“RARGH!” the orc shouted in frustration.
“C’mon bitch, is that all you got?” I asked.
He swung again. Once more, I almost casually blocked his attack.
BLOCK SKILL INCREASED +1
And no wonder I could block so easily. That skill was one of my highest, but I was done being on the defensive.
After dodging his next swing, I hacked at him with my silver longsword. The silver blade clanged uselessly off his orcish armor, reminding me of just how powerful the armor was.
In response, he heaved his axe toward me. This time, I didn’t have the room to block it with the Soulguard. Instead, we locked blades, the sharp ends grinding, and I knew this was bad for my weapon.
The silver longsword was sturdy, but the orcish steel would make quick work of it.
Gritting my teeth, I pushed against him with all my strength and knocked him back a few steps. I hacked at him with my silver blade, aiming for his neck, but the old warlord was a canny fighter, and knew I’d be shooting for his most obvious weak point.
The warlord laughed as he shielded himself with his right gauntlet, and once more, my silver blade dinged pitifully against the orcish steel.
Now I was starting to get frustrated. My goddamn silver blade would snap in half before it ever pierced that armor.
But, just then, it was like I could hear One-Armed Rus whispering in my ear about how small problems could TURN INTO BIGGUNS.
The warlord’s armor was tough as hell, but it was still weathered, old, and dented up from so many skirmishes.
Using an armorer’s eye, I took a quick inventory of his armor. Looking more closely now, I caught a small chink in the armor, just under his right armpit, a bit of damage so negligible that the warlord probably never even noticed it.
I grinned. Now I had a plan.
“Yes, puny Earthman,” the warlord spat confidently as he raised his big axe again. “One more stupid smile before your death!”
Before he could swing, I feigned an attack to his left. He shifted himself in that direction to parry, but I pulled back, spun, and aimed the tip of my silver longsword right at the chink under his right armpit.
This time, my attack hit home.
Though the silver blade wasn’t as tough as orcish steel, I drove the tip into the small damaged portion of the armor. I punched the tip right through it, then laughed when I felt the blade sink into his flesh.
CRITICAL STRIKE!
LONG BLADE SKILL INCREASED +1
ARMORER SKILL INCREASED +1
Oh, that was awesome. Spotting and exploiting weaknesses in armor must have added to the armorer’s skill, as well.
The orc snarled and dropped his battle axe, trying to fight me off, but it was no good. I pressed forward, driving the blade deeper into his chest, through lungs and ribs and, finally, his heart.
The warlord coughed blood as I pulled my blade free. A moment later, he was lying dead on the ground.
By the time I finished with the warlord, I saw that the others had mopped up his minions. Marcus was grinning in admiration. “Gamelord, you fight well,” he said. “I mean, you fought well on the steps of the castle that day when the undead attacked, but your skills have obviously improved in such a short span of time.”
“Practice makes perfect, I guess,” I said, then drove my boot into the dead warlord’s chest plate. “This dumbass. I would have let them walk, if he just would have listened.”
“Some just won’t listen to reason,” Pandora said.
Sephara shrugged. “Who cares? I got three, all on my own!” she said as she wiped orcish blood from her spear.
Marcus gestured toward the dead warlord’s armor. “The rest of this lot doesn’t have so much as a coin between them,” he said. “But that armor, Gamelord, would fetch you a small fortune back in Homehold.”
“Is that so?” I asked.
He nodded. “It’d get you plenty of gold, even damaged. There’s no telling what some would pay, once you let One-Armed Rus put his hammer to it.”
I looked back to the young soldier. “I’m not in this for the money, dude,” I said. “But hey, you’re a good soldier. I’m sure you’ve earned a bonus. Why don’t you take it?”
*****
I might have made a mistake offering that orcish armor to Marcus. I mean, I was more than happy to let the guy have it; being a former soldier himself, I knew that Duke Gladios paid his men well, but that set of orcish armor was probably worth what Marcus made in an entire year.
That being said, once he stripped the armor off the dead warlord, the young soldier wouldn’t shut the hell up.
When we got back on our horses and hit the road again, he started yapping and didn’t stop yapping. He showered me with compliments. He asked me one question after another about Earth.
Before long, I just ignored him. He didn’t seem to notice, and just went on flapping his gums.
As we rode, it wasn’t long before I spent my time admiring my Mananymphs. How could I not?
I couldn’t take my eyes off Pandora. With her ears and fairy wings revealed, she was even more stunning than she normally was. I had my hands on her hips, feeling her firm body beneath the tight leather assassin’s outfit, and more than once she threw a seductive, mischievous look at me from over her shoulder.
Sephara was just as stunning, in her own way. Though her mage robes weren’t as tight or revealing as Pandora’s outfit, when the wind blew, the white fabric would blow tightly against Sephara’s smallish frame.
She looked like an angel, with her silver hair, with that flowing robe wrapped tight around her chest, around her thighs. She caught me looking and smiled a bashful smile as her face went flush red.
My god, I’d never get tired of this world.
The road was clear for the rest of the day. Once we made it out of that small wooded area, there were plains on either side of us, so there was no chance of any enemies sneaking up on us, as those orcs had.
Pandora had a theory. “They must have ventured farther north when Duke Gladios pulled all the soldiers back to Homehold,” she said.
I grunted. That made sense. Between the Homehold soldiers up at that last garrison before the mountain pass and the regular patrols in the area, that seemed to be the only way the orcs could have come this far without being noticed.
“Yeah,” I answered after thinking about it. “The warlord was a prick, but he wasn’t stupid. He probably figured the garrison would get manned again eventually, so he had his orcs hide out in that little wooded area, just waiting for someone to stumble across them.”
Sephara grinned confidently. “Well, if that’s the case, they found the wrong someone,” she said, and we all laughed.
Though the day was starting to get late, with the sun drifting rapidly toward the horizon, we saw the garrison coming up in the distance. We slowed our horses to a trot; they’d been moving hard all day, and we didn’t want to tire them out.
As we rode, I was looking over my stats with my Second Sight. I hadn’t added any points to the skill tree in a while, so I was checking out potential perks and boosts when I noticed something that I hadn’t seen before.
This was a typical skill tree. One perk or attribute boost or new ability led to another. For instance, my single-use invisibility spell, once unlocked, then led to a longer lasting, single-use camouflage spell. So far, I’d been using my skill points practically, but now with some momentary downtime, I scrolled out, to get a better look at the skill tree.
“Whoa,” I said to myself.
The skill tree was far more expansive than I’d initially thought. There were too many choices to count. There was one in particular, far along the tree dedicated to restoration boosts, that caught my interest.
REVIVE ALLY
EFFECT: SINGLE-USE, ONCE-PER-DAY SPELL THAT REVIVES FALLEN ALLY
Though I was a long way off before I could unlock it, I made a mental note to work my way toward it. However, as enticing as that skill was, i
t was the darkened options that I hadn’t seen yet that suddenly interested me.
There were a bunch. I scrolled over to one and pulled it up.
PALADIN’S BOON
EFFECT: EXCHANGE ALL MANA FOR
-HOUR-LONG 4X STRENGTH BOOST
-HOUR-LONG CRITICAL STRIKES TO UNDEAD
-HOUR-LONG HEAL +2
-HOUR-LONG +10 LONG SWORD
-MANA DEFICIENT FOR DURATION
ABILITY AVAILABLE TO PALADIN CLASS ONLY
God damn! That hour-long ability would boost some of my stats close to being god-tier. Obviously, there was a tradeoff – no mana for an hour – but I had no idea that such powerful perks were available.
There were more.
WAR MAGE’S WRATH
EFFECT: EXCHANGE ½ HEALTH FOR
-HOUR-LONG 5X DESTRUCTION MAGIC
-HOUR-LONG INFINITE MANA
-HOUR-LONG 4X AXE
-HOUR-LONG 4X HEAVY ARMOR
-HEALTH HALVED FOR DURATION
ABILITY AVAILABLE TO WAR MAGE CLASS ONLY
Yeah, these perks looked awesome and all, but how the hell could I become a paladin or a war mage?
I was about to investigate my Second Sight further, because it was apparent that I’d only scratched the surface of my abilities, but then we saw a patrol up ahead, flagging us down.
“Homehold soldiers up ahead,” Pandora said.
I nodded. “Yeah, let’s hope they have some room at the inn,” I said. “Because I don’t want to go to sleep tonight out here, only to wake up with an orc outcast sneaking into my bedroll come morning.”
“Hah!” Marcus laughed a bit too loudly. “The Champion is as funny as he is deadly in combat and generous in heart!”
I gave him a pity laugh, but Marcus was getting tiresome with his ass-kissing. Still, I was glad to have put the guy in good spirits. With his wife and kid dead by the Emperor’s hand, he’d been through a lot already, despite his youth.
The patrol met us halfway to the garrison and rode with us the rest of the way. Marcus chatted with them, bragging about our battle with the orcs and the suit of armor he’d gotten.
Pandora leaned back against me, warm and comfortable in the saddle next to me. “That was very kind of you, Earthman,” she said. “The young soldier has lost much.”
Sephara was riding next to us. “The young soldier also talks much,” she said, then rolled her eyes. “Earthman, for a moment, I feared that he was trying to steal you off of us.”
*****
We lucked out at the garrison. The captain there agreed that we could stay the night, but this was one of the smallest of all Homehold’s garrisons.
“I hate to say it, but we’ve got no beds left,” the grizzled old captain said. “The jails are empty. If you’d like, I can get a few of my men to spend the night in the cells.”
“Hell no,” I answered. “I’d never in a million years steal a soldier’s bed. We can spend the night in the cells. That’ll be more than adequate, and it’s better than sleeping outside with one eye open, looking for orcs.”
The captain shook my hand. “Ah, I’ve heard rumors that the Gamelord is an honorable man,” the captain said. Then he turned to Marcus. “Now, what’s with you, lad? I’ve got no room for an extra man, as much as I’d like to have you.”
Marcus, frowning, pulled a small parchment out of his pack. His orders were written on it. “Sir Lucien wanted me here, or so my officer told me,” Marcus said.
The captain read over the orders and shrugged. “Ah, I know your officer,” the captain answered. “Not the brightest fellow. He must have heard Sir Lucien wrong, because we’re already at capacity. Even if I brought you on, it would muck up our rations. I’ll write up an explanation for you, lad. Take it back to Homehold and request new orders.”
Marcus rolled his eyes. “Ugh, another two-day ride back to Homehold, all for nothing,” he said. Then, suddenly, his face lit up. “Captain, if I may, can I ask you for a favor?”
“Sure, lad,” the captain said.
“Well, it’s a two-day journey back to Homehold,” Marcus began.
Beside me, Sephara rolled her eyes and Pandora smirked, because they both knew what was coming next.
I tried my best not to roll my eyes myself, because the last thing I wanted to do was hurt the young soldier’s feelings.
“Gamelord and his Lady Mananymphs are headed to Darkwood Forest, which is less than a day’s ride to the northwest. I could make myself useful by riding with them!”
The captain thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “I see no harm in that,” he said. “That is, if Gamelord will have you.”
I tried my best to keep a straight face. With all my willpower, I nodded at the suggestion. “Sure buddy, you can come along,” I said. “I’ll never say no to good help. But you need to understand one thing.”
Marcus looked at me seriously, chin-up, nice and official. “Yes, sir. Anything, sir.”
I pointed to the teleportation amulet hidden under my armor and showed it to him. “This amulet can instantly teleport me and two others back to Homehold if things go badly. You have to understand that, if shit goes south and we have to bug out, I won’t be able to bring you with us.”
Marcus nodded, smiling ear-to-ear. “I’d gladly die fighting alongside the Champion of the Mananymphs!”
“Alright pal,” I said laughing. “You can take it easy with all that.”
But there was no talking him down. He hefted up his orcish armor, wrapped up tight, and threw it over his shoulder. “I’m going to repair the armor you gifted me, Gamelord!” Marcus said. “Before I sell it and make a fortune, I’ll ride into battle next to you, wearing it! Surely, it’ll be worth double after that!”
Marcus ran off, heading to the garrison’s small forge to make his repairs. When he was gone, I turned back to the captain.
“Hey man,” I said, grinning. “Are you sure you can’t use an extra guy?”
The captain smirked. “Sorry to say that I can’t, Champion,” the captain said. “Perhaps one of your lovely Mananymphs knows a silence spell?”
“No,” Sephara said. “But I have an extra sock. I’d gladly stick it in his mouth!”
Chapter Five
All jokes aside, I was glad to have Marcus coming along with us. During that skirmish with the orcs, he showed that he was more than capable of putting up a good fight. That would come in handy in the days to come.
In the morning, we got up before dawn and had a small breakfast. Pandora was sitting in the corner, by herself. She was sitting cross-legged, with her eyes closed, deep in concentration.
Sephara was next to me. “Pandora’s mysticism skills are coming back faster than I hoped,” she whispered.
Pandora’s dragontooth daggers were sitting on each side of her. Suddenly, they levitated up into the air. Even Marcus shut up for once, watching intently as Pandora telekinetically slashed her daggers around her.
A moment later, she effortlessly levitated herself from the floor, without so much as moving a muscle.
She opened her eyes, which were crackling with the white glow of mysticism magic, and grinned at us. “The next time we spar, Earthman, I might not even need to hold my daggers in my own hands,” she said.
Sephara was watching with a huge, intense grin on her face. I could practically feel the giddy excitement radiating off of her.
Pandora went on. “Next, I hope to figure out a teleportation spell, so that I can –”
Sephara squealed in glee, shooting toward her sister. The younger Mananymph ducked under Pandora’s telekinetically slashing daggers and leaped up, tackling Pandora in an adorable little bear hug, and the two of them went tumbling to the floor.
“Sister, I’m SO SO SO SO SO happy for you!” Sephara squealed as Pandora laughed beneath her.
Soon, we were on the road again, and the garrison building faded on the horizon behind us. Pandora was right about the weather. As the Gray Wolf Mountains loomed over us, the air too
k on a distinct chill. I even heard it beneath our horse’s hoofs, the frozen grass and soil crunching beneath them.
Sephara and Pandora each put on a tunic to keep warm. I didn’t need one, as my leather armor was well insulated. Up ahead, we saw a gap in the hills. “That must be the pass,” I said.
“I believe it is,” Marcus said. Oddly, he’d been much quieter since we’d left the garrison. He pointed to a small stream running through the trees adjacent to the road. “I suggest we stop to water our horses now,” he said. “I doubt there’ll be more than a few puddles of water in that pass, and besides, the water in that stream looks clean.”
“Good idea,” I said to Marcus. He was wearing his orcish armor now, and he cut quite an imposing figure. Of course, while repairing it, he’d made some adjustments for his size, or else the armor would have been too big for him.
Marcus suddenly rode out ahead of us. I guessed his horse was just thirsty. “At least he’s been keeping quiet,” I said.
Pandora frowned. “Yes, I’ve noticed. No surprise there. I’m sure he’s haunted by the memories of his family.”
“And I don’t have to waste a sock,” Sephara added.
I made a save point as we headed toward the stream. Later, I’d be glad that I did.
We trotted off the road, toward the trees, where we saw that Marcus had already dismounted. His horse was lapping water from the stream. He turned to us, grinning as we hopped off our horses.
It happened so fast I almost missed it.
The blue-green glow emerged from his right fist. Before I could call out a warning, the young soldier shot a blast of blue-green magic that struck Pandora squarely in the chest. She gasped then went limp, tumbling to the ground, just barely breathing.
“Pandora!” I shouted as I pulled my silver longsword from the sheath.
Sephara let out a battle cry and brandished her spear, but the moment she charged Marcus, he hit her with another blast of magic then she fell to the ground, limp as Pandora. I ran to Sephara, fearing that the blast of magic had killed her, and while I was distracted, Marcus hit me with a paralyzing blast that left me limp and helpless in the grass.
Monstergirl Quest Book Two Page 4
