I raised my arm, aimed at the brute’s heart, and activated Blood Wrath’s new Apprentice rank ability; Piercing Attack.
The energy erupted from my outstretched arm as a semi-translucent spear. It hit the Ogre, and bored a hole in his chest.
Piercing Attack hits Forest Ogre, Spell resistance ignores 16 damage, Damage sustained: 30
Damn that magic resistance.
We threw everything we had at him, and it didn’t even bring him half way down.
I was in a bad shape. I hated being the Tank. I was much more suited to stand in the back, dealing death and destruction from a safe distance. I couldn’t change positions with any of my fighters, a single hit would kill any of them. Clenching my teeth, I prepared for the Ogre’s next attack to finish me off.
Then several things happened in rapid succession.
The goblins launched another volley of spears and arrows and did additional 12 damage. I felt a hand touching my shoulder, my body glowed green-gold followed by relief as the pain lessened. Bek! He healed me.
Then something else flashed through the air, a small clay container. It broke over the Ogre’s body, and weird goo oozed over its upper torso, sticking to it and restricting its movement. I glanced back and saw Guba holding another container just like it. That old crafty witch. She had some sort of glue grenades which she put to good use just in the nick of time.
The glue slowed the ogre enough for me to retrieve my single healing potion and gulp it down, healing me for 50 hit points, back up to 90% of my maximum.
The glued Ogre was still enraged, but could only hit me once with each attack now. And with his movements restricted, every hit only caused about 25 damage.
The battle had become a battle of attrition; we peppered him with spears, arrows, and magic arrows every round, Guba kept throwing her glue grenades, and Bek darted in to heal me after each attack.
It took us a few minutes, but we brought the behemoth down. My mana was nearly empty, and my hit points were low. A few more rounds of combat, and I would have died, but we made it. I looked back at my people with pride. We’d taken down a monster much stronger than us. Together. Even the workers contributed, throwing rocks at the Ogre.
Limping, I approached Guba and stared at her pointedly.
She looked at me sternly, then grinned. “Youngling, I be having many surprises up my... sleeves. More than you can handle.” The crone actually winked at me.
I shivered and walked to the nearest tree, collapsed exhausted against its trunk.
“Vic, show me the after-battle logs.”
War Party: Goblin Worker gained 1 level
War Party: Goblin Worker gained 1 level
War Party: Goblin Worker gained 1 level
War Party: Guba gained 1 level
War Party: Tika gained 1 level
War Party: Zuban gained 1 level
Good! Six members of my party had gained a level, most of them hadn’t even damaged the Ogre. They had gained the experience just from being part of the War Party.
I was a bit disappointed I didn’t level-up or increase any of my skill levels. None of the warriors did either.
Dawn was approaching as I rested, waiting for my mana and hit points to regenerate. There was little sense in going back to sleep now, so I decided to go through some information. First, I opened my own character sheet.
Title: Esteemed Totem
Level: 6, (85%)
Race: Monster Race [Goblin]
Type: Boss I [Totem]
Deity: Corgoram
Followers: 2
Attributes: [0 points available]
- Physical 2
- Mental 8
- Social 0
Pools:
- Hit Points: 112
- Mana: 190
- Armor: 7
Skills:
- Lucky Bastard 3 (97%) (Prime)
- Analyze 3 (45%)
- Tracking 1 (22%)
- War Party Leader 1 (80%)
- Mana Infusion 2 (5%)
Skills (Spells):
- Mana Manipulation 3 (86%)
- Drilling Arrow 2 (47%) (Prime)
- Mana Shield 11 (40%)
- Blood Wrath 11 (50%)
- Heal Followers 1 (30%)
Traits:
- Goblinoid (+1 Physical, -1 Social)
- Quick learner +20%
- Boss boon I (bonus hp & mana per level)
- Soul Companion: Vic
Esteemed Totem. I liked my new title much better than the last one. Even though I didn’t level up, I still showed significant progress across the board.
But what is that new skill… Lucky Bastard? I frowned
Actually, it does. I grinned. Good one Vic.
“Hey, Vic?” A thought suddenly occurred to me. “You have access the full details of everyone in the War Party, right? Can you bring up their information? Just the basics summary, though. I need to have a better knowledge of the capabilities of my troops”.
A moment later a large message appeared, much more detailed than what was offered by my Analyze skill.
Goblin worker. Level 2 (10%); 21hp; P:3, M:0, S:-1; Skills: Haul 2, Digging 3; Traits: Noncombatant
Goblin worker. Level 2 (11%); 21hp; P:3, M:0, S:-1; Skills: Haul 3, Miner 3; Traits: Noncombatant
Goblin worker. Level 2 (12%); 21hp; P:3, M:0, S:-1; Skills: Haul 2, Lumberjack 4; Traits: Noncombatant
...
...
The workers were pretty similar, all level 2, all invested solely in the Physical attribute. That made sense as they were manual laborers, each had a different primary manual skill. It could come in handy. The downside was, that all those skills were pretty low, I’ll have to make them grind those skills. I wasn’t sure what the Haul skill was, but as all the workers had it, it was probably important. I clicked on it as well.
Skill: Haul (P)
You are used to carrying heavy loads. Steady and methodical, you know how to pace yourself and carry on while overburdened. Base lift weight is equal to your own.
Level 2: novice.
Effects: lift weight: 22kg, drag weight: 44kg.
That explains how the worker could carry almost three times more than the other goblins. Which was very useful; I was sure we would need to move around a lot of materials once we start constructing the new clan. Also, this skill should help them work on their primary profession more efficiently.
Something about the worker stats was peculiar though. With three points in Physical, they should have around 30 hp each, but they only had 21. I suspected I knew why. I clicked the Noncombatant trait for more details.
Noncombatant
A naturally weaker member of the race, and ill-suited for combat. -30% hp. -50% progression rate for all combat related skills. No access to mana pool.
Well, that explained the hit point reduction. There wasn’t much I could do about it, I would have to try to level them up to increase their efficiency.
Suddenly, inspiration hit. I had just the idea how to help them train them.
“You three” I motioned at the workers, “Grab those stones and start lifting them over your head as many times as you can,” I pointed to a few scattered stones, each weighing at least 20 Kg. My idea might have been a bit harsh, but hey, no pain no gain, right?
The mindless creatures, or puppets as Vic would call them, moved immediately to comply. They strained and struggled to lift the heavy stones. They had a hard time of it. Probably it had something to do with them still being encumbered by the equipment they were carrying.
I sighed and shook my head. “Goblins!”
I let them keep at it for now, and continued reviewing the stats of the other goblins.
Goblin warrior. Level 4 (25%); 41hp; P:5, M:0, S:-1; Skills: Brawling 8, Spears 2
Goblin wa
rrior. Level 4 (25%); 41hp; P:5, M:0, S:-1; Skills: Brawling 8, Spears 2
...
...
They were cookie cutter images of each other. I noticed their brawling skill increased by 1, no doubt due to our fight with the hobgoblins. I frowned with annoyance as I noticed something else off about them. They too had too few hit points. Their five points in Physical should have given them 50 hit points. What’s going on?
I clenched my fists, trying to sound calmer than I felt. “Ok. Let’s hear it then. Why are my goblins not as powerful as they should be?”
My face fell “I understand.”
It was a shame, but not too bad. Vic was right, a 4th level goblin with 50+ hit point is too much of a challenge for a newbie.
I continued checking the stats of the others.
Tika, goblin huntress. Level 3(2%); 26hp; P:2, M:0, S:1; Skills: Forage: 8, Bows: 5
Guba, goblin chemist. Level 5(50%); 22hp; P:2, M:0, S:3; Skills: Chemistry 13: Trait: Noncombatant
…
...
Now that was a surprise. Both Tika and Guba invested primarily in their Social attribute. That at least explain their reduced hit points compared to other goblins who invested on Physical only.
I opened Tika’s Forage skill. It allowed her to find food in the wild, and track and hunt small animals to hunt. Unlike Hunt skill, Forage was a social skill, which explained why she had invested in it.
Guba, once again threw me off guard. When I first Analyzed her, my skill showed her to be a goblin cook. Now that I had full access to her character information, I learned that there was much more to her than meets the eye.
So, she’s actually a Chemist. I contemplated. Chemists created various non-magical potions and substance. It was a Social skill as well, which explained her whopping 3 points in that attribute, making her the most social goblin I’d ever met.
I need to have a long talk with her soon. I needed a better understanding of my people and learn what they’re capable of.
I just thought of the goblins as people. I shook my head at the realization.
Anyway, Guba was enigmatic. I needed to find out if she had more secrets like the glue grenade and the permanency potion.
I continued going over the list of goblins:
Bek, goblins adept. Level 3(0%); 26hp; P:1, M:3, S:-2; Skills: Heal: 2; Trait: Deformed
Zuban, hobgoblin builder, Level 5(50%); 32hp; P:2, M:0, S:3; Skills: Constructor: 9
Hmmm, so Bek is actually an adept, a magic-wielding goblin. I wondered why this detail was hidden from me when I used Analyze. He had only one magical skill, Heal, but it was an extremely important one. All of a sudden, the annoying little goblin had become a valuable member of the group. I would love to see him reach Expert rank, then I could learn that spell from him. That meant he would have to reach level 40. Which seemed highly unlikely. I frowned, when I read the traits section.
What the hell is Deformed?
I had never heard of it before. For a veteran gamer, I sure am encountering a lot of new stuff, I mused. I opened the description for the trait.
Deformed
Brutal magical experimentation gave this individual a magical affinity, but at the cost of severe mental scarring. New spell skill gained, -1 Social.
I creased my brow and looked at Bek. I felt pity for the little guy. It wasn’t his fault he was so wretched and unappealing. He probably suffered a great deal while undergoing that magical experiment. No doubt conducted by DurDur, his former master.
What does it matter? I shrugged. It's just a game.
I had no answer to give him, so I reviewed Zuban’s details instead. At least his details looked promising. Guy did a good job of reconstructing him based on my guidelines. His Constructor skill would be important when we started building the new clan settlement. Like Guba, he had a relatively high Social attribute, explaining his fluent speech and relatively low hit points.
I stood up and stretched. My mana and hit points were regenerated. The workers were still lifting their rocks. I checked their stats again and to my delight, saw that the Haul skill levels had risen by 2. They probably just followed the same routine every day, never exceeding the minimal effort required to function, until I forced them to. I put them through an exercise that would constitute a torture for self-aware NPC. Having mindless drones as servants had its perks.
I got to my feet. “Alright everyone, let’s get ready to leave.” The goblins shuffled.
“You three,” I pointed at the workers. “Get some heavier rocks.” They managed to look remarkably resentful for scripted, mindless automatons, but I intended to keep forcing their ‘Haul’ skill to increase.
While everyone else was getting ready, I checked the Ogre for loot.
Not bad. I grinned, adding 50 gold coins to my inventory. I ignored the heavy club, none of us could even lift it, except maybe Zuban, and it was worthless. I did take the furs he was wearing, they were just raw pelts draped over body. Aside from that, he carried a small bag full of grain.
Thornthistle seeds
Description: The seeds can be used to grow Thornthistle plants.
Thornthistle was a bothersome plant. It grew into large, thorny bushes. Sometimes it was harvested, the thorns could be used as components in caltrops. But for the most part, Thornthistles were an annoyance who impeded movement. I put the seeds in my inventory anyway. I would find a use for them later.
Overall, considering the difficulty fighting the Ogre, the loot was disappointing. Then I was struck by an inspiration.
“Vic,” I said excitedly “could you possess the Ogre body?”
His cloak-shaped body detached from my shoulders, and once again tendril-like appendages reached toward the corpse, entering through the mouth and ears. Vic’s purple mass disappeared completely. Nothing happened at first. Then the Ogre twitched. Once. Twice. And then... nothing. After a few more long moments, Vic oozed out of the corpse.
I expelled my breath forcefully, “That’s a shame.”
Having an Ogre bodyguard would have been awesome.
“That’s good. The way things are going, you’ll level that skill up quickly.”
I looked around, the group was done packing up and waiting for me.
“All right, let’s go.”
Tika took point, leading us unerringly. Our pace was slightly slower than yesterday, since the workers couldn’t walk very fast carrying the rocks and equipment.
The sun rose gradually over the treetops and the surrounding woods became brighter. Guba moved up to walk beside me.
“So, care to explain why we be attacking that Ogre?” She asked casually.
I stared at her, puzzled. “What do you mean? We were defending ourselves. He was about to attack. It was just a random monster encoun...” I stopped as I realized something. We were random monster encounters ourselves.
“Wasn’t he about to attack us?” I asked weakly.
S
hit, did I just kill a possible ally?
“Hmpf,” She snorted. “Not likely. Ogres, them being stupid hulking brutes. But they wouldn’t be attacking us outright. They do have their uses. Good leaders can be forming pacts with them. If not get themselves eaten first.”
Of course! Why didn’t it occur to me? It wasn’t rare for players to encounter goblins that were accompanied by other types of monsters; Ogres, Wargs, and Bugbears to name a few.
What an idiot I am. I berated myself. I needed to think differently. I was no longer a player character in the usual sense.
I’m a monster, I have to start acting like one. And use that to my advantage.
Another thing occurred to me. “Guba,” I felt my heart beating faster. “Do you think he had a clan or a family that would revenge his death?”
She snorted again “Not likely, it was just a dumb Ogre. If we killed one of their important members, then perhaps, but not for the likes of such as that.”
So, killing the generic type mobs was acceptable. Named mobs were smart, VI operated individuals, and I could probably talk and reason with them. It occurred to me there were additional potential advantages to playing as a monster. By default monsters were hostile for players, unless overridden by some quest. But since the game identified me as an NPC, it meant some mobs wouldn’t be automatically hostile.
I can use that to my advantage.
“Point taken,” I nodded. “I’ll try to be more diplomatic in the future”.
“The smart thing, is always to be using your head.” she cackled.
“I also wanted to ask about your Chemist skill.” This was a good opportunity to bring up the subject. I knew what that skill meant, but I began to realize that the rules for monsters and players often differed. “What can you do with it?”
“Umph” she grunted in irritation. “My secrets being my own. Even if you being our ‘Esteemed Totem’ now, you haven't proven yourself to me, youngling.”
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