The scouts, Kjara, and Haegir had put together a pretty detailed plan to lure the raiders in. The guards would make use of the scout’s camouflage skill to make themselves look sickly, and we would arrange the wagons into a circular formation, making it look like one of the wagons on the eastern side lost a wheel while we were forming up, making a hole that we would need to “defend”.
When the raiders decided to attack, we would feign a panicked retreat to a makeshift barricade made out of our goods.
Then, we would draw the raiders in, where our hidden scouts and warriors could turn them into pin cushions from the wagons.
Kjara and I were assigned to opposite ends of the caravan. Her bow would be of great use once the kill pocket was formed, while my own abilities would be of better use should more ghouls arrive.
To that end I was hidden within one of the wagons closest to the enemy, with a small slit in the canvas my only view.
Our setup got underway quickly, and once the wagons were all in place I was pretty much useless for the rest of the preparations, so I headed towards my assigned spot and decided to take a few minutes to examine my character sheet and logs, focusing on my skills, xp, and divine favor.
All told in the battle, Kjara, Amenhotep and I had taken out fifteen ghouls. Each ghoul had awarded one hundred xp to each of us regardless of who struck the final blow. I’d also gotten one divine favor point for each of the ghouls we’d put down.
My original assumption that I would only gain points when I personally did the killing was incorrect, and over the course of the battle I had raised my divine favor pool to twenty that I could draw on if needed.
My spear skill had gone up as well, and healing Kjara and the four dwarven guards had leveled my Purifying Touch spell too. The rest of my combat skills were also chugging along percentage-wise.
I scanned through the logs for any other skill uses and saw that in addition to his shockwave ability, Amenhotep had a Shield Stun skill, and another called Bastion which looked like a short-term cool-down type ability that greatly increased his block chance. All good things to have in a tank.
Since I still had some time to kill, I went through the options and customized my notification settings to be more in line with what I wanted to know in real time.
I turned on personal and party buffs and debuffs, personal skill rank increases and level ups, and the warnings for low hp, mana, or stamina for myself and my party members.
I figured I could always go through the logs after the fact if I wanted to know anything more.
...
Chapter 20
The wait for the anticipated attack was unexciting so I decided to try and be productive and worked on speeding up my spellcasting. I practiced bringing my spell-forms one after the other, but didn't actually push any mana into them.
Summoning the glyphs to memory over and over again, I managed to cut down on the time needed for my offensive spells by a second or so which could be the difference between life and death in some situations.
Unfortunately this type of practice didn't have any results on my skill levels. The system required the spells to be actually cast for actual improvement.
I wondered if there was a requirement for them to be useful as well. Could I cast Sunstrike on random rocks and sand and improve it? I added that to my list of things to try when not preparing for battle.
My head snapped up as a horn rang out to the east, three quick notes followed by a long drawn out wail.
It was the signal from our scouts. The raiders were on their way. I watched through the slit in the canvas as our scout galloped towards us, easily outpacing the larger enemy force that was chasing behind.
The scout galloped into the kill zone and gave his report. “Eighteen Njord raiders, mostly armed with shields and axes, unmounted. One Njord warrior wielding a great axe on horseback, and a Njord mage riding a skeletal horse.”
The pair of dwarven warriors who appeared to be healthy moved out into the opening between wagons, crossbows ready. Each had a second loaded crossbow awaiting them near their post.
The scout rode back out to do some damage with his bow as well, before falling back to his position in the kill pocket.
The raiders came jogging up the road, chanting in their own tongue. The front ranks raised their round shields to defend against our crossbows, but their discipline seemed pretty sloppy. As they entered the range of the dwarven crossbows, the two warriors took aim and released their first shots.
The first was blocked, embedding itself into one of the raiders wooden shields. The second bolt however found a gap in the shield wall and took one of the raiders in the thigh, causing the target to fall out of line.
At the rear of the gathered raiders, the warrior on horseback belted out a battle cry and the raiders charged forward.
The guards grabbed their preloaded weapons and let loose another volley. The bolts disappearing into the charging mass. From my vantage point I couldn't see if they had any impact.
The scout managed to fire several shots with his short bow as well, taking out one of the raiders before he turned his mount and rode back towards Arven’s Folly.
Following the plan, the dwarves tossed their crossbows into the wagon and took out their axes as if to stand their ground before feigning panic and fleeing back between the wagons.
Seeing their targets flee, the raiders let loose a cry of triumph and continued their charge.
As they came into range, I scanned them and was happy to see they were all between level one and four.
The mounted warrior and mage were sill far enough back that I couldnt get a read, but judging from their equipment and mounts were probably higher level.
The mage brought his horse even with one of the fallen raiders and began to cast a spell. I was too far away for any of my lore skills to kick in, but when the raider’s corpse became bathed in a sickly green light and began shambling toward the fight, things were pretty clear.
The raiders reached the gap in the wagons and charged through. The fleeing dwarves had reached their positions with the two of the “sick” guards against the line of wagons on the north side of the wagon circle.
The guards behind the barriers shot their crossbows into the raiders as they entered the killing field, sending another Njord to whatever afterlife awaited him with a bolt through the skull.
When the two mounted Njord entered the wagon circle I was finally able to get a read on them.
*** Unknown Njord Warrior, Level 6 ***
*** HP: 100%, SP: 95% ***
*** Roan Mare, Level 1 ***
*** HP: 100%, SP: 55% ***
*** Unknown Njord Mage, Level 5 ***
*** HP: 100%, MP: 90%, SP: 95% ***
*** Deathless Gelding, Level 2 ***
*** HP: 100%, SP: - ***
The raider force was fully committed now, and it was my turn to get started. Drawing again on my game knowledge I whispered a blessing, “Montu, Lord of the Sun, God of War. I ask that you bless the efforts of my allies. Guide our hands to strike down those who would oppose us.”
*** You have invoked the blessing of Montu, God of War on your allies ! ***
***Lesser Blessing of Montu: minor bonus to accuracy, parry, and in combat stamina regeneration. Duration: 30 minutes. ***
As my blessing took hold, the tarps covering the wagons on the southeastern edge of the circle were thrown aside to reveal the remaining guards and scouts who loosed their arrows and bolts into the flanks of the enemy.
Three more raiders dropped under the barrage, and several others screamed as arrows peppered their flesh.
The raiders quickly recovered from the surprise barrage and split into two groups, one rushing towards the now revealed defenders who were leaping out of the wagons, axes in hand.
The second group continued forward, heading towards their original targets.
Kjara and the remaining scouts appeared on the top of the wagons furthest to the west, supporting our melee force
s with strategically placed shots.
The mounted raider snarled and drove his mount towards the nearest group of archers, his massive axe held before him defensively.
The scouts turned their bows on him, but he barely flinched as arrows sprouted from his shoulder and thigh.
With a wild swing of his great axe, he cut one of the caravan guards in half as he used the bulk of his mount to slam into the side of the wagon, causing two of the scouts to lose their balance and tumble to the ground.
Tracking the necromancer, I slipped out of my hiding place and circled to the southwest. He was keeping clear of the scrum, looking for bodies to raise as new minions instead of actively participating.
He reached a freshly killed raider and began to cast another spell. Green energy began to pool around the corpse..
“No, you don’t,” I said, and blasted him with a Sunstrike, grinning in satisfaction as the holy fire burned his health down to seventy percent.
The necromancer turned, seemingly unphased by what should have been an incredibly painful hit.
“You’re gunna pay for that one bro,” he said and started to quickly cast another spell. I began another Sunstrike but was interrupted when something crashed into me from the side and knocked me into the wagon.
The zombified raider's boney claws ripped a painful gash on my chest, ripping open my armor and dropping my health down to eighty percent.
Where the hell did this thing come from, I thought as I tried to push it away.
Seconds later a sicky green bolt slammed into my side as I disengaged from the undead, knocking me backwards and dropping my health even further.
I ducked out of the way of a second bolt, barely keeping clear of the undead who was again advancing on me. I cursed as I finally recognized it as the undead the Njord had raised outside of the wagons.
A quick flurry of attacks from the undead tore open the gash on my chest even further, and my vision began to pulse with a red light as a new message appeared.
*** WARNING: Hit points critical! ***
The zombie attacked again, its claws lashing out, but this time I was ready and countered with the edge of my shield, cracking it across the its face with a solid crack that sent it stumbling.
My spear followed immediately after and ended the creature with a thrust through its heart.
I looked up just in time to see another glowing bolt of yellow energy flying towards me from the necromancer’s hands and raised my shield just in time to intercept it. The spell flowed around the shield and sank into my muscles.
*** UrNewMasta has inflicted you with weakness! ***
*** Spell Resistance check unsuccessful! ***
I was suddenly filled with weariness and could barely keep my shield in position. I tried to raise my spear to threaten the caster, but was barely able to raise the tip off the ground.
“How you like them apples, newb!” he yelled. “Gunna enjoy making your corpse my bitch!”
This toolbag was a player. Great. So far, the decent human to asshole ratio for other players was one in two, maybe one in three if the greataxe wielder was a player as well.
“Hey Carlos! Got us a player over here” the necromancer called out to the other rider.
Yup, one in three.
“Shut it man, I’m a bit busy here!” the warrior called back.
Capitalizing on the delay, I gulped down one of my moderate heal potions, raising my health bar back to forty percent and out of the red.
The Njord warrior was squaring off with Kjara, his axe moving quickly back in forth to deflect her dancing blades.
Kjara’s expression was one of pure wrath. If looks alone could kill, the Njord would have already been a corpse twice over.
Her blades flashed in another quick combination, reaching past his guard to open a long cut on his bicep.
I fixed my gaze on the necromancer once again, trying to lift my spear and shield again but failing.
I made a mental note to learn a way to get rid of debuffs in the future. For the time being, the most I could do was give the asshat the bird and grin as a look of outrage crossed his features.
“Let’s see how you like being roadkill!” he shouted, and rushed towards me, aiming his skeletal mount to crush me beneath its hooves.
I barely dodged out of the way, rolling and trying to get to my feet, but my legs refused to straighten under my weight. I focused on the debuff and the timer was almost up. I just had to outlast it.
The necromancer brought his horse about and gave me a wicked smile and said, “Here’s Johnny!” and barreled towards me again, the rotting skull of his mount bearing right towards me.
My vision shifted slightly, and the skeletal mount was briefly replaced by a picture of a spectral horse, its eyes wide with pain and terror.
With a flash of inspiration, I shifted my weight to align my shield with the charging mount and channeled the spell-form for Sever Bonds through the shield, adding a little extra mana to the mix.
A wave of golden light exploded outwards and washed over the charging mount when it was maybe ten feet from me.
As the light passed through the mount, the soul of the beast was swept clear of its rotting corpse and the power animating it vanished.
The rotting flesh and bones collapsed to the ground, catapulting the necromancer over my head to crash into the dirt several feet behind me.
*** Congratulations! You have become more skilled with Combat Casting and have reached Rank 3! ***
The now dazed caster was laying on the ground, his health bar blinking red at close to ten percent.
Acting as quickly as I could in my still weakened state, I dragged myself over to the prone mage and brought my spear to bear. The last thing UrNewMasta saw as his stunned debuff wore off was the gleaming point of my spear as I drove it into his eye.
**** Congratulations! You have become more skilled with your Spear and have reached Rank 4! ***
*** UrNewMasta has been slain! ***
*** Achievement Awarded: Player Killer! ***
*** You have slain your first player! Hope they had it coming! ***
*** Congratulations you have reached Level 6! ***
*** You have gained 1 Combat Skill Point ***
*** You have gained 1 Divine Skill Point ***
*** You have gained 1 General Skill Point ***
*** You have gained 13 maximum Hit Points ***
*** You have gained 18 maximum Mana ***
*** You have gained 7 maximum Stamina ***
Five short seconds later the weaken debuff wore off and I was finally able to stand. My pools had all returned to maximum when I gained level six, so I was ready to rumble.
Kjara and the other player were still locked in their battle, although it seemed pretty one sided at this point.
The Njord was barely on his feet, his stamina bar was almost empty, and he was covered in what looked like hundreds of shallow wounds.
In a last-ditch effort, he lashed out in a wild swing at Kjara’s head. The attack passed harmlessly above her head as she ducked, her own blades sinking deeply into the warrior’s chest.
“Whore!” he spat, and then collapsed as his health bar hit zero and his blood began to pool at the moon elf’s feet.
*** Axe2UrFace has been slain! ***
*** Kjara has reached level 6! ***
Her eyes were still burning with hatred as she charged towards where a group of raiders was still fighting nearby.
Seeing she had that side well in hand, I rushed to help at the barricade. The corpse of one of the dwarven guards was folded over the boxes, an axe embedded in his chest.
The raiders were pressing in, but Haegir had joined the fight and was beating back two of them with his steel-clad fists.
On the other end of the barricade, two raiders were working together to try and overwhelm one of the remaining dwarves.
From what I could see the dwarf was close to falling, so that was where I headed. A quick thrust to the kidney r
emoved one of the raiders from the fight.
The other raider made the mistake of looking to see what happened to his companion and earned a quick death as his opponent buried an axe in his skull.
Haegir dispatched the two remaining raiders on the barricade, and between the scouts, Kjara’s bloody rampage and the dwarven guards on the other side of the circle we had things well in hand.
I brought the glyphs for Soothing Touch to mind and approached the survivor closest to me who was busy pulling his axe out of the raider’s head.
His health was down by two thirds, so I placed my hand on him and let the healing flow, sealing his wounds at the cost of half of my mana.
I approached Haegir and healed him as well, earning a grateful nod.
*** Congratulations! You have gained a better understanding of the Soothing Touch spell! Rank 4 Achieved! ***
*** Congratulations! You have become more proficient with First Aid! First Aid increased to 3! ***
We struck the remaining raiders from the rear and they quickly fell to our combined might. I headed over to Kjara to celebrate our victory but when I reached out to pat her on the shoulder she flinched back and looked away. Something in that battle had really brought her to a bad place mentally.
I backed off, giving her some space to decompress and healed our wounded. The battle had cost us three more guards and two of the scouts to the raiders, but the rest would survive.
I was able to get all of the wounded stabilized for the time being and would make rounds later as my mana refilled to bring everyone back to full.
We gathered all the Raider corpses and collected their gear, finding a decent amount of coin, some weapons and armor, and even a few trinkets.
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