by Grey Arney
“Yeah, goblin pretty! You not pretty!” piped in another nearby goblin. Almost all of the goblins in the outpost had begun to crowd around him in anticipation.
Arcturus opened his mouth and began to further spin his impressive yarn when he recognized one of the approaching goblins. It was the one who had attempted to steal the boar from his shelter.
“Nyack!” said the excited goblin, elaborating further in goblin-speak.
Although the situation was about to spin rapidly out of control, Arcturus recognized that this was the last chance he would ever get. Time to move to Phase Two.
Before the goblins could react, his burst of Burning Touch scorched the one who was holding onto his dog. The goblin yelped as the fire blasted across it forearms, and, recoiling, it let go of Lyle’s fur. Lyle was now free to join the fray. In a rapid burst, Arcturus used Burning Touch repeatedly. The spell was cast almost instantly, and each time he used the ability, he expended 10 mana and another goblin was lit on fire. In total he had enough mana to cast the spell 5 times. Before the shocked goblins could react, he had cast the spell three times, and many had caught flame and were running around shrieking, bumping into the tents and setting them on fire.
He had only 20 mana left, enough to cast twice more, but there were still too many goblins. The angry commander along with five more goblins had recovered from the initial surprise of the attack and had drawn their weapons. The commander was the first to close the distance, slashing with his sword.
Arcturus screamed as the dull goblin blade tore open his skin, and blood poured from a gash in his side. In terms of subjective pain, the cut hurt about as much as a paper cut. But paper cuts hurt a lot!
The Goblin Commander attacks. You have lost 27 hit points.
With only 5 hit points left, the next blow was sure to kill him. He had cast one of his remaining Burning Touch spells defensively, just to force the advancing goblins off of him. The flames came from his hand but didn’t touch anything. The goblin to the left side of the commander raised his blade to strike, and then suddenly fell to the ground. Followed by second, and then a third. The commander and his remaining two comrades looked about, confused, and more arrows sprang out from the forest, sinking deep into the flesh of the goblins still standing. Now only the commander stood, and he had an arrow sticking out of his sword arm, oozing black blood. Arcturus blasted him with Burning Touch, and the big goblin caught on fire. This large goblin was the boss for a reason, and wouldn’t be taken down so easily. Enraged, he prepared to strike Arcturus when Lyle launched himself up toward the approaching enemy. Despite being singed by the horrible flames, Lyle clamped onto the commander’s throat as black blood oozed out and the commander fell to the ground. Except for the groans of the wounded goblins, the camp was now quiet.
Arcturus wrapped his arms around Lyle, pulling him off of the dead commander. For just a moment, their wounds touched together, and a tiny amount of the blood of man and dog intermingled.
Brook and Spruce emerged cautiously from the woods, almost as if they were afraid of their faces being recognized. The two elves had dropped the remaining goblin forces in seconds. It seemed that elves could battle goblins at a ratio of about one to five.
“Hail, friend. We should finish these off quickly. Any survivors will only make trouble for us later.”
Arcturus nodded as Brook and Spruce quietly went around the outpost “verifying” the dead. The verification process involved a small blade through the arteries of the necks of the fallen. Arcturus watched them motionlessly, unable to bring himself to take action now that the threat was gone.
In a few moments, all of the motionless bodies had been “verified.” Arcturus shook himself free of his glassy-eyed stupor and addressed his friends.
“Thank you. If you didn’t step in then, I’d probably be dead by now.”
“You’d certainly be dead, human!” said Spruce, “You can’t expect to take on this many goblins by yourself. Are you crazy?”
“We couldn’t just watch you get thrown in the pot,” said Brook, motioning for his cousin to restrain himself. “The truth is, elves have no love for goblins, and we didn’t want to see you come to such an end.”
The two elves helped patch up Arcturus, assisting him with applying the healing berries. His hit points began to recover rapidly, and the pain of his injuries turned into a tingling numbness. He looked down at the cut on his arm and was shocked to see it was knitting itself together and closing. There was still blood to wash off, but the wound would be gone in moments.
Lyle was in much better shape, but had been burned during his final attack. Thankfully, the healing berries worked both on man and dog.
The mood was somber and quiet.
“I am going to search for my belongings,” said Arcturus.
“Why don’t we wait at our vantage point in the west?” said Brook, gesturing at Spruce to go with him. The elves showed little interest in rifling through the possessions of goblins, nor for lingering any longer in the open where they might be seen.
Arcturus searched through the outpost until he found his belongings in what must have been the commander’s hut. He found more than that, though.
You have found: 7 Gold, 3 Silver, 4 Coppers
You have found: Steel Dagger (Attack +12-15)
This dagger offers excellent piercing and moderate slashing damage.
You have found: Steel Dagger (Attack +12-15)
This dagger offers excellent piercing and moderate slashing damage.
You have found: Goblin Map
Although the plans accompanying this map are written in some unintelligible goblin-speak, the pictures appear to indicate key points of interest nearby.
You have found: Shrunken Head (Elf)
This is the head of an elf that goblins slew and transformed into a tool of goblin witchcraft. Its skull has been removed, and its eyes and mouth sewn shut. It is preserved and will stay in this condition indefinitely. This item has unknown magical powers.
Arcturus put the goods, shrunken head and all, in his massive bag. The head he wrapped first in some cloth. Although it was a gruesome find, he didn’t want to leave it behind if it was valuable.
On his way to meet the elves, he reviewed his prompts.
You have improved Fire Magic (Level 7)
Your Fire Magic is now stronger.
Fire Magic leveled up much more quickly when live targets were used.
The Green Goblin has died. You earn 150 experience points.
The Green Goblin has died. You earn 150 experience points.
The Green Goblin has died. You earn 150 experience points.
You have leveled up! Level 2. You have new skill points to spend.
The Green Goblin has died. You earn 150 experience points.
The Green Goblin has died. You earn 150 experience points.
The Goblin Commander has died. You earn 750 experience points.
You have leveled up! Level 3. You have new skill points to spend.
You have completed the quest: Save Your Dog
You have shown that you are worthy of the undying loyalty of dog-kind. You earn 1000 experience points.
You have leveled up! Level 4. You have new skill points to spend.
You have increased your bond level with Lyle: Friend (Level 2). Your dog sees you as a leader and also as a partner. He feels true affection for you. Your dog can now use Distract Enemy and Take Down Enemy.
You have acquired a new trait: Wolf-Blooded
All canines will be friendly unless threatened or provoked. +5 to agility. You now have Nightvision.
Arcturus earned a ton of experience from slaying the goblins and completing his quest. He only got experience points for the goblins he took part in killing, or that had engaged him in combat. The ones felled solely by the elves didn’t earn him anything. In total, there were thirteen goblin corpses.
The Wolf-Blooded trait was surely from the unhygienic embrace that he had shared with the dog a
fter battle, judging from the timing of the notification. Arcturus wondered if this trait could be acquired from any animal blood transfusion, or if it was a special result of the way he fulfilled the conditions of the quest.
It seemed like Lyle had already used his new move, Take Down Enemy, on the goblin commander. Never before had the animal been able to strike with such deadly force.
Upon accessing his Character Display, he found that he had earned 15 points to spend on any of the attributes listed there. He decided to spend them later.
There was a great deal more goblin junk lying about, but he had taken anything that seemed unique or valuable. And he was eager to leave the scene, lest more trouble find him. Arcturus summoned Lyle to follow him, and then headed into the cover of the trees where his elven friends awaited him.
Unbeknownst to him, a tiny goblin emerged from hiding behind the flaps of one of the tents that had not burned. Seeing its chance, it fled away to the east.
CHAPTER 4
The group made slow progress hiking back to the hunting lodge. It had the feeling of returning home bleary-eyed after a night of partying, taking the last train in the small hours of the morning. Except that the “party” was getting a beating, being imprisoned, and then slaughtering a bunch of flaming goblins.
Arcturus was afraid of how his friends might react in response to the shrunken elf head, so he decided to save that conversation starter for later.
“I reached Level 4,” he began, “and I’m not sure how to spend my 15 new skill points.”
“There are whole books written on this subject, friend,” responded Brook. “It depends on what kind of person you aim to be. If you distribute your points evenly, you’ll end up as a well-rounded player overall. Although you will have many skills, none of them will be very powerful.
“One might say that warriors need high strength, endurance and agility. Rogues need agility, perception and dexterity. And mages need perception, intelligence and wisdom. All players benefit from more luck.
“However, it’s really not that simple. A warrior with high dexterity is more powerful, can land more criticals, and can do amazing things like climbing cliffs or jumping incredibly high. Even high intelligence or high wisdom might be useful for some warriors.
“A rogue could benefit from the warrior’s attributes of strength or endurance, but also from the mage’s intelligence and wisdom.
“Most players choose to focus on a few complementary skills. There are many combinations. For example, you could invest in intelligence and wisdom in order to focus purely on magic. But you could also combine magic with combat skills. You would progress both skills more slowly, but you would end up more versatile.”
Brook paused here. Arcturus had listened for a long time, lost in thought. He was not sure what capabilities he might unlock in this world. He understood much of what he saw in Lydia. He recognized animals and goblins, although the latter he thought of as imaginary beings. He even knew how to gut and skin a boar. But whenever he tried to focus on specific memories, or his own past experiences, he drew nothing but blanks. It’s not easy coming up with a master plan for your life when you don’t know who you are, and he had no point of reference from which to make these decisions.
“What if I’m not sure what kind of player I am yet?” asked Arcturus.
“You follow your intuition. You will benefit, no matter how you spend the points, but the important thing is to have a vision of who you want to be. You can always change your direction in the future.”
“Is there a surefire path that many players choose?” asked Arcturus.
“Most players start by investing in strength, endurance and agility. These improvements help out a lot, especially at lower levels.”
After getting beaten by the goblins, Arcturus could see the benefit of that. One more strike from the goblins at the outpost would have meant his death. And he didn’t know what would happen after that, but it seemed that the best-case scenario was that he would wake up bald, on another rock, one hundred years into the future. But he also didn’t see himself assaulting from the front, either. His victory over the goblins had relied on having friends ambush from the woods, on using trickery to get his hands unbound, on his newfound magical powers, and a little bit of luck. He couldn’t imagine having enough strength and endurance to simply march up to the goblins, take his dog, and walk away, slapping aside any that stood in his path. Although it might benefit him in the short term, he didn’t want to invest in those attributes. He wanted to take a bigger risk and earn a potentially bigger reward.
***
Back at the hunting lodge, the three were finally able to rest. Spruce retrieved some dried meat and some incredibly hard travel biscuits, and they ate, drank water, and settled down to rest. Arcturus lovingly fed his dog some dried meat. The dog gratefully accepted, swallowing the pieces whole, without bothering to chew. All fell asleep in moments, and none arose until late the next morning.
Arcturus awoke once again to a warm, wet nose that demanded his attention. The nose burrowed underneath his arm, then raised it up and let it go, causing the limp arm to drop again to the floor. It was impossible to ignore. Opening his eyes, Arcturus saw his dog looking at him with big, round eyes.
“What do you want?” he asked. The dog walked towards the door of the hut, and then paced a few circles in front of it.
“Of course. Good boy!” Arcturus said. The dog had to pee.
Well, it was a little more than just pee. As soon as the door was open, the dog darted off into the tree line and paced for a moment before settling into a squat. Arcturus covered the dog feces with dirt and leaves, and the two went back inside. The elves had already begun to stir. The trio ate a small breakfast with more of those goddamned biscuits and water. One more meal of dried biscuits was all it took to convince Arcturus that he had to seek a bigger settlement, preferably one with eggs and bacon. The thought of crispy, salted bacon melting in his mouth struck from nowhere, and it made him emotional. He wondered how he knew of this delicious food, and whether he would find it anywhere in Lydia.
After breakfast, Arcturus pulled out his coin pouch. He had wanted to say a few more words of thanks, but the elves were gruff woodsmen who didn’t take quickly to sentimentality. They seemed to like gold coins, though.
“I want to thank you again for everything. Especially since I found a little bit of gold in the commander’s tent, I have the means to offer more than just words.” He counted out ten gold from his pouch, and, as the elven eyes widened, he passed them each five of the coins.
Spruce was the first to grab his share. “Consider us even,” he said. Brook also readily accepted. It was understood that taking this offering meant that the human was free of any debt to the elves.
“I have to decide where to go from here. Do you have any suggestions?” asked Arcturus.
“Our settlement is on the other side of the river,” said Spruce, “but we can’t promise you would be welcome there. And we could be outcast for bringing a stranger to the village uninvited.”
“In the Great Plains, on the edge of the forest, there is a small human settlement called Aurora,” said Brook, “It’s about two days of hiking through the woods. You could find food, shelter and supplies there. But each day there will cost you, and there may not be much in the way of work. The gold you have won’t last long.”
Arcturus considered this information, and then had an idea. He pulled out the map he had found in the commander’s tent.
“Maybe I should do a little freelance exploration first. I found this map in the commander’s tent. Any idea where I should go?”
“That is a good idea,” said Brook. “Long ago, new players often would start by searching for secrets until they found their place in the world. It’s a good way to learn skills, level up, and get equipment. It can be dangerous, though. Nowadays most new players stay in safe areas. They level very slowly, but it’s better than dying.”
The map didn’t include
much information that the elves didn’t already know, but it was a useful tool for Arcturus to plan his next move.
Brook pulled out a piece of charcoal, and began annotating the map with points of interest, writing on the margins. He marked each location along with its level of danger. In Lydia, dangers and rewards are usually proportionate.
Your map has been updated.
Unknown Elven Settlement—No danger. West of the river. Do not approach these lands without invitation.
Aurora—No danger. Human settlement north of the hunting lodge, on the edge of the plains, around the bend of the river in a valley behind the hill.
Faerie Spring—No danger. North of the rocky alcove.
Blackfang Ridge Cave—Somewhat dangerous. South of the hunting lodge, along the rock cliff. Elves have avoided this cave due to unknown monsters inside.
Unknown Structure—Dangerous. East of the rocky alcove, by the shore of Crystal Lake. Seen from afar on a hunting excursion that led to the lake at the eastern edge of the forest.
Mudluck Goblin War Camp—Extremely dangerous. East of the rocky alcove, bordering the lake and the Great Plains.
Enchanted Forest—Unthinkably dangerous. South along the lake. Do not approach. Nobody has ever returned from here.
The Mudluck camp and the Faerie Spring were already on the map, but the elf made markings for all of the other locations. Arcturus took the charcoal and added the rocky alcove he had awoken on, the hunting lodge they were now in, and the camp clearing where he had met his canine companion. After the map was updated, Brook taught Arcturus how to visualize his map in his view without pulling it out of his bag. This live mini-map included a marker for his current position that updated in real time. Now he could navigate more easily, but he could still get lost if he didn’t keep track of which direction he was heading, or if he entered unmapped territory.
Before leaving, Arcturus paid the three silver for the extra longbow and two more silver for some arrows, all of which went into his bag. After seeing the rate of fire the elves had with their high Archery skill, he was determined to improve his own shooting.
