A Trap for the Potentate

by Michael Atamanov

  Level forty-six!

  From time to time, an orc would light up with various colors. The warriors were leveling up quickly. For now, my calculation was fully justified. The enemies were high level, and the reward for killing them was quite generous.

  The fourth attempt to take Swamp Wolves under my control was more successful. With the Swift Feet perk, two of the three predators managed to escape the dense crowd and threw themselves at the leshy blowgunners. I immediately added the Pack Hunter perk to these two wolves, in order to increase their combat stats and that calculation fully justified itself. These two creatures' lives came at a high cost, eliminating three of the leshies and pulling a significant cohort of the enemy army away to chase them.

  Animal Control skill increased to level 28!

  The next three Swamp Wolves joined the Gray Pack, immediately throwing themselves at their neighbors and causing a general brouhaha. In theory, the decision to simultaneously change out my level-45 Forest Wolves for stronger Swamp Wolves at 80-100 seemed tempting. It would have been a totally logical move to strengthen my ranks, but I refused to do it. Akella, Lobo, White Fang and Blanca had been with me practically from the very first day in the game and tossing them aside felt like treason against my loyal pets. Yes, these four Forest Wolves were just NPC creatures, banal pieces of program code, but they had earned their own names and, although it was just that, they were now different from other wolves.

  The enemies were now close enough that I could shoot them from my Blowgun but I didn't, because it wasn’t the most effective use of my time. Instead, I launched a Frost Breath ice bomb at the approaching wave of enemies. The effect was beyond expectation! Two dozen enemies turned to ice statues frozen in monstrous poses, which allowed my crossbowmen and Valerianna to shoot the motionless vulnerable targets with ease, once and for all crossing half of them off the list of dangerous enemies.

  Level forty-seven!

  Yikes, just a flood of experience! Too bad I only had one Ice Bomb Valerianna Quickfoot quickly drew the necessary conclusions, though, and all four copies of the forest nymph started emphasizing ice and freezing spells. However, my sister soon lost interest in the enemies on the ground. Ghosts and huge winged insects had begun to target the caster determinedly from the air.

  Her pack of fierce hornets met the enemy, and the quick-winged VIXEN raced back and forth, spraying the beasts with acid and poison. Quite a serious air battle was taking shape in the night sky. Half of the crossbow orcs turned to air defense, and orcs with shields were covering my sister, but the enemy was fast and deadly.

  I noticed one of the mirror copies of the forest nymph get dashed to pieces with a ringing echo, struck down by a ghastly shadow nosediving from the night sky. Bad news! My sister had once said that she needed a whole hour between casting the doubling spell, so the magess would not be able to replace that copy any time soon... The firepower of our very strongest damager had dropped, although it was still hard to say by how much exactly. From what I could see, the majority of my sister's hornets were still alive and doing most of the Beast Master’s damage.

  Soon, I lost interest in observing the mavka. The first enemies had reached the central passage: a level-82 Flaming Skeleton with an old serrated cutlass, a level-80 Fetid Zombie and a level-89 Royal Cobra.

  Right from Fimbulthul's back, I tossed my throwing net on the zombie, trying to hold down the dangerous undead, which was giving off a nasty-smelling poisonous gas. I wasn’t worried I'd be poisoned. No matter how you sliced it, Amra's resistance to poison was very high. But my wolves could be poisoned, paralyzed or even killed by these stinking wisps of green air. Not doubting that the Throwing Net would hit its target, because it was hard to miss the slow-moving zombie, I jumped off the back of my hound toward the Flaming Skeleton, waving my Blow Gun in the air and using it as a simple club.

  Acrobatics skill increased to level 19!

  Critical hit: 2880 (1440 crushing damage from Blowgun*2 — armor ignored)

  Exotic Weapons skill increased to level 15!

  Exotic Weapons skill increased to level 16!

  The extremely nonstandard application of the Blowgun probably used Strength rather than Agility, but the game system considered it valid. My strike broke the Flaming Skeleton's head clean off, flying somewhere far into the swamp, fractured its right shoulder and lowered its health bar by seventy percent in one go. My enemy stumbled and missed the chance for a counter attack. My second strike left the Flaming Skeleton nothing but a pair of legs on the ground, the rest of its bones flying in all directions.

  Experience received: 62480 Exp.

  Level forty-eight!

  I saw that the Fetid Zombie was caught in the net and wouldn't be a threat for some time. However, the Royal Cobra had sunk its poisonous fangs right into the chest of my Mythical Hound and was starting to coil its huge body around my pet! The icy-white hound would have met it's end right then and there, but Fimbulthul bit the snake back, partially restoring his health. All the other wolves and wargs were hanging off the huge many-meter body of the cobra and tearing into its flesh, quickly lowering its health. But I still understood that they wouldn't manage to kill the venomous beast before it bit the Mythical Hound again, which was a guaranteed respawn for my pet.

  The enemy had to be killed quickly and for certain. I knew only one such method:

  “Have at ye, beast! I'll show you how to bite!” screaming that, my big-eared Goblin threw himself at the dangerous snake and bit right into the Royal Cobra’s yielding throat.

  Experience received: 11050 Exp.

  Achievement unlocked: Taste Tester (89/1000)

  Racial ability improved: Taste for Blood (Gives +1% to all damage dealt for each unique creature killed with Vampire Bite. Current bonus: +27%)

  By doing this, I had revealed my vampiric nature and was expecting a negative reaction from the orcs, wolves and wargs who'd seen me, but... several seconds passed, and nothing bad happened. Either no one had noticed in the heat of battle, or they all considered a goblin biting an enemy totally explicable and natural. Well then? All the better.

  Experience received: 3015 Exp.

  I didn't have to deal with the zombie. Poked full of crossbow bolts like a pincushion, the undead creature finally died and collapsed to the earth. But another group was already coming to replace the first bunch of enemies in the narrow passage: a level-90 Swamp Jerboa, a level-99 Plague Rat, a level-88 Swamp Wolf and a level-81 Mutated Centipede. Behind them was a dense pack of dozens of other high-level monsters.

  I tossed a Flame Rage fire bomb deep into the enemy horde to immediately reduce their health and break the nearest group off from the others, then I pointed the orc crossbowmen at the Plague Rat:

  “Everyone shoot at that beast! Then the Jerboa!”

  The rat, preparing for a jump and crouching down on its back paws, reeled back but its place in the narrow passage was immediately occupied by a Swamp Wolf, growling and baring its sharp teeth. I wasn't prepared to kill him, in fact I was smiling:

  “Now you will serve me, and not the Rat King!”

  After choosing that precise Swamp Wolf from the still long list of other canines, I included it in the Gray Pack, immediately activating the Pack Hunter and Bloodthirsty perks, and changing its fur from dirty brown to hot pink. Yes, now the wolf looked very stupid but, at the same time, my crossbowmen were sure not to confuse it with an enemy. I chose another two wolves at random and included them in the Gray Pack, but they died almost instantly.

  Animal Control skill increased to level 29!

  Foreman skill increased to level 38!

  A whole bedsheet of messages about experience gain followed. Apparently, some of the wounded victims of my fire bomb had been killed by Valerianna or a bowman. Then came a new system message:

  Level forty-nine!

  The Gray Pack, reinforced by their new member, tore up a Swamp Jerboa double time and latched into a centipede. The predatory insect incautiously turned its ma
ndibles toward Fimbulthul, presenting its side to Lobo and Blanca. But I made the final bite. When else would I manage to find such a rare insect for my vampiric collection.

  Experience received: 9050 Exp.

  Achievement unlocked: Taste Tester (90/1000)

  Racial ability improved: Taste for Blood (Gives +1% to all damage dealt for each unique creature killed with Vampire Bite. Current bonus: +28%)

  Ha! Hot diggedy! Another Jerboa appeared nearby, which the Gray Pack tore up on their own, along with a level-80 Night Shadow that came down to earth. The vigor of battle overflowing from me, I howled out just like a wolf, and the Gray Pack was inspired by my canticle of strength and confidence. The enemies around, both undead and living, all recoiled at once, not wanting to meet forces with such fearless enemies.

  But the situation didn't come together quite so pleasantly on all defensive sectors. I noticed that the forest nymph had only four insects left from her whole swarm of hornets, and that the magess herself only had two mirror copies now. But worst of all was the right flank. I couldn't see Max Sochnier at all. The Ogre Fortifier had lost his huge mount the Moose Lil_Timbo and was struggling desperately with his bloodied club against the many enemies all around him.

  “Reserves to the right flank!” I shouted out at full volume, but my sister immediately answered with a private message:

  “The right flank will make it, but the left one is a total mess. And our healer is all the way out of mana. I already gave him half my Elixirs of Magic.”

  My Goblin's short height prevented me from seeing what was happening on the left flank, so I climbed back up on Fimbulthul. Yikes, shit... Our defenses there were broken through. The flow of creatures was practically unobstructed through the passage, now abandoned by its defenders. Overcoming the noise of the battle, I heard a frightened wail from the chef, then an echoing blow, as if someone had struck a gong. I turned the Mythical Hound to the left, preparing to attack the enemy army, but got another message from Valerianna:

  “No! Don't go left! The troll has already opened a breach with the reserve division. Ziabash and the rest of his division has also regrouped, and me and the other ranged fighters are helping out over there. Better look at the hill to the north west. Here is our chance to win the battle!”

  I turned to where my sister had indicated. On a small hill overgrown with thick brush three hundred meters from my camp, the two-headed King was saddled on the huge brown Swamp Wolf Alpha! The living head of Hyenarius shrieked and sprayed saliva, the eye sockets of the dead rat's head lit up a shade of blood-red, and the magic wand in the hands of the strange Siamese twins lit up with purple sparks.

  The path to the King was practically free, disregarding a few wounded survivors writhing on the ground. The enemy army was divided into two streams, attacking the right and left flanks of my defenses, while totally ignoring the center. Even the totally brainless zombies had already stopped trying to force their way into my central passage. But in that I had no faith in the high intellect of the undead, I thought the Rat King must have been commanding the army, sending the attackers to weaker sections in the defense.

  Anyhow, without skipping a beat, I activated the whole Gray Pack at once and ordered them to run toward the enemy leader at full speed, and avoid any random squabbles along the way. I selected the first Swamp Wolf in the list for one of the two free slots in the pack, but I decided to leave the tenth and last one open for now. I'd taken quite a liking to the Rat King’s shaggy mount! If his master were a living player, I'd doubt that it would be possible to attach him to my pack. The time with Fimbulthul was an exception, made possible by many uniquely convenient circumstances. But an NPC character, even a two-headed half dead one could not have pets by definition, so the huge swamp wolf was an independent gaming unit and could potentially be drawn to my side. And although I hadn't yet seen it in the list of canines I could add to the Gray Pack, that may have only been because of the large distance between us.

  “Giddy-up!” I spurred the hound on with my feet. Fimbulthul burst from place and shot forward like an arrow, not lagging even a step behind the fleet-footed wargs.

  Athletics skill increased to level 17!

  Riding skill increased to level 20!

  You may now choose your first specialization in this skill

  Quite a positive message, but also very bad timing! I swiped the text off the screen, so it wouldn't hamper my vision, and concentrated on the dangerous enemy. He had already seen me coming. Hyenarius turned toward me with both of his heads and raised his magic wand.

  Shit... A purple lightning bolt stretched toward my chest from almost half the distance between us, bursting on my mail with brightly colored, unpleasant sticky droplets.

  Damage taken: 2285 HP (2285 from Death Magic spell Touch of Death)

  Damage taken: 0 HP (0 damage from spell Cold of Space, immunity to cold)

  A hard hitter! I felt like I'd been slammed in the stomach with a sledge-hammer. My goblin nearly flew off his mount! From just one lone strike, Amra was left with just thirty percent of his health, so I had to immediately take some healing elixirs. The very idea of attacking such a dangerous enemy started to look foolhardy and unsound, so I even started thinking I should retreat before the Rat King could get off another shot. It seemed the enemy leader didn't even believe that one magic lightning bolt hadn't struck down such a weak low-level enemy. The living head of the rat reflected surprise. But the ghastly mutant didn't shoot a second time, perhaps due to the spell recovery time or needing to recharge the wand. Instead, the Rat King sicced his shaggy mount on me.

  That was the wrong move. The predatory beast started running in my direction, letting out that very same icy howl that had scared my orc army, then the Amulet of Fenrir kicked in and listed the Swamp Wolf Alpha. I saw him appear on the list of potential Gray Pack members and didn't miss my chance. Got him! My new pet immediately got a running-speed bonus and a direct order from his master to go full speed toward the black river and throw himself from the hill into the cold water, sending his ghastly rider into a whirlpool below. The Styx was close at hand, less than fifty meters away, so the Rat King simply didn't have time to react to his mount's change in behavior.

  Animal Control skill increased to level 30!

  Foreman skill increased to level 39!

  I saw a beautiful and long jump from the powerful creature and, a second later, the Swamp Wolf Alpha and his rider were swallowed up by the black waves. The situation in the battle changed immediately. From the top of the hill, I could see perfectly as the once united army broke ranks and started a disorderly retreat, fighting amongst themselves. The surviving camp defenders, not yet believing in their victory, didn't follow the enemy and just reinforced their positions, linking their shields tighter and holding their spears out in front.

  I spent a long time standing at the very banks of the Styx staring into the dark surface of the river. The Swamp Wolf Alpha' life bar had long gone gray. The creature had drowned and been sent for respawn. Neither Night Vision, nor Search for Life could help me find Hyenarius, but his heavy metal cuirass didn't allow him to swim to the surface. Nevertheless, three lingeringly long minutes passed before a sharp rise in experience confirmed the death of the Rat King.

  Level fifty!

  Attention! You have reached level 50

  You may now improve your character’s survival by choosing a modification

  I sent my sister the approximate coordinates of the Rat King's death. That beast could easily have had interesting loot, so it would be a good idea to dive in the river in search of trophies. Almost instantly, Valerianna Quickfoot answered that she'd understood the mission and would send Max Sochnier down to have a look. So, the Naiad Trader had survived after all?! This was very good news.

  As was the message that came from my sister after that saying that the “healer is no longer an issue.” I didn't know what exactly had happened to Antonius Just, but I intended to find out after returning to the camp.
For now, I needed to distribute my built-up stat points, improvements and perks. Strength and Constitution were increased automatically with each level, and I placed the other free points according to my habitual scheme: one third in Agility, two thirds in Charisma.

  It was also totally simple to handle the modifications: as I had initially decided to make my Goblin Vampire less conspicuous, I needed to keep going on this path. Especially given that, every time, the bonus from the modification was more and more significant: the first time, at level twenty, it gave just minus 1% to discovery radius then, at level thirty, minus two percent. At forty, it gave minus three, and now it was down to minus four. To be honest, I didn't fully understand from the description exactly how the effect of a few levels of modifications stacked with a -20% perk to discovery radius from Stealth but, in any case, Amra would now be harder to see, which meant he had a better chance of surviving when meeting with dangerous enemies.

  It was just as simple to choose the Riding skill specialization. Given how my Royal Forest Wyvern was potentially the second fastest flying creature in Boundless Realm after the mythical Phoenix, I needed to purposely choose specializations to emphasize this advantage. Plus fifteen percent to movement speed was more than decent! Also, the Gray Pack acquired the very same ability and became stronger.