’m going to try scouting the area.” Nik sheepishly nods at the reprimand and hands over one of the flash grenades from his pouch. I give him my best encouraging smile and take off towards the direction the two patrols came from.
Did these little bastards just stomp through the woods? How did they ever come up behind me unnoticed? I thought to myself as I looked over the ground. There were easy to follow tracks everywhere. Unfortunately, everywhere also means it takes about 10 minutes to find a trail out of the mess of prints that makes it look like there were twenty kobolds trying to punch-dance through their emotions out here.
New Skill!
Tracking
Level 1.
-1% to chance to lose track of a creature
Note: This means if there is a 10% chance to lose track of a creature, this skill at Level 1 reduces that to a 9%. Different creatures have different chances of being tracked and different skills can increase this chance as well.
I’m fairly certain the chance of failure was 1% or lower, because it isn’t long before I follow the trail I picked up to a shack in the woods nearby. It looks like this was home of the 10 kobolds we killed outside the entrance. I nearly feel bad for killing them and then standing in front of their home until I recognize something-gnomish architecture. The mayor told me that the kobolds keep taking the mine every time they try to hold it. I guess I never put it together that this used to be a permanent location for gnomes.
Well, committing kobocide doesn’t seem so bad now, and neither does committing a quick little b&e. Wait, does it count if the occupants are all dead and it wasn’t theirs to begin with? Doesn’t matter-we’re already about 15 seconds beyond my previous record for amount of time questioning the legality of something. I’m kicking this fucking door in!
You take 10 damage!
Holy shit, gnomes are really good at making doors! I complained as I checked to see if it was possible to sprain something in this game.
“Nik, can you hear me?” I’m obviously not getting into this thing alone and the threat is at least temporarily gone.
“Loud and clear, Jack. What’s going on? I thought I heard a child screaming!”
“I do not sou- It was probably the wind or something.” Wow it’s hard to catch what you’re about to say when you’re only talking in your head. Good thing cops don’t have magic, eh?
“Anyway, I need you to meet me out here. I found the guard shack barracks thing and I could use some help. You should be perfectly safe. There’s no more kobolds outside.”
“On my way! See you soon!”
Nik doesn’t talk a whole lot, and it’s usually when someone asks him something, but damn is he reliable! In just a few minutes, he’s stepping up beside me with a smile that says he did not enjoy being alone out here. “How can I help?”
“Look at you being overly cautious! Good job! I’m so proud!” I say as I wipe away a fake tear. At that, Nik rolls his eyes. Wait, he rolled his eyes? Is he, dare I say it, coming out of his shell?
“Paranoia aside, did you bring any fun gnomish tools for repairing devices or setting up traps or anything?” Nik thinks for a moment, digs through his pouches, and produces a well-crafted, if basic, tool kit held in a rolled up series of canvas pouches with some leather reinforcements. The tooltip I can see says it’s a beginner’s toolkit that provides no bonuses to any tasks, but is well-made enough that it won’t cause any penalties either. It doesn’t take long to find what I’m looking for-a skinny tool shaped like a very long “L” and another that’s basically a skinny metal stick with a handle. Now, I just hope this works more or less the same as the real world.
New Skill!
Lockpicking
Level 1
+1% to chance to pick a lock
Note: Locks have a lower chance to be picked based on complexity and quality. Top quality locks have a negative chance to be unlocked! This means some locks will require a certain amount of skill to even have a 1% chance to open them!
Another small victory, I guess. When the lock clicks to its unlocked position, I immediately go for the grips of my swords, but the door swings open as if it’s spring-loaded and I am quickly able to determine the building is completely empty.
Except, of course, for the big wooden chest at the other end.
7-On the Job Training
Lockpicking has increased to Level 2!
Based on the notification when I got the skill-and the fact that this was much easier to unlock-I assume this was a lower grade lock. It seemed weird at first, till I realized the door lock was from the gnomes. This low quality lock was probably compliments of the kobolds.
Alfred, remind me to try out locksmithing later. I said, hoping Alfred had a better memory than I did.
“Locksmithing is its own separate skill, sir. However, your best chance of learning it will be to find someone to train you.” he explained. “Unlike simply hiding to learn stealth or fiddling around with a lock until it opens, skills like Locksmithing require one to know at least the basics to even learn the skill.”
It made sense that a crafting ability like that would be easier with an instructor. I chuckled at the thought of someone with no training making random pieces of metal in the general shape of a lock hoping one would actually work.
Fair enough. I’ll ask around when we get back to Gnometheran, then, if I have time. I say, thinking of all the other things I want to do that are arguably much more important.
Opening up the chest, there was no loot screen, no menu with a grid showing what was inside. It suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t have a traditional inventory. Thinking of my inventory brought up a lis
t. No bag tabs or anything, just a list of what I was carrying on me, which wasn’t much. Also, my bags were limited by physical space. Good thing I arranged for the cart. I thought to myself. Here I thought I’d just run out of slots, but there were no slots to run out of.
A whistling sound to my right brought me out of my decidedly derailed train of thought. “Looks like a decent haul, Jack! Let’s count this out.” Nik said as he looked over our loot. I nodded in agreement and we started pulling everything out of the chest. All totaled, we found 170 gold, 3 regeneration potions, a mana potion, and a few smaller weapons like daggers, bucklers, and short swords.
We easily agreed on how to split the gold and potions up. Since we used Nik’s money, first thing was paying him back his 40g. After that it was an even 65g each. For potions we decided I take 2 regeneration potions while he takes 1 and the mana potion. No magic means no need for mana. Apparently Nik could use some basic Artifice spells to augment his gadgets and repair certain things if needed.