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

by Ryan Rimmel

  Second, Base Damage could be increased if you were attacking a vital spot, such as the heart. Vital targeting increased Damage by a factor of 3 for a ‘heartstrike’. Head wounds were even more lethal, but the skull reduced the Damage, somewhat. I’d rather have more points at a lower multiplier. Finally, I had executed a sneak attack, augmented with my levels in Rogue. That had doubled the newly increased Base Damage. I’d hit for 66 points of Damage, and he’d only had 60 hit points.

  He was wearing armor. However, I had the Puncture subskill, which applied to all my dagger attacks. That reduced his base armor by 3, at my current skill level; my sneak attack doubled that to 6. He was only wearing armor with defensive value of 5, so it was completely negated. If he’d had a higher Endurance, it would have further increased his defensive value. Too bad he didn’t.

  I tossed his body into the nearby bush and moved a bit further down, to the next target. He was sitting with his back against a tree. I couldn’t get behind him, and he had his arms crossed at his chest. Striking his heart was not an option. There were other places on the body one could strike, however.

  I gestured to Badgelor, who started running between the bushes. The bandit looked up at the commotion but was otherwise uninterested in the badger. I moved like a ninja. I was next to him in an instant and used my shortsword to slit his throat.

  The shortsword had a higher Base Damage, despite it getting a lower vital strike modifier. My base attack on a shortsword was nearly double that of my daggers, due to my higher skill with swords, as well as my Sword Master perk. Thus, it did more than enough Damage to kill the man.

  With both backup bandits killed, we started moving towards the two alert bandits. They were both watching the road quietly. Sneaking up on the two of them was going to be a stone cold bitch. All at once, I realized that I didn’t need to sneak up on them at all.

  I stripped the recently deceased bandit of his armor, put the pieces on, and waited. The leather was vastly superior to my own clothing, and the set fit fairly well. I got a new prompt.

  You have learned about the Disguise skill: You can wear the clothing of others in an attempt to blend in. Who is that?

  The suit was a bit messy, but it was armor. That, coupled with my existing defenses, gave me a shot at resisting weaker blows entirely. I used Tracking to see which paths were currently being walked by the guards. There were several sets of tracks, but I quickly picked up the freshest ones. We headed after them.

  As we approached the duo, Badgelor looked at me. I pointed first at him and then at one of the bandits, grinning. He got the message. Expanding to his War Badger size, he started creeping up on his target.

  My bandit didn’t even look at me as I approached. Now that I was disguised as one of them, sneaking up would have been awkward, but… then I heard the scream. Badgelor’s bandit had spotted him and was trying to fend him off. The bandit I was targeting stood, looking that direction, but not yet willing to leave his post.

  I jogged up next to him with a vague look of concern, but he wasn’t even looking at me. I was a friendly, so why bother?

  “What the ‘ell is going on over…” was all he got out. I wasn’t a friendly. It was much easier to stab someone in the back, than it was to actually fight them. I executed a Duelist Thrust straight into the middle of his back. His last sight was my blade sticking out of the front of his chest.

  The other bandit fared no better. Badgelor was a tank, in the classical sense of the word. No weapons that these bandits were armed with were going to threaten him much. Badgelor’s armor was resistant to Piercing and Slashing Damage; either type did only half its usual amount. Under his super soft fur, his skin was tough, acting almost like another type of armor. His Defense was higher than mine.

  If there came a time when I would have to fight the badger, I was going to use my magical staff. Badgelor wasn’t that quick, especially in his large form. Outrunning him was always a possibility. These were things I had to think about. That badger was vicious.

  Badgelor’s victim was on the ground now, with the 200 pound badger sitting on his chest. A steady spray of blood and other bits fountained around Badgelor. His claws, the same ones I had seen cut through stone, tore massive rends in the bandit’s body. The badger’s head came up, his mouth full of flesh.

  Which was the exact moment that an arrow slammed into his furry temple, knocking him to the ground.

  Chapter 36: Melphius

  I spun around, looking for the shooter. Even as I did, I saw the wolf barrel past me. It had entirely ignored me, instead focusing on getting ahold of Badgelor. Surely, the wolf was hoping to get the badger before he had a chance to recover from his head injury.

  The Hunter followed him, bow raised. A second arrow was ready for firing. Given Badgelor’s resistances, I didn’t understand what had happened. I quickly used Lore.

  Melphius: Hunter Level 9

  HP: 120/120

  Stamina: 140/140

  Mana: 20/20

  Marksman: Rank 5

  Perks: Nature Walk, Woodsman’s Lore, Arrow Mastery

  He was a Hunter? How had I missed him? It must have been due to Nature Walk. I remembered glancing at that Perk. It was a version of Shadow Walk that worked in the woods. I hadn’t seen a reason to take it. Arrow Mastery let you make some special arrows and granted a higher chance of recovering arrows.

  An archer vs Badgelor was a losing proposition. I glanced at the badger’s Health. It had dropped over 30 points, which was highly concerning. I flipped to my combat log, which because he was my animal companion, also displayed Badgelor.

  Badgelor has been hit but Forceful Shot: Bludgeoning Arrow. Base Damage for vital shot: skull is 36 (18 damage minus 6 defense) X2, for Vital Shot, X1.5, for Unexpected Attack from Blindspot.

  Arrow Mastery let you craft specialty arrows. That would be incredibly useful, if you were an archer. Badgelor’s resistance to Piercing damage would have reduced that damage down to almost nothing and ignored the vital strike component. It would have made a 36 point attack do 5 points. Regrettably, the Bludgeoning Arrow overcame the badger’s Piercing Resistance, cause him to take the full hit to his Health.

  The wolf was almost an afterthought. Badgelor could have easily handled him, had the wolf been playing fair. It had already started moving to keep Badgelor away from the Hunter, as well as expose the badger’s vital spots to his tender wolf mercies. That just wouldn’t do.

  I pivoted around, and the Hunter got a good look at me for the first time.

  “You aren’t one of my men,” he stated. He quickly took in the sights of my bloody weapon, the absence of the other bandits, and me wearing one of their sets of armor, all at once. I didn’t give him time to formulate any sort of theory as to what happened.

  “Feck, he’s on to us!” shouted Shart. The demon lunged into the air and flew to a nearby tree. He bravely hid in the foliage, his eyes peering out from amongst the leaves.

  “Traitor,” I called.

  “You got this! I believe in you,” the tiny dipshit yelled back.

  I charged at the hunter, even as he started moving away from me. He brought up his bow and released another forceful, blunted arrow. This time, he was aiming at me. He couldn’t target anything vital, but, at this range, the cost of Dodge was astronomical. I opted to take the shot.

  Power Shot knocks the target backward, unless you can resist the shot. My own defenses were nothing to sneeze at, though. When coupled with my own perk choices, I was able to shrug off most of the effects. The shot did cause me to stumble, slightly, allowing the Hunter to move a step or two ahead of me.

  He was fast, but not faster than I was. Still, charging an experienced archer, with multiple shots designed to keep you away from him, was not a winning battle. I had to fight him at range, while Badgelor dealt with the wolf. I reached for the staff but stopped. The hunter had to assume that I was some sort of Woodsman. If I grabbed the magical staff, he’d know that I wasn’t. At bare minimum, it would b
e suspicious as hell.

  The fact that I’d never actually fought in a pitched battle with the magical staff before was the cincher. Relying on my ambidextrous ability, I got out my bow and readied it. I spared a moment to silently curse the missing fingers on my right hand. Finally, I drew back and fired. I instantly recognized a difference in strength, as the arrow released from the bow.

  Several things became quickly apparent, as he dodged and returned fire. He was better at shooting while moving than I was, and he had more shot types than I did. I had Magic Shot, which didn’t require the use of my missing fingers. I also knew Power Shot, which I couldn’t use because I couldn’t hold the bow right. He had those, plus Multi Shot and Fire Shot.

  Three arrows raced towards me, each capable of striking vital parts. I dove for cover, spoiling my own next shot and watching my Stamina deplete. Dodging volleys was always harder than Dodging singles. Looking about, I found a large hunk of wood that covered most of my chest. Desperately deciding that it might work as a makeshift shield, I started rushing towards the Hunter.

  His response was well considered, unfortunately. He tried a repeat of his first strike, firing 3 more arrows at me. I was able to catch them with the shield. One arrow snapped in half, and the other two burned themselves into the wood. Then, he quickly brought up another arrow, which caught fire, and loosed it.

  This arrow sank deeper into the shield; its point just sticking through the back side of the wood. My shield’s Durability had dropped by half, mainly due to its improvised nature. Cursing, I continued forward. Quite suddenly, the entire chunk of wood I was holding burst into flames, singing my arm. As I threw it away, the hunter caught me again with a Power Shot. I took it straight in the chest, as it lifted me off my feet and sent my flying backwards.

  You have been struck by “Power Shot III” for 19 points of Damage. Mitigate has reduced the bleeding status to 3 seconds at 2 hp/s. The stun effect has been reduced by 75%, due to your perks and attributes, to .75 seconds.

  I rolled to the side and sat up. Shit, that hurt. I glared over at my adversary, only to see the look of horror on his face. His hand snapped back to his quiver, before he sharply whistled to his wolf. An instant later, he had a small pack in his hand. I staggered to my feet, right before he threw it at me.

  The thrown projectile was quite a bit easier to dodge than an arrow. When the Dodge skill activated, I moved just a finger’s width outside of the object’s trajectory. Unfortunately, I’d never encountered a Tanglefoot Bag before.

  Tanglefoot Bag: Damage 0, Durability 3/3, Thrown, Alchemical, Proximity Detonation, Entangling

  The bag was about the size of a beanbag, and I was shocked when it suddenly exploded. Rootlike tentacles shot out in all directions, some clinging stickily to my side. I moved to swat them away and instantly regretted that decision. My hand stuck to the roots, just like everything else. Amazingly, it seemed to be gaining mass. I realized that it had actually stuck to the ground, as well as my legs. I was promptly overcome by the tentacles and collapsed in a heap.

  For an instant, I thought I was doomed. I was stuck, unable to move, with the Hunter still nearby. I tried to draw Mana out of the tentacle mound with my Counterspell skill but was unsuccessful. The roots weren’t magical, in that sense. After another few moments, the sticky roots hardened. Two powerful blows with my free arm broke my other arm free. A few moments later, I’d broken my legs free, as well.

  Getting back to my feet, I saw the wolf retreating from Badgelor. I guessed that the hunter had decided to flee, rather than continue to engage me. With his head start, it wasn’t worth chasing him down.

  “Scared him off,” I cried, to Badgelor.

  “I know I did,” replied the badger.

  I grinned, turning to face Shart. He had once again returned to take up space on my torso. After the fecking pumas, it felt good to be on the right side of the terror equation, again. Then, I noticed that the demon appeared to be gazing at something in the distance. I followed the stare of his cold, black, soulless eyes to a tiny pinprick of light.

  All of a sudden, a bright green, glowing light flew through the sky, followed an instant later by a second one. They looked sort of like fireworks, or perhaps flares. The kind of flares you use when you are trying to signal someone. Oh. Of fucking course. He was using Fire Shot to signal his allies.

  “The bandit camp is stirring,” stated Shart. He was using one of his other detection spells to monitor for the outlaws, now.

  “Glorious.”

  Chapter 37: And Everything Was Going So Well

  Once again, I was being chased by pumas. This time, at least, they were of the human variety. These were far less terrifying than the feline variety. I could do this.

  “You could have chased down the wolf,” I stated, leaping a rock. I cleared it by a good foot, as we continued dashing through the forest.

  “No, I really couldn’t have,” cried the badger. “I’m built for toughness, not speed!”

  “His legs are very short,” replied Shart, grabbing his horns like a hat. I had just smashed through a branch, and the demon’s horns got caught, nearly causing him to be knocked off my shoulder.

  “Shut it, you overripe wart,” growled Badgelor. He had shrunk down into his travel sized form, and the little bugger was riding me, again, just like Shart. While the badger’s War Form was an impressive specimen for fighting, it was really ill-suited for long range travel. It was certainly a hindrance when moving at any speed faster than ‘badger’.

  “We need to keep moving,” I stated, checking my map for an exit. Going back the way we came was an option, but I wasn’t that bright; we kept going forwards. The Northern Forest wasn’t that large, so I didn’t think it would take that long to quickly sprint through.

  What I hadn’t calculated on was the placement of the bandit’s new camp. It was off the road and fairly deep into the forest. Unfortunately, the road took a sharp turn to avoid a marsh. This left the camp in a good position to cut us off from the front and the back. I could have managed even that, maybe. However, they also had another guard post by a bridge on the road. I was forced to detour even deeper into the forest to bypass the bridge. This let the bandits get uncomfortably close to me.

  Their first sighting of me was five minutes later, as I was cutting through a stand of trees. An arrow whizzed past my head moments later. I was able to activate dodge at the last moment. A bandit was sitting up in an old deer blind, and he should have had me dead to rights.

  As it was, he only struck Shart. No harm, no foul.

  “My eye,” called the demon, as I rushed behind cover. A quick glance showed that the arrow was buried down to its feathers in the poor demon’s eyeball.

  “That looks uncomfortable,” I stated, drawing my shortsword. I heard movement in the bushes ahead of us.

  Suddenly, a bandit stood in my path, his shortsword and shield at the ready. He leaned back, bracing his shield for the impact that he was certain I was about to make. His error was that he took his eyes off the prize.

  I dropped down and slid toward him, underneath his shield. My foot caught his shin, knocking him down on top of my shortsword. One moment, he was sure that he’d be able to hold me. The next, he was a corpse, and I was back on my feet, running.

  “You lost your shortsword,” stated Badgelor.

  “I know,” I replied. I had to come up with a method of fighting that didn’t involve me constantly losing weapons. I considered taking the time to grab it, but the archer was still in the tree. I was positive he would enjoy me giving him time to line up another shot. After barely dodging the next arrow, I decided that I’d just find a new shortsword.

  We continued down a creek in the woods, still angling toward the north east. We had to be nearing the road that led toward the Western Gate Fortress. The ground was rocky and the water was moving fast enough to wash away the mud and blood that caked our feet. Luckily, it was also shallow enough that I could run through it, like a poorly cons
tructed sidewalk. The fact that I almost never lost my balance and could clear a nearly 15 foot horizontal leap were just bonuses, as far as I was concerned.

  “I don’t know if we can sneak by,” called Shart, going through his map. I had a minimap, as well, so Shart hadn’t bothered to show me where any bandits were located.

  “Go through,” called Badgelor. “Crush those bandits!”

  Both of my ‘pets’ were different sides of a murderous coin. Shart was all about sneaking and killing; Badgelor was all about directly confronting and killing. It was not useful most of the time. I was hoping to break through quickly enough to not have to deal with most of the bandits.

  I ignored both of them. I deemed it better to get through without killing anyone else. We could bide our time, pick up reinforcements, let them calm down, and then come back to administer an ass whooping. A small part of my brain reminded me that I’d been very upset at the thought of killing these bandits, less than an hour ago. A larger part of me remembered the smashed head of a young woman, thrown into a shallow grave.

  Suddenly, I heard the sound of falling water. The creek had been getting progressively rougher, as we came closer to the bridge. Finally, we broke out into the clearing.

  “Damn it all,” I said, looking over the small canyon. It hadn’t looked nearly that deep in my mind. I could see the bridge to my right, crossing over the chasm. The covered stone bridge used natural rises to fortify and support itself. I idly wondered how anyone had managed to get that bridge built, in the first place.

  “Magic,” stated Shart, because he could read my mind. I had absolutely no privacy.