by J D Astra
At the far end, there was a mule-drawn cart with a cage on the back, filled with humans, all wailing for freedom. Next to it, a caster-type goblin [Heckling Shaman] glowed green as it sent buffs sailing toward the little fighter goblins.
But there was something else stalking up behind the Risi. What the hell was it? The dim light made it hard to tell, but the nametag flashed above its head in red for a brief second. [Heckling Wolf Rider].
“Look out!” I called, but it was too late. The wolf launched itself at the Risi, jaws chomping down on his sword arm.
The Risi howled and dropped to one knee. If I didn’t get in there quick, it could be the end of him. I grabbed the torch and charged forward with my best war cry.
The wolf snarled and turned its shining green eyes on me, then released the Risi’s arm. I waved the torch fervently in its face, and the wolf backed away. I turned to the Risi to see two of the Heckling Goblins charge him, burying their small daggers in his chest. He howled in pain as he crushed the first goblin with a meaty punch and tossed the other against the cart.
He stood, stumbled, then straightened. “Stay back,” he said, his voice a low grumble. “This isn’t a fight for a lady.”
“Where would you be now without this lady?” I shot back, readying my staff as six glowing green goblins closed in on us.
The Risi grunted. “Fair enough. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
The People’s Favor
“GET THE CASTER!” THE Risi barked. I didn’t like being told what to do by a few lines of code, but he was right, that shaman was bad news.
“Got it!” I called back and skirted around the six goblins with gazes affixed to the largest target, the Risi. The standard, run-of-the-mill goblin wasn’t incredibly smart, but the caster saw me coming and readied himself. That wolf was running around somewhere in the dark, too. I kept my guard up.
The pudgy gray-green shaman was decorated with necklaces of ears, belts of bones, and a crown of blackened feathers. The staff it brandished had a black opalescent stone wedged into the top, and I knew, without a doubt, that was for me.
The caster snorted and cackled, “Stupid girl, you can’t fight a shaman of the Heckling clan with a broomstick!”
“Fishing harpoon, actually, and watch me.” I swiped in low, and the shaman hopped back, exactly what I wanted it to do. Waving the staff around with one hand was incredibly awkward, and not effective in the least, but I wasn’t trying to hit the creature, just get it out of range of the others.
The torch was warm in my left hand, and I waved it at the goblin’s head. The shaman dove left and tried to circle around me, apparently seeing through my herding tactic. A sharp-toothed smile spread over its face, and its hand shot out, a sickly yellow glowing from its palm.
<<<>>>
Debuff Added
Rotting Plague: You have been diseased! You take 1 point per second of disease spell damage. Spirit regen is reduced by 15%. Duration, 20 seconds.
<<<>>>
Twenty points? That’s like one-fifth of my Health!
If I was going to do real damage to the shaman, I had to drop the torch. The little jerk’s hands were waving about in some spell cast, and I shot forward, jabbing into the shaman’s stomach with the tip of my staff. It gave a, “Harumph,” as I pushed the air from its lungs and interrupted the cast.
I couldn’t afford to let it get off any more spells, so I tossed the torch to the ground and gripped my staff with both hands. I glanced up to see the Risi had four goblins left. A glint of green in a dark nook beside a house to the north caught my eyes.
“The wolf is back!” I shouted.
The Risi growled, slicing down through a goblin with his sword. The blood-spray wet the dirt, and the Wodes in the cage cheered, “Ah-toe, ah-toe!”
“Take care of your business, I have mine!” the rude Risi snapped back.
I thrust my staff-end at the shaman again. It dodged with a chuckle, a feature of the Heckling Goblins that was getting old. I wanted to shut its stupid trap.
The shaman stood ten feet from me, flicking its wrists in another spell. I took two steps forward, ready to swing in hard, when the dirt in front of the creature sprouted a spiked vine. Damn it! I pivoted, grabbed the torch, and pressed it against the wriggling plant as it wrapped around my left leg. The vine shriveled and retracted, so I held the torch out to ward it off.
“Stop playing and kill it!” the Risi yelled, the sounds of animalistic snarls informing me the wolf had reengaged with him.
“Yes, girl, let’s not play anymore!” The shaman’s hands burst with a lime-green light, and a bolt of energy smacked me in the chest.
I gasped for air as I fell back on my butt, watching as my Health dropped below 50%. At least the disease debuff had ended. I gritted my teeth and bounced back upright, swinging the torch and staff in crisscrossing paths in front of me as I made my way to the shaman. If I had any spells this would’ve been over long ago.
Finally, I was in striking range and the vine had receded back into the earth. I chucked the torch at the goblin’s head, and the wide-eyed look let me know it hadn’t expected that at all. It dodged, but I already had a good two-handed grip on my staff and was swinging for where it would land.
The shaman ducked, my staff knocking the feather headdress across the town center. I didn’t let up, whacking again and again until a hit landed, and another. The shaman tried to back away, but its legs were much shorter than mine and I kept closing the distance. With every hit the creature’s Health dropped by 5%. 10% when I critted! But it was slow going, and I wished desperately I had some spells to cast. At least I was interrupting its spellcasting.
The shaman tripped, falling back next to the torch I’d hucked.
“Wait! I can give you gold!”
I stood over it with a glower. “I’ll just take it off your corpse.”
I whacked down one last time, and the creature gave a death grunt as its life hit zero. I opened its inventory... no gold. Not a silver, not even a copper! What a liar! The staff was my real prize anyway, and I snatched it up hastily, along with a [Cart Cage Key].
“Argh!” The Risi cried out, and I remembered the wolf. I grabbed the nearly out torch and ran for the beast. The Risi man’s left arm was shredded, flaps of green skin hanging loosely around ripped muscle, and his body was littered with tiny punctures from daggers and dagger-like teeth.
I stuffed the fire into the wolf’s face, and it backed away, but only far enough to crouch for a pounce. It leapt, colliding solidly against my chest. We crashed to the ground and panic surged through my veins as I imagined the giant wolf maw clamping down on my head and ripping it off. I jabbed the torch into the wolf’s belly as I held my right arm up to guard my face. It bit down on my forearm and a crushing, sharp pressure shot up to my shoulder. My Health dropped to 35%. This wasn’t how I wanted things to go on my first adventure.
The bite didn’t last long, but the pain remained as the wolf jumped back. My torch set the creature’s long black fur ablaze, and the fire ripped around its back, then down its tail in a fury. The Risi, one good arm remaining, chopped down with his oversized sword and beheaded the convulsing, charred wolf.
The Risi spit into the bloodstained dirt and groaned as he grabbed at a red vial on his belt. He popped the cork and downed the liquid. I watched his life shoot up to 75% from 20%. Another interesting thing happened as his health returned: his skin mended, cuts smoothed over, and the mangled arm completely repaired. So. Damn. Cool!
I’d really cut that close, though. I could’ve been screwed if this thing had died on me. He would be my only companion for who knows how long. Hopefully not too long. With any luck, Jack got the capsule I sent him and took the plunge.
I knew it was a lot to ask to leave your world behind and join a new one, even if the previous one was about to blow up, but Jack had been my RPG guildmate for a long time, and college friend for a long time before that. Even if he didn’t want to help me, it’d be nic
e to have someone to talk to from the old days.
“Oiy! Come let us out!” the NPCs in the cage shouted, and I remembered the key in my inventory. I trotted to the cart and set the captives free.
“Anyone here Derik’s mother?” I asked the crowd as they hopped down into the dirt and charged the Risi, cheering.
“I’m Derik’s mother! Where is he?” The brown-haired woman’s voice was soft like worn river rocks. She wore a simple gown that strained at the seams from the pressure of her large belly—she was pregnant. She held my hand and shoulder, desperation visible in the creases of her worry-wrinkled forehead. I knew the world had to be populated somehow, and the NPCs would die die, whereas the Travelers would respawn... but I guess I figured a new adult NPC would be created by the Overminds when the need arose.
I pointed to the watermill. “Just there. I told him to hide.”
She held tightly to my hand as she ran for the watermill. I wasn’t really inclined to go waste several minutes out of my precious schedule, but I supposed it was the only way to get my quest reward.
Crickets chirped in the tall grass around the dirt path as we made our way. It sounded as if nothing was awry, nothing had happened. The town center was full of cheers and hearty slaps on the back. Just another evening in Eldgard.
“Derik!” The mother pounded on the door, then pushed against it, but it was barricaded.
A muffled reply came from the other side. “Mom?”
“Yes, sweetie, it’s your mom. Open the door, please.”
There was some shuffling on the other side, then the door flew open. A huge smile spread over Derik’s cheeks, and he jumped up into his mother’s embrace. I knew they were just executing predetermined code, but it was pretty cute and heartwarming.
“Thank you so much!” The mother turned to me and shook my hand.
<<<>>>
Quest Alert: A Son’s Love
You have rescued Derik’s mother and kept Derik safe through the Goblin raid. You’ve earned The People’s Favor and 1,500 XP. You may now return to Havasil and receive free accommodations with any resident. Your reputation with the Free People of Havasil has increased from Neutral to Friendly.
<<<>>>
Well, that was great. I’d have to loot the goblins for whatever they had so I could feed myself tonight. I patted my grumbling belly. At least I had a free bed somewhere in town, not that I wanted to stay here. Yeah, never mind. That wasn’t even an option. I needed to find my class trainer, the NPC who would teach me the ways of sorcery, and they were definitely not here.
Another notification blinked into view:
<<<>>>
x2 Level Up!
You have (15) undistributed stat points
You have (2) unassigned proficiency points
<<<>>>
Right, all of that. I’d forgotten to insert my first five stat points, not that it would’ve really mattered for falling down a hill and fighting some goblins. I opened up my profile screen and took a look.
<<<>>>
<<<>>>
I WAS GOING TO BE A caster, that was for certain, so I dropped 5 points into Intelligence, 5 into Spirit, and damn it, I was way too squishy, so 5 into Vitality as well. My Health jumped by a full 50 points, and I beamed. No plague was going to take me down!
I closed out my character sheet and gave a little wave to Derik, then turned back to the town center, where the Risi was... looting all the bodies without me! Rude!
I speed walked and stood in front of him, hands on my hips. He didn’t look up.
“Excuse me.” I tapped my foot, and he finally glanced my way.
He had a brief expression of embarrassment, then his brow scrunched. “You already looted the Shaman. I did most of the work, so I was getting my spoils.”
“I made sure you could kill those goblins by keeping the shaman busy, and I did a lot of the work on that wolf. What was on it?”
He stood upright, an attempt to intimidate me. It wasn’t going to work. This thing was my NPC; he was programmed to work with me, follow my orders when required, and grow an affinity for me, so there was no way he’d hurt me.
I puffed myself up as much as I could, leaning back so I could look at him without turning my head. He rolled his eyes and sighed, then produced a ring from his pocket. He held it out to me.
“There was another one, but it’s mine. The rest of it is junk, barely worth a thing.”
I accepted the [Simple Silver Ring] and opened my inventory. +2 Constitution and +3 Vitality, not too shabby for first-level mobs. I put it on and closed my character screen.
“So,” I said, walking with him as he moved from body to body, “what’s your name?”
He raised a brow at me, then said, “It’s Otto.”
Ah-toe, it made sense now! “I’m Abby. What were you doing here?”
He sighed. “I was hired to protect the village of Havasil from the goblins.”
I tutted. “You were doing real great.”
He glared, then continued to fish through the dead goblin’s inventory.
“Sorry. I mean, you were outnumbered. It was good I came along, yeah?”
“Indeed.” Otto stood upright. “And what exactly are you doing here?”
I shrugged. “I’m a Traveler, just got here.” I knew the NPC would understand what a Traveler was. We’d programmed the Overminds, the gods of V.G.O. essentially, to give the NPCs enough knowledge to understand that we weren’t like them, and we would arrive spontaneously sometimes. The NPCs understood that we wouldn’t die, not forever at least, and that we were capable of some things that they weren’t.
“I see.” He went back to rummaging. He didn’t seem very interested in me or very apt to help me out. Maybe I was wrong? Maybe Otto wasn’t my companion...
I stayed quiet, letting him finish his searching. I was patient enough and knew that if Otto was intended to work with me and was based off my Myers-Briggs profile, he might be processing everything for a little bit. So, I waited.
Finally, amid the occasional pat on the back and thanks from a townsperson, some for me too, Otto turned to me.
“So, I think the people are pretty well off, and we won’t be seeing the goblins for a time.”
“Maybe,” I offered, waiting for him to get to the part where he would say he’d follow me around.
One side of his mouth turned down in a half grimace as he thought. “I guess what I mean to say is, I’m looking for work, if you know of any.”
“I want to make my way to the next biggest town. I need to find a trainer. If you’d escort me, I’d pay you.”
He put his hand to his chin. “How much?”
I checked my inventory. Not a single copper to my name.
“Well,” I stalled, “I will be able to sell some of this junk, and then I can give you whatever I have.”
Otto’s head jerked back, an incredulous frown spreading down his cheeks.
“I will have some money once we get there and I’m able to sell some of these items. I just got here, remember?”
He looked me over. “I don’t think your broomstick handle will go for much.”
“I will pay you.” I tried to think about his weakness, how I could get him to cave to me. He’d called me a lady and seemed to be honor-bound. Perhaps I could be a little bit manipulative and feign being a helpless damsel. Well, that wasn’t such a lie at the moment.
I softened my voice. “I don’t have a class. I don’t have any money. I’m hungry and tired and hurt.” I hated myself for what I was about to say. “I need help. Please?”
His eyes narrowed to slits, and his forehead wrinkled. I’d struck the weakness for sure, but would he cave to it?
I gave my best attempt at a pouty face. Otto stared at me a moment longer, then surrendered. “I can take you to Harrowick. It’s the largest city near here, has a lot of different things, so I’m sure you’ll find a mentor.”
“Great!” I beamed, dropping the sad act as fast as I’d picked it up.
“Let’s be off then. Which way do we go?” I marched in a circle, my hand pointing every which direction.
He had a sour look on his face, like he’d been duped, but it was too late to turn back. I sort of reveled in it, like a game. How far would he bend to my will, I wondered.
“It’s a long walk, and we don’t have enough money for horses, nor are there any here.”
I tried on my pout again. “I really need to get there soon. It’s very important.”
The muscles in his jaw tensed. “I don’t think you understand how far it really is. It’s too far to walk in the dark.”
My face went stern and serious. “I’ll pay you double.”
“I have no idea what the base rate is, so that doesn’t mean much to me.”
“Trust me, Otto, I’m going places and doing things. You’ll want to stick with me. I’ve got a plan.”
He crossed his meaty arms. “Does your plan include dying?”
“Definitely not.” I waggled my finger.
He mulled it over, but I knew I’d won. His programming couldn’t resist my requests.
“Fine. Let’s get moving.”
Harrowick
HOLY. SHIT.
Otto had not been exaggerating the distance of the walk. We left Havasil at 8 PM game time. It was freaking 11 PM. We weren’t taking our sweet time either. My Stamina was low, and the pace we were keeping wouldn’t allow it to regenerate. I wasn’t playing a helpless damsel anymore. I kinda was one.
It irked me that Otto was so much better off than me, but that was the point. The NPCs started around level 5 to 8 to ensure that the player wouldn’t be doomed from the get-go, and they usually already had their class situation figured out.
I’d only heard of a few cases where the NPC started classless and had to go through the same process their player did. Another bug we’d tried to work out, but couldn’t manage to find a solution for. Something to do with the player themselves being too undecided in their lives, or uncommitted to any goals, and that carrying through strongly enough in their NPC pairing profile to cause their NPC to be undecided as well.
