It was one of the advantages of playing on the monsters’ side; being able to resurrect was a feature that was supposed to counteract players’ methodical extermination of the monster population. But all the players in NEO were on the monster side now or were about to be. We could resurrect, but civilized NPCs could not. I was planning on exploiting the hell out of that fact.
Yulli scoffed. “Why wait for foblins? The seven of us can start on our own.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” I said slowly, the grains of a plan starting to sprout in my mind. “We still have a full day before the army gets here. We can start by doing a quick surprise attack against the day laborers out in the fields.” The gears in my brain were at full speed now, and I smiled as the entire plan formed. “We’ll kill a few of them then disappear back into the Badlands. The town guards will have no clue what attacked their workers, and they’ll be eager to strike when the enemy finally shows itself.”
Lirian’s eyes lit up. “I get it. So when several hundred foblins suddenly appear in their fields, pillaging and killing, the guards will go all out to wipe them out.”
Hoshisu eyed Lirian with a frown. “That’s one intelligent NPC.”
Her words triggered the feral side of me, and I snarled at her. “That’s my daughter you’re talking about.”
Hoshisu took a step back.
“Easy now, Chief,” Aly said soothingly.
With some effort, I composed myself. “Sorry.”
The two women exchanged knowing looks.
I cleared my throat, trying to get past the hostility. “So we’ll rest through the night and in the morning–”
“I’m afraid I can’t agree to that plan,” Nero said smoothly.
We all turned toward the half-dragon.
“I can’t condone killing civilians,” he said. “It’s dishonorable.”
“They are our enemies,” Bob stated simply. “And this is war.”
Nero’s short wings expanded behind him. “There are still rules in war. Not killing civilians is a basic one.”
Yulli’s nostrils flared. “Travelers’ wars, perhaps, but we’re not travelers. We kill our enemies. To the last. Their blood is our glory and their–”
I raised my hand to stop the conversation from escalating. “Bob and Yulli have a point. Everyone else sees us as monsters. But,” I added quickly when I saw Nero was about to object, “that doesn’t mean we have to live up to their expectations. We make our own rules. So instead of killing the farmers, I suggest we take them as hostages instead.”
“It won’t be as easy as simply killing them, Chief,” Bob objected.
“I know, but having a bunch of farmers disappearing instead of turning up as corpses should make the guards even more suspicious and ready to act when we finally reveal ourselves,” I replied. The more I thought about this new plan, the more I liked it. In the old NEO, what I was proposing would have no doubt caused the town to issue a quest to all players to ‘Investigate the workers’ disappearances.’ I was once again working the system from the other side.
The half-dragon’s wings lowered. “I can agree to this plan. But we must not hurt the hostages.”
“Agreed.” Despite my words, I wasn’t sure if that was feasible. We were here to neutralize Novenguard as a threat, and the only way I knew how to do that was to raze it to the ground and eliminate its population.
It was a known fact that unlike monster towns, NPC settlements couldn’t be taken over. Even if all the leadership was killed, a town still fell under the jurisdiction of the local lord, and he, in turn, fell under the local monarchy. If players took over an NPC town, they wouldn’t get the ability to manage it, and it would be a short time before the local lord sent an army to wrestle it back from them. I didn’t feel the need to share my thoughts with Nero, though. We were going to have to simply play it by ear.
***
We settled down behind a tall outcropping away from the main road. We did our best to rest in what was, for us, midday. We were going to have to be clear-minded and quick come morning.
However, there was just one more thing I wanted to do before going to sleep. It was a longshot. Looking at the town filled me with apprehension, but it was worth a try.
Silently, I poured my consciousness and mana into my shadow, creating a clone. Blending in with the night, I swam through the sea of darkness toward the town’s walls. As I approached, the feeling of foreboding grew stronger. The walls loomed above me, clear as broad daylight in the darkness, but projecting something sinister.
Unseen, I entered the kill zone between the U-shaped walls and moved closer to the main gate. The feeling of wrongness was very strong there, and I gingerly tried pushing my amorphous form through the cracks in the gate. Light flashed, and I found myself flung away from the gate. Half of my shadowy body turned into vapor and disappeared. I quickly drew on my mana reserves to re-form my body. The reason for my uneasiness was now clear. The walls were warded. Luckily, no one seemed to notice my break-in attempt, which further demonstrated the faith they had in their wards. And they were right to feel secure. I did a quick tour around the town, my clone body easily hovering over the dark river, but the wards were seamless. There were no gaps for me to slip in between. I could’ve probably brute-forced my way through, but I was certain that such an attempt would raise alarms through the town. Now was not the time.
I allowed my clone to dissipate, and my consciousness returned to my real body.
I was ready to turn in for the night, but just as I was about to drift off, a voice spoke in my mind.
Kaedric? Something wrong?
I rubbed my forehead. I needed to conserve my energy, but making sure everything was going smoothly back home was also important. Go on.
Good job, Kaedric, once they finish it, please tell them–
I smiled to myself. The mandibled seneschal had a flair for the dramatics. Then I realized something. Wait, the third floor is already built? That means the AWC should have three more points to spend.
Alright, Kaedric, I need you to access the AWC and purchase the next rank of the Shared Pain ability.
I searched my brain for more issues. Wait, the researchers are done? What are they working on now?
My mind was whirling. A new machine? What is it?
My seneschal sighed.
I blinked, not sure if I heard right. A goblin-what-now?
As in …
I had to take a few seconds to ingest the information.
Vic jumped into the conversation.
The notion of launching goblins flying through the air sounded ludicrous, but then another application occurred to me. I felt a smile spread over my face as a new plan came to mind.
That’s great news, I said. What about our food supply?
I want to summon three new Ogre Mages to bring over the war machines. Is there enough food for that?
Great. Summon and equip them. Also, recruit a few scouts to show them the way. The army left a very noticeable path behind, so they shouldn’t have a problem following us.
All soldiers gained the following trait: Shared Pain II
40% of the damage inflicted on a single unit is divided among its immediate squadmates.
I smiled. I see that you’ve arrived at the AWC.
Alright. That was cutting it a bit close; by my estimation, I had two to three days max after the army arrived before my next scheduled logout. I fully intended to win this war before that, but if the extra war machines arrived before then, well … every little bit helped. Is there anything else I should know?
What about it?
He had a point. I had stretched my valley’s production to its limit, and we were starting to reach the ceiling on some of the value chains. Nothing was critical, and I had more pressing issues at the moment. Like taking over a fortified town.
Thanks for the update, Kaedric, I said.
I put my head down and closed my eyes.
***
“Chief.”
I jumped to my feet, the Demon Staff instantly appearing in my hand. I relaxed my stance once I saw who had woken me. Yulli. “What is it?” I asked.
“Enemy patrol is approaching.” She nodded toward the main road.
“Strength?”
“Ten men on horses. They are well-armed and carry themselves with confidence.”
Between Yulli, Bob, and me, we could probably have taken on that patrol and won, even if the average level was a little higher than ours. But revealing our presence now would foil our plan. I had my eye on bigger prizes than taking out a small patrol.
“Remain hidden,” I whispered to the rest of my party. “Yulli, our tracks–”
“I’ve already wiped all signs of passage, Chief.”
“Good.” It was nice to be surrounded by capable people.
We pressed ourselves to the ground and watched the road.
It didn’t take long for a squad of riders to appear. With our Darkvision, we were able to see them clearly. The riders themselves were carrying torches, which both marked their presence and limited their sight range. I allowed myself to relax. There was a very small chance those light-loving humans would spot us. I tried analyzing them, but they were outside of my skill’s range.
“What’cha thinking about that dwarf priest, Charles?” a guard’s voice rang out across the quiet night.
A bearded guard grunted in response. “I don’t like him. He does what he wants and disregards town rules.”
“It’s not like he murdered anyone,” the first guard said with a chuckle and looked at Charles. “I heard he did a spell that dropped you on your ass.”
“And we didn’t arrest him for that,” Charles said. “This guy is bad news, I’m telling you.”
“Cheer up, man,” a rotund guard said. “It’s nearly morning, and you know what that means.”
The bearded guard’s voice perked up. “You’re right, Dean.”
“Will the two of you ever stop fantasizing about bacon?” the first guard said with a sigh. “It’s starting to get embarrassing, you know.”
“Hold on,” Dean said. He drew out a javelin from the saddle and hurled it at something below him. The javelin embedded in the ground and a loud shriek followed. An instant later, the ground exploded as a bug the size of a bulldog came out, dripping green ichor. Unruffled, the rest of the guards hacked the creature apart with their weapons and returned to their patrol. The entire skirmish took mere seconds.
I looked at the guards with newfound respect. The intel the players had provided me with was correct. These were not fat, lazy, low-level town guards. Despite their choice of topic, those guys were battle-hardened and cool under pressure. That was bad news. I’d take a higher-level, anxious enemy, over a lower-level confident one any day of the week.
We remained hidden until the patrol was out of sight, then we dropped our guard and got back to sleep.
Tomorrow was going to be interesting.
***
The next day, just before dawn, we broke camp and laid in wait, hiding in a small orchard on the fringe of the Badlands. The trees offered excellent cover during the day, and the location allowed for a quick getaway in case of trouble.
It didn’t take long for the first of the farmers to come into view. Since Novenguard was a small town, there were no outlying farmhouses, and all the farmhands came directly out of the fortified town itself.
Lirian frowned. “They just send their workers out into the wild? Aren’t they afraid of losing them?”
Hoshisu shook her head from her hiding spot among the tree trunks. “The patrols clear up any serious threats, and I can see all the workers carry weapons. They can probably handle themselves against the smaller critters.”
“We are not small critters,” I said grimly. “Everyone, remain hidden; we’ll wait until some of them reach the orchard.”
We waited and watched as the workers dispersed into the fields. As Hoshisu predicted, a couple of them took out small critters on their way with a few swings of their weapons. Eventually, a group of four approached our orchard.
The sun was bright over the horizon, negating our Shadow-Touched bonuses, but the trees provided plenty of shadows for me to work with.
As soon as the workers were within range, I analyzed one.
Gilroy Buck, Human
Level: 8
HP: 59
MP: 43
Attributes: P:5, M:0, S:3
Skills: Gardener 13, Bladed Weapons 15
Armor: 12
Background: Born and raised in Novenguard, Gilroy repeatedly tried to join the rank of guardsmen but was never strong enough to pass initiation. Eventually, to deter the eager young man from trying again, the guard’s captain tasked Gilroy with bringing him a manticore’s spike as proof he was strong enough to join the guards. That was five years ago.
I snorted to myself. If I was still a normal player, seeing that description would send me running to complete this NPC’s quest.
The other three workers had similar stats. They were all stronger than the average city-dwelling worker but still posed no threat to us.
I sent my thoughts to the rest of the party. Get ready. Jump them when they get within reach. Make sure they don’t scream. A few shouts probably won’t give us away at this distance but better not to risk it.
The workers moved slowly toward our hideout, checking the branches and occasionally trimming wild weeds. They finally reached us and we jumped at them like a well-oiled trap.
Bob gestured with his sword, and the near
by tree branches moved like snakes, wrapping around the first workers’ hands and legs, gagging him and lifting him off the ground.
Spreading his wings, Nero jump-glided, ramming into a second worker. The blow took the worker’s breath away, preventing him from yelling. Despite the two being of similar level, Nero was the more powerful one and he easily put the gasping man into a chokehold.
Yulli’s bow twanged, and the third worker suddenly found his left arm pinned to a tree by an arrow. He opened his mouth to scream but managed just a small howl before Hoshisu and Aly jumped and gagged him.
That left the fourth one for me. The last worker had better instincts than his three companions and drew his sword. I couldn’t mind-control intelligent individuals, so with a single thought, I froze him instead. I had to force down a sudden urge to complete the combo and send my dagger to sacrifice him.
The entire skirmish was resolved in a matter of seconds. It was entirely too easy; in hindsight, I could’ve just frozen all four myself.
Once all four were bound and gagged, Nero walked over to Yulli. “We agreed not to hurt civilians.” He spoke calmly, but there was a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Yulli sized him up and down. She was a level 29, tier 2, boss and Nero was less than a quarter her level. The half-dragon returned her gaze unflinchingly, and at last, the scout relented. “We agreed not to kill them.” She indicated the bleeding man. “He’s not dead.”
Nero seemed somewhat mollified at that. “Did you have to shoot him through the hand, though?”
Yulli shrugged. “One of the basic lessons I teach all new soldiers: The enemy won’t be able to attack if you disable his hand.”
“Cut it out, you two,” I said to them. “We have to move the prisoners.”
Nero crouched next to Gilroy, whose eyes nearly popped out in fright. “Do not be afraid. You will not be harmed – any further, that is. We will have to hold you for a while, though.”
Life Reset: Human Resource (New Era Online Book 4) Page 40
