Village of Noobtown: A LitRPG Adventure (Mayor of Noobtown Book 2)

by Ryan Rimmel

I hadn’t really tried selecting people from within the menu system before. If I wanted to look at someone, I generally wanted to do so without a bunch of text over their faces. Selecting Fenris from within the menu, several options immediately spun out. One of these was ‘Invite to Party’. I also had the option of looking at his character sheet, but that seemed to be a slight betrayal of trust.

  I knew that, because Shart was always looking at mine. He had no compunction with betraying my trust. He was an asshole.

  Selecting SueLeeta and then Kappa, I was able to party up with both of them. Kappa’s context menus were more limited, and I wondered if that was because he was, technically, a monster. Maybe that made him different than SueLeeta and Fenris. I tried to select Cat, SueLeeta’s new pet, but I discovered that he was automatically selected whenever she was. Beyond that, his context menu was limited below even what Kappa’s offered.

  Switching back into real time, both SueLeeta and Fenris looked puzzled. For a moment, they blinked, before accepting the party invite. That was the problem with menu time; what should have taken several seconds, I was able to set up in a moment. To the best of my knowledge, that’s how it worked, at least.

  My perception of time was off on Ordinal. Not just off from Earth time, but off from the other inhabitants of Ordinal, too. It was confusing, at times, because tasks didn’t take as long as I was used to them taking. It was also a blessing. See, I didn’t know what I was doing most of the time. Fortunately, my menu time gave me lots of opportunities to mull things over. When you have minutes that seem like mere moments to others, it gives the impression that one is quite a bit smarter than they really are.

  “Had them queued up,” stated Fenris, who turned back to face the mine.

  SueLeeta grinned. She had decided she’d figured out my sense of humor awhile back and found the whole thing somewhat gratifying.

  Kappa accepted last. “I never thought I would be in a party.” The Warg seemed pleased. His treatment at goblin hands was less than ideal.

  “Now what?” growled Fenris. I could tell he was growing impatient simply standing around, wasting time.

  It occurred to me that since I was the Party Leader, I’d better get to leading. I looked out over the mine again. It was just about what you’d expect. There were two outbuildings, each made of stout timber but somewhat run down. There were goblins in both, as well as several goblins actually patrolling the outer perimeter of the mine. It looked like the metal taken out of the mine went to the first building to be smelted and then to the second smaller building to be stored. What the goblins were currently using the buildings for was anyone’s guess, but it was probably unsavory.

  I then looked at the party menu. Here, I could see everyone and get a general sense of their location. That made readying a plan easier. Compared to the Battle Map for War Leader, my options as Party Leader were more limited. Then again, I had to keep track of far fewer moving parts and people. I also couldn’t issue orders from the Party Map like I could with the Battle Map. In fact, there didn’t seem to be any way to issue orders at all.

  “How do I...” I started to ask, before noticing that Shart was entirely too happy.

  “Yes?” said the demon, sweetly.

  “I just tell them what to do, don’t I?” I said.

  “You are an anti fun-gineer,” replied the demon.

  “Fenris, you and Kappa need to sneak down toward the smaller building, the one that’s further away from the mine entrance. From there, kill goblins and press forward until you get to the main entrance. SueLeeta, you and I will stay back and attack from range, while covering the mine entrance. When they decide to overrun us, I’ll switch to Melee. Cat and I will keep them away from SueLeeta.”

  Fenris nodded. “Map markers?”

  I went back to menu time sheepishly and brought up my local map. While I realized that I could drop map markers, I hadn’t really seen much of a point to it for myself. Looking through the markers, I found several that would also appear on my party members’ maps. I placed those where I wanted them, along with placing the town flag, a large velociraptor with a funny hat; I intended on being at the location marked by the flag. After marking everything, I popped out of menu time and watched everyone.

  Kappa looked confused, and Cat looked bored. However, the two humans nodded and started moving to their positions. As they walked, their respective animal friends followed them. I was quickly left alone before I, too, followed SueLeeta.

  I’d picked a bluff with good visibility for us. SueLeeta promptly ignored it in favor of a better, more concealed position from which to fire. I used the bluff, partially out of stubbornness, but also because I was considerably better at Melee fighting than her. I could deal with whatever came our way. SueLeeta did take a moment to set up a few quick snares; anything rampaging her way could enjoy her Trapmaking skill.

  With my bow at the ready, I prepared for what would be known as the Battle for Ironpass Mine.

  Chapter 5: Battle for Ironpass Mine

  As a Warg, Kappa was a mutated super wolf. Despite his impressive size, he was capable of sneaking very well. His main form of hunting involved quietly sneaking up on some unsuspecting prey and tearing them apart. His powerful jaws snapped and locked before the prey even knew what was happening.

  In short, it was a bad day to be that particular goblin.

  One second, the goblin was holding his spear and looking down the path. The next, he was in the jaws of the Warg, being violently shaken. Unlike my sneak attacks, which could kill silently, the goblin’s death was anything but quiet.

  “That’s also a good way to make a baby quiet down,” stated Shart.

  “That’s good to know, baby,” I replied.

  Another goblin heard the blood curdling screams and rushed toward the noise with his own spear. That goblin ran straight into Fenis’ shield, which promptly bowled him over and knocked him prone. Fenris used his mace to crush the second goblin’s skull in a gory display before he had a chance to get back to his feet. As Fenris stomped on the goblin’s neck and pried his mace from the twitching corpse’s head, a third goblin came out of the structure. That goblin pulled up his pants and charged Fenris with his spear, all while screaming what passed for a goblin war cry.

  The goblin thrust his spear, but Fenris caught the strike with his shield. Deflecting the blow from his body., Fenris continued the motion and slammed the shield into the goblin. The green creature was lifted from the ground and crushed hard into the wall of the storage shed. With an audible crunch, his lifeless body slid down the side of the shed, coming to rest in a heap on the dusty, overgrown ground.

  The murderous slam had not been quiet, either. By now, several more goblins began to form around the mine entrance, next to the larger structure. They were getting themselves worked up for an attack. There was a total of 12 of the snarling brutes. The smaller ones normally had about 20 hit points. The larger ones, which were far more numerous, would have quite a bit more.

  I examined one of the bigger ones with Lore

  Stone Blood Goblin, Level 5

  HP: 60/60

  Stamina: 30/30

  Mana: 5/5

  Skills: Shield: Amateur

  Hammer Amateur

  Special Attack: Powerful Blow

  Stone Blood Goblins have been influenced through the Power of Stone. They are larger and stronger than regular goblins. Their bites are particularly damaging, as they are able to chew up rocks and digest the fragments of crystals they find within.

  These big ones were the same level as the Warg riders I’d fought at the fortress. Unfortunately, these had even more hit points. Of the 12 goblins currently forming ranks, 9 of them were Stone Blood Goblins. All nine were now gathered up into an improvised skirmishing line and heading straight toward Fenris and Kappa. They weren’t paying attention to anything other than their two targets, however, which showed remarkably poor judgement on their part.

  I drew back my own weapon, a Simple Bow. It was
from a long line of Simple Bows that I had been crafting ever since I got to this world. My current Simple Bow was far more ideal than previous bows I had crafted. Because I’d finally gotten the bowyer’s shop up and running, I didn’t have to use improvised tools anymore. Using actual tools for crafting bows made the weapon more durable and capable of doing more damage. Additionally, it didn’t even smell of cabbages. Well, not much.

  Improved Simple Bow Damage 12-19, Durability 45/45 - (Base damage 1-8, + 4 Dexterity + 3 Marksman Rank 3 + 2 Novice Bow Crafting + 2 Arrows Novice bow crafting)

  As I lined up on my first target, I discovered that I could tell who SueLeeta was targeting. Through the party mode, I knew exactly which goblins she would take out first. I had to imagine that she could likewise tell who I would fire at. It was nice to know we wouldn’t be wasting ammo aiming for the same foes.

  I had Power Shot as one of my special shots from Marksman. It imparted tremendous power and velocity to an attack. If I got a good hit in, it often knocked its target end over end. I had actually invested another Talent Point into it, raising the attack to Power Shot 2. This allowed me to infuse more Stamina into it, causing even more damage and knockback.

  A basic archery attack cost 3 Stamina and, with Power Shot 2, I could invest up to 6 more points of Stamina into an attack. Each of those points increased my base Damage by 1.5, so, I ended up doing 9 points of bonus Damage on top of my regular attack Damage.

  I fired. My arrow zipped toward the target much faster than SueLeeta’s did, slamming into the unprotected side of one of the Stone Blood Goblins. The arrow practically exploded out the other side of him, flinging the unsuspecting goblin backward as his guts sprayed everywhere.

  The goblins were expecting an attack, just not from this direction. That meant that I’d gotten my sneak attack bonus, which more than doubled my base damage. Their line scattered as they realized they were under attack. Six of the larger goblins brought up their shields and charged SueLeeta and me; the other 2 large goblins and the 3 smaller ones went towards Fenris and Kappa.

  SueLeeta was using Multi Shot, which allowed her to fire 3 arrows at once. She had fired at the same time as me, so, her arrows hit just a moment after mine. She also scored on her targets. Despite her stellar aim, she lacked my sneak attack and, generally, did less damage. The wounds she caused were far less life threatening. Initially, at least. She did her best to give those wounds some friends and continued shooting flights of arrows at the targets.

  While I had only two kinds of shots, SueLeeta was a Hunter; their main weapon was the bow. I knew a few of the Marksman shots, whereas she knew them all. Her initial few attacks were Multi Shots, but she quickly shifted to Pinning Shots. These slowed some of the goblins and the Flaming Shots lit their shields on fire. However, trying to shoot at small targets that had shields was a challenge. SueLeeta wasn’t having as much luck as we would have hoped, as her Stamina dropped.

  Meanwhile, the three large oafs heading towards me weren’t having much luck advancing. Despite my limited selection of shots, the one I knew best was well suited to the task. If you have a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. I had more Stamina than anyone here, and each of my strikes did more damage. Further, even if they managed to deflect my Power Shot 2, the deflection still stopped them dead in their tracks. This made their goal of advancing as a group more challenging.

  Unfortunately, trying to hit a moving target that is carrying a shield is still a chore. Most of my shots bounced off after causing no damage. I actually scored only 3 hits. The first knocked a goblin back, but his companions were able to get their own shields interposed between us. The second goblin I hit also went crashing backward, but I’d followed it up with a normal arrow. Those arrows could be released much faster, so, I was able to quickly strike him a second time. The first goblin was very angry. The second was nearly dead.

  My three large enemies finally got close enough that firing was no longer practical. Using a bow in actual melee combat was next to impossible. Fortunately, I had an alternative and, as they closed the final few paces, I drew my longsword and shortsword. The two with the most hit points moved towards me first, leaving their dying companion in the rear. I wasn’t having any of that.

  Many levels ago, I had picked up a perk called Mobility. It left me far more able to Dodge and Maneuver than I would otherwise have been. More recently, I’d picked up Duelist, and that class had given me a series of special strikes. I used one of those now, called Lunge. By itself, it would have allowed me to make a strike against a target, perhaps as much as 10 feet away. When combined with Mobility, I could almost double that.

  Rolling between the front two Stone Blood Goblins, I executed my Lunge directly into the gut of the unsuspecting, heavily wounded goblin in the rear. He hadn’t even had his shield properly positioned against me, because he was confident that he was far in the rear of the battle. Both healthy goblins pivoted around as I slipped past them, but it did their friend no good. My longsword bit deeply into his chest, as red spurted out around the edges of my weapon. The strike did over 30 points of damage, far in excess of the remainder of his hit points, killing the goblin instantly.

  After I’d used the Lunge skill, I noted that its timer had activated. Unlike my Stamina based Combat skills, the Duelist abilities were all on timers. I could execute a Lunge, but it took nearly 15 seconds before I could Lunge again. Other Duelist strikes had different time spans between uses, as well.

  As I repositioned, I spared a second to check in on my party. Fenris was nowhere in sight, so I turned to watch the trio of goblins rushing towards SueLeeta. Only two appeared to be a real threat to her. The third was currently on fire and screaming, so, I didn’t think its further participation in the battle was likely. SueLeeta was still a couple dozen feet from them, still shooting arrows. The fiery goblin gave one last furious shriek and keeled over. Cat, who had been lurking around the tall grass and weedy undergrowth, suddenly pounced. The powerful animal took down its target, though the goblin wasn’t killed instantaneously. The ambush did, however, prevent the goblin from moving forwards. I again heard the ferocious cry of an angry dying goblin, as Cat tore into it. The cry quickly sputtered out, as the mountain lion tore the goblin’s throat out through its neck. SueLeeta’s final opponent began to rush, trying to clear the last bit of distance between himself and her.

  I didn’t have any more time for witnessing SueLeeta’s battle, as I heard another scream coming my way. My two remaining opponents were rushing me. One tried to bowl me over with his shield, forcing me to leap backwards. This ruined his companion’s approach, as my backward movement was too quick for him to keep up. After a moment, the two formed a single line and started moving briskly towards me again, their weapons at the ready. I realized at that moment that I could easily stay out of their reach, unless I wanted to engage them. The Stone Blood Goblins larger size limited their speed. They were no match for my Mobility.

  They seemed to realize this as well, but they had a solution. We were not so far away from SueLeeta and Cat that they were out of reach. As the goblins acknowledged that catching me was going to be impossible, they began moving towards them. They would reach Cat first, and the animal was still feasting on the goblin it had ambushed. Two more goblins would certainly drive off the kitty, if not kill it.

  That cinched it; I would have to engage them. I moved between them and Cat, holding firm as they closed with me. When I’d decided they’d gotten close enough, I rolled to the side of their line, striking at the unwounded goblin with both of my weapons. He managed to block my longsword with his shield, driving the blade out of position. However, this left him exposed to my shortsword, which slashed across his leg. He screamed in pain at the bloody wound but was able to remain upright.

  His partner was ready for this. He cut in front of his buddy and swung at me with his hammer. I was committed and unable to pull back sufficiently to avoid the strike. Even as I brought my shortsword back in an attempt to p
arry the strike, I was keenly aware it wasn’t going to work. A meaty thud exploded from my shoulder, as I successfully deflected the strike into my left arm.

  The Defense in my arm was 13 points and the strike was only registered as 16 points. Still, 9 points of Damage got through with bruising force, because 16 minus 13 equals 9. I hate this place. I staggered backward as the status effects started to pile up. Fortunately, I unconsciously activated my Mitigate skill at the same time, dropping the Damage down 4 points for an additional 10 Stamina.

  What was Crushing Damage? The prompt suddenly flashed in my field of vision, informing me I had taken 6 points of Crushing Damage. I was certainly in pain, but I didn’t feel as if anything had been crushed.

  Of the 9 points that got through, I was able to reduce that to 5 Damage. Six points of the attack had been Crushing Damage, and that seemed to ignore my Defense outright. If I hadn’t activated my Mitigate, it looked like I might have broken my arm. As it was, I had a massive, bone deep bruise that numbed my limb. Presumably, that was why my shortsword slid from my grasp as I was knocked off my feet from the attack.

  Fortunately, I had Mobility. I was back on my feet in a moment, but the two goblins had not been idle. They were both closing with me, swinging their hammers as they charged. With only one weapon, my earlier tactic wasn’t going to work. Good thing I had more options. As the goblins closed, I leapt over the first one, landing right behind him. Of course, since he could tell where I was landing, he promptly attempted to brain me.

  This time, I was ready for it. Activating the Duelist strike Riposte, I blocked the goblin’s hammer and slid my blade back at him through the now open gap in his defenses. The look of shock on his face when the blade slide home, blood pouring from the wound, was one I’d treasure. The goblin staggered backward, clutching at the terrible wound in his chest, even as his partner attempted to close with me.