“Take the animal husbandry skill, you’ll be able to find and corral animals.” Arachna suggested in a tone reserved for children. Alicia negotiated the terms, and I tried to pay attention, though my mind wandered. Finally, they reached an accord. “We have an agreement. Alicia tells me you have enough free skills, so take the ones I require and the matter will be closed.”
Alicia was grinning at me. “You weren’t listening, were you? You’re going to love this.” A prompt appeared on my screen.
You must take the following skills for the agreement to be valid: Animal husbandry, Riding. [Y/N]?
Why did I need riding as well? I shrugged, selecting “Y”. We would need all the help we could get to take on Frank, and I had three free skill points. Besides, those skills would probably come in handy. I goggled at the notification I received upon choosing my new skills.
You have received a new mount: Giant Trapdoor Spider!
Chapter 16: Battle at the Village on the Lake
Having concluded our business with Arachna, we left the cave with two shadow spiders in tow. Nareth stayed well away from them, and I assumed our experience of being wrapped up had a negative effect on his psyche. I was riding my new mount, and the first thing I noticed was that the ride was unnervingly smooth. It was almost like the spider was gliding over the cavern floor, though I did feel the rapid “thumps” of its legs against the ground. We exited the cave and were once again in the forest. I looked at the forces arrayed around me and felt pride. Everyone had a reason to be here, a reason to fight. Nareth sought closure for the loss of his friend, and potential restoration if we could find his body. Gina had lost her companion to Frank’s insidious method of control. Emera and Grith, though newly born AIs, were threatened by Frank’s crusade against them. Honestly, Alicia and Jimmy just seemed to enjoy the thrill of battle. And I wanted to take back the village that I’d carefully planned and built. I wanted to reunite with my allies and support them. I wanted to exert my will against my enemies and see them broken before me.
“Friends, allies. Frank has stolen something precious from us. He has snuffed out the wills and lives of people we hold dear. While we have been away, he has taken our town and already chosen to corrupt it by filling it with cutthroats and bandits. I never fully trusted him, but I never expected him to become so thoroughly evil so quickly.” I paused, feeling somber, but resolute. “I underestimated him, and that’s a mistake I won’t repeat. Today we march with the strongest force we can muster. I expect him to be prepared,” I stopped, grinning, and continued more loudly. “But he will not be prepared for us! We are going to bring the pain, we are going to crush him to dust so completely that any vengeance he might seek will be ruined by crippling fear!” I closed my eyes and lowered my head, calming myself. “So, friends, allies, are you with me?”
“Yes!” came a shout from the throats of those gathered around.
“I can’t hear you, I asked are you with me?” I goaded them.
“YES!” came a roar, and it sounded as if I was surrounded by an army of hundreds.
New quest alert! Retake the Village on the Lake.
You have formed a raiding party. Current morale +10 (+5 speech, +5 leadership skill). All damage dealt increased by 10%, all damage taken reduced by 10%.
“THEN LET’S MARCH.” I yelled, raising my sword in the air. We made our way towards what would soon no longer be known as “Frank’s Village”. Alicia, Nareth, and the shadow spiders ranged out ahead of us in hopes of intercepting any scouts that might be skulking around. I was glad to receive a buff to damage and protection from forming a raid group. I recalled that Frank had received an item, the Casque of Command, which gave him a 5% buff. So long as morale remained high, that edge in damage and protection would tip the scales in our favor.
As morning slipped into afternoon, I received a notification.
Enemy scout defeated! +1 morale. Current morale +11.
Another notification popped up at almost the same time.
Enemy scout defeated! +1 morale. Current morale +12.
I was beginning to think that this was going to be a walk in the park, but a horn blowing in the distance, although cut short, dashed my hopes.
The enemy has spotted your group. War horn sounded! -5 morale. Current morale +7.
Enemy scout defeated! +1 morale. Current morale +8.
Damn. Our attempt at being sneaky ended up being a net negative. At least the scouts we’d defeated negated the penalty somewhat. A few minutes later Nareth returned to our group.
“Alicia and the shadow spiders are still combing the forest ahead of us in case there are traps, but there’s no use pretending we’re hidden.” Nareth informed us. Apparently the two shadow spiders had managed to stealthily subdue the scouts they encountered, probably because the scouts didn’t think finding spiders in the forest was worth alerting the town. Alicia wasn’t so lucky. She’d tried to dispatch her scout with a sneak attack, but apparently tripped over a branch in the attempt. She took care of the scout, but not before he sounded a horn, alerting the town. It was still late afternoon when we reached the edge of the forest, but we’d been coming from the east so if we attacked now, the sun would be in our eyes, giving the defenders an advantage. To eat up some of the time until dusk, we built a few campfires in the forest. As a ruse, I had the seven elite warriors I’d hired range all through the woods around the town building fires so it would appear that they were surrounded.
Frank hadn’t had time to build any fortifications that I could see, but it was possible that he had lain traps. Alicia carefully made her way along our intended approach. She found a couple pits that had been dug before an archer in a watchtower spotted her and fired an arrow. It thunked down near her, and because she’d been seen she sprinted back to the treeline, followed by a hail of arrows from nearby towers, as well as from archers that were firing from the rooftops of other buildings. Suddenly, a shout came from the town and a familiar figure stepped into view.
“ALEX! I know you’re out there, come out and we’ll settle this like warriors.” Frank taunted.
“Don’t fall for it Alex.” Alicia advised. “There’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that this isn’t a trick.”
“I don’t plan to.” I stated.
Backed down from challenge. -1 morale. Current morale +7.
What the hell?! I lost morale for failing to walk into an obvious trap? I wondered if Frank had some ability tied to his taunt that caused that effect. No matter, I was here to take him down, and standing around and chatting wasn’t going to accomplish anything. I activated tactical command. With my current total PP of 60, minus the 10 necessary to activate the skill, I had five minutes. There was no time to waste. As soon as the new interface came up I selected Gina’s portrait and spoke.
Alex: Gina, you’re going to get a prompt asking you to share your abilities with me. Please select yes, I’m going to try and guide us around the traps Alicia found and control the battle remotely.
Gina: Okay, Alex, but you know you’re still here, right?
Alex: I know, I can control myself remotely as well.
I understood that I’d be much less effective as an individual, as I wouldn’t be able to control my own movements in a fine way, but the advantage of being able to command the NPCs I’d hired, as well as issue suggestions to everyone else, would make a huge difference. I drew a path around the pits Alicia had found, issuing the command for my elite warriors to fire on the archers in the towers as soon as they were in range. Everyone else, including myself, received orders tracing a path around the pits, and to use whatever ranged attacks they might have at will. The archers in the towers had greater range due to their height, and as soon as we emerged from the forest arrows fell amongst our troops.
Combat log: Elite elven warrior 1 has taken 9 damage from an arrow!
Combat log: Grith has taken 7 damage from an arrow!
Either the arrows had hit different parts of their bodies, or Grith’s protec
tion, given that he was an AI, was improved by the skills he’d chosen. Finally, my archers reached firing range, loosing arrows into the nearby towers. After a couple volleys I received a positive notification.
Enemy archer defeated! +1 morale. Current morale +9.
Gina cast a couple offensive spells, and that combined with our archers brought down two more enemies in the towers. Unfortunately, one of my elite elven warriors was also killed before Emera could heal them, bringing our morale to an even +10. We still took fire from archers positioned on the buildings, but they were less accurate, so we proceeded forward hoping to dodge their fire. I commanded my remaining 6 warriors to fan out and cover the remaining ground at a sprint such that they were a pit’s width apart. I would probably lose one or two of them, but if they could reveal the traps it would prevent more important warriors such as myself, Gina, or the AIs from getting caught. Indeed, before we reached the village line, one of the warriors fell headlong into a covered pit and was killed instantly. Another stepped on the edge of one of the pits, revealing the trap, but he cleared the other side of it since he was running at a headlong sprint.
Combat log: Alex has taken 18 damage from an arrow!
That’s a powerful arrow, damn! I checked to see who was targeting me, and discovered that it was Frank. He was using Silas’ bow and only had eyes for me. I ordered my character to raise his steel shield, and cast an earth force shield on himself, costing 40 mana. As soon as the cast was completed, another of Frank’s arrows impacted the shield.
Combat log: Alex’s earth force shield has taken 14 damage from an arrow! 26/40 charge remaining.
That was interesting. It looked like my shield blocked damage at a 1:1 ratio with mana spent. However, it only took 14 damage from the shot, suggesting that the “earth” word afforded some amount of physical damage resistance. While I was focusing on defense, I issued commands for my remaining warriors, and made suggestions that everyone else target the archers on the roofs of the buildings in town. Everyone with a ranged attack heeded my advice except Nareth, who was running to join me against Frank. With him were Emera, Grith, and Jimmy, and I suspected imminent victory with the overwhelming force we were bringing to bear against him. However, two more figures, highlighted red, stepped out to join Frank. Samantha and Gerald were there to fight for their new leader.
Frank: Did you think I was planning to face you alone? I’m just getting started.
I only had a moment to wonder what he was getting at before numerous enemies appeared on the screen, seemingly from nowhere. It was Frank’s bandits! The larger pits were just a ruse, as the bandits clambered out of much smaller pits throughout the field in which we were standing. I ordered my elite warriors to stop firing at archers on the roof and engage the bandits, but it was too late for the warriors Nareth had brought with him. We lost another 4 points of morale, putting us at only +4. I tried to find Alicia to have her help, but she wasn’t anywhere in sight. I wonder what she could be doing? All the raid members apart from those of us facing Frank were busy engaging the bandits, and I noticed almost too late that my PP was nearly spent. I closed the interface and found myself atop my giant trapdoor spider, facing off against Frank.
“What the fuck kind of monster are you? Riding a spider?” Frank looked disgusted. “I’ll gut you all the same.” He drew his sword and shield, standing next to Gerald who copied his actions, and together they advanced.
“Hi-ya!” Jimmy ran past us and whizzed through the air, hoping to surprise them with his flying kick. However, he’d underestimated their strength and tactics. Both Frank and Gerald raised their shields to block Jimmy’s blow, following up with shield bashes and a power attack each. It was too much damage, too fast, and Jimmy’s crystalline avatar shattered. I was used to psionic feedback, but with my reserves drained, having Jimmy’s consciousness slam back into my head hit me harder, and I slumped over the back of my trapdoor spider. I came to moments later, and saw that Grith and Nareth were desperately trying to get through Frank and Gerald’s solid defense. Fortunately, they couldn’t finish me off. Frank had probably written me off as a casualty, so I decided to surprise him.
“Sheladun Newtunus Protektas Roketos!”I chanted, draining a whopping 60 MP. Instead of trying to direct the bolt between my allies, I spent an extra 10 MP to store the spell in my sword.
“Nareth, Grith, move to the sides now!” I shouted, and they immediately complied. Frank’s eyes widened as I pointed my sword at him, releasing the spell. He flew back, knocking away Samantha, who had been healing them, and impacted a cabin’s wall, splintering it. Samantha got up to heal Frank, but I cast a rapid force shield bolt into her back, interrupting her spell and knocking her to the ground. After I’d knocked Frank away, Nareth and Grith had double-teamed Gerald and were wearing him down. I’d been ignoring system messages, but one caught my eye.
Enemy bandit defeated! +1 morale. Current morale +12.
I turned around to survey the battle, and saw that all the enemies were down. I’d lost one more elite warrior, leaving me with four from the original seven I’d hired. I ordered them and the two allied shadow spiders to move through the town and clear up any stragglers. Suddenly, I received a very unexpected message.
Alicia: Alex, I need help at the crystal!
I had no idea why the system would send a message from Alicia, so I spoke aloud. “Uhh, can you hear me? What’s going on?”
Alicia: Yes, I can hear you. The crystal enables long-distance communication. Just come quick!
Nareth and Grith had overwhelmed Gerald, sending him to the ground unconscious. Gina ran up and cradled his head, but decided not to revive him with her special ability just yet. Samantha was also down, so I spoke to Nareth, Emera, and Grith. “Take care of Frank, I need to help Alicia with something.” They nodded, and Nareth had a dark grin spread across his face. He had plenty of reason to seek vengeance, so I thought nothing of it and urged my spider through the town towards the crystal. It wasn’t hard to find, as it was beaming psionic energy up into the sky, almost like a beacon. As I got closer, I saw that Alicia had her hands full. There were three crystalline avatars defending the crystal, and Alicia was barely able to fend them off. I rushed in to assist her, and my trapdoor spider lanced out at an avatar, its talons sparking off its hard exterior.
“That gives me an idea!” Alicia exclaimed. Touching her ring, she placed a trap right beneath one of the avatars we were fighting. Without a delay, a level 11 trapdoor spider clambered up out of the ground, immediately attacking the avatar. With the two of us plus two spiders fighting, we made short work of the crystal’s defenders.
Jimmy: You know what to do.
I acknowledged Jimmy by walking up to the crystal, placing my hand upon it.
Do you want to claim Frank’s village? [Y/N]
I selected yes without hesitation.
You have usurped control of the village from Frank! Do you want to rename it? [Y/N]
Again, I selected yes. I liked calling it “Village on the Lake”. It was quaint. I chose that name for it and received another notification.
You are now the leader of the Village on the Lake! All control held by the previous owner has been revoked. Defend this crystal at all cost! If it is accessed by an enemy they can take control from…
I didn’t finish reading the message, because I had no intention of anyone having access to the crystal, ever. I kept my hand on it, closed my eyes, and focused on absorbing its power.
You have acquired Server Resources! Current allocation .002%
Quest completed! Retake the Village on the Lake.
You have reached level 12! You have gained 1 Int and 1 Str. All words gain 3% mastery, all combat skills gain 0.5 points proficiency. To allocate free points, open their respective menus.
50 PP freed for use. 50 PP remains locked.
I felt a rush of power, and I reveled in our complete victory. Now it was time to deal with Frank, hopefully for the last time.
Chapter
17: Consolidating power
Now that I’d taken back control of the village, I assumed that Samantha and Gerald were once again their normal selves and that my allies would have no trouble with Frank. The three crystalline avatars Alicia and I had defeated dropped 30 crystal between them, so I split the loot with her. I’d reached level 12, and so I popped my free attribute points into Con, Int, and Wil. I had gained proficiency and mastery, but I saved my free points for now, hoping that I would increase them enough through use to put them over the edge, learning new abilities and words later. There was one notification on the interface that I’d missed, so I checked it.
You have earned the achievement: Usurper! Leading a raid on an enemy village and capturing it requires a broad skillset. Raiding parties you form start with +5 morale. +1 to all Attributes.
That was a huge boost! I wondered if conquering a larger enemy settlement, such as a town or a city, would also give rewards. However, I was getting ahead of myself. First things first, and that means dealing with Frank.
Jimmy: You’re always screwing around with your statistics and musing. I can’t deal with it, either let me out of here or put a sword through your own skull and relieve me from this misery.
Oh, right. Jimmy had gotten his ass handed to him in our fight, I suppose I could summon his avatar for him. I did so, and when Jimmy took control, the monk avatar looked different. He was taller, had broader shoulders, and was much more muscular.
Flexing his biceps, Jimmy also noticed the difference. “Oh man, this is great! The ladies are gonna be all over me.”
Alicia retched. “Yeah, sure, women are going to be all over the game equivalent of the Blarney stone.”
Jimmy furrowed his brow. “Whaddya mean, I look amazing.”
Alicia stared at him flatly. “You’re a rock.”
Jimmy grinned. “Yeah, I’m chiseled, aren’t I?”
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