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

by Ryan Rimmel

  “Any reason that they are in a triangle?” I asked.

  “They probably have magical siege work items that are going to compress the barrier,” stated Shart.

  “So, just the army itself isn’t crippling the barrier? It's partially due to the army’s equipment?” I asked.

  “You got it, Leader Jim.” Shart nodded. That made sense. An army at the walls really couldn’t do much without the proper equipment on Earth. Apparently, this was one of a very limited number of things that were the same on Ordinal.

  I hadn’t disbanded the war party, so I sent a command to SueLeeta. She was to investigate the two points outside the barrier. I could mark the missions as dangerous, so I did. I gave her orders to avoid combat and get back as quickly as possible. I fervently hoped that she understood what that meant.

  As I turned the corner into the town square, I spotted GowenDoud. He was standing on a box before a small group of 20 or so villagers. I was alarmed to see that the group included some of the ThooClicky refugees. They had been in town for less than a day, having apparently been the reason the goblins setup the barricade we encountered. Several ThooClicky citizens I met briefly in the street assured me that no such barricade had been in place on the road to town. GowenDoud was dressed in his best, most commanding outfit. HaroldBruce was next to him, dressed in his one outfit. What a weak and pathetic exploitation.

  “Our only option is to surrender,” stated GowenDoud to the crowd. “With the militia gone and our ‘mayor’ out adventuring, we are in a precarious state. We’ve all interacted with goblins before. We know that when they come, their vengeance is going to be terrible. If we negotiate surrender, we can offer them goods. They will leave us alone.”

  “Only the mayor can negotiate on behalf of the town,” yelled someone in the crowd.

  “Do you really think that yokel will negotiate with goblins? No, he’s a Woodsman, one of the Chosen. He doesn’t care about us normal people. He’s off galivanting around, if he’s even still alive,” stated GowenDoud.

  “But the mayor has always done us right before,” stated another.

  “What is Jim going to do against this many goblins?” replied GowenDoud mockingly, “Is Jim going to go out to the mine and kill them all himself?”

  “He found my preserves,” stated JohnMickle.

  “Jim is not here! We need someone to negotiate with the goblins now!” called GowenDoud. Even I felt the effects of his Oratory skill as he yelled. I ignored it, but I felt it. I checked the town menu. Buried in the subpages was a politics tab. GowenDoud had certainly been busy in my absence. He had support for his cause, and it was steadily increasing.

  I don’t like that man.

  I considered how a Chosen one would act, as I stopped at the other end of the crowd. GowenDoud was about to continue his speech when he saw me. He paused. He might have the Oratory skill, but I had Intimidation. I used it on him right there.

  Intimidate vs GowenDoud. Your check has been successful. GowenDoud is cowed for the next 12 seconds.

  “Ah, good tailor, I have returned after slaughtering 60 goblins on the way. I am going to my office to ensure the town is being run correctly. Then, I am going to go and deal with the goblins at the mine,” I stated in a jovial tone. “I think we should have this whole siege cleared up very soon.”

  The villagers that had been looking to GowenDoud all shifted to look at me. Hope returned to their faces. If I delivered on my words, then this problem was moot. If I didn’t… well, I’d probably be dead. It wouldn’t matter.

  “I will also need some additional militiamen, as we have arms and armor for that. Are any of you interested in fighting for the town under my banner?” I asked. In the Battle Map, I had a banner. Sure, it wasn’t a physical banner that we could take into battle, but it was still a banner. Even if it did have a dinosaur on it. Maybe I should have an actual banner sewn up.

  “GowenDoud,” I said sweetly, “I will be leading the valiant people of this village into battle with the accursed goblins. Those bastards seek to torture and kill us. While I understand that your love of the village would lead you to the front line, perhaps you might better serve by making me a Great Banner of Windfall, instead?”

  GowenDoud frowned mightily. I had wedged him into an awkward position, and he wasn’t quite sure how to extract himself. If he refused to make the banner, I might call on him for military service. He would have to fight or have his love for the village questioned. The alternative was to make me a banner, which would keep him occupied for at least a little time. He considered his options for a long moment before nodding. “I’ll make the village a banner.”

  “Excellent,” I stated, checking that the size of the militia was still set to 30. I decided to max out my 30 Command Limit for maximum effect. Now that we were back in town, I could call upon all the militia here to fill out my force. I had been using 13 of my Command, leaving me with enough space in my Command Pool to bring in 17 more men. I could do so by raising the size of the militia to 37, which I did.

  I brought up my War Leader talent. It had expanded to Rank 3 in my previous battles. Now, I had 198 War Points. War Points worked to both increase the rank of my War Leader talent and to buy bonuses. It had taken 150 War Points to get to Rank 3. It would take a total of 350 earned War Points to get to Rank 4.

  Ah, great, another system.

  “Is it too much for your poor addled brain?” thought Shart.

  I ignored him and quickly shuffled through the menu, finding two basic kinds of abilities. Passive abilities seemed to improve certain qualities without me having to do anything. Active abilities seemed to require one of my sub commanders or me to do something, like charge the enemy or hold a position.

  I glanced over the passive abilities. There was a whole category reserved for Command. There were many options there. One of the options was Horse Lord. It cost 50 War Points and would allow me to take 10 free Mounted Warriors into Combat. I’m sure that would have been great, if I had any Mounted Warriors. I saw Great Captain, costing 200 War Points. It allowed everyone under me to use their full Command Limits. That price made it no go, though. Even if I had possessed 200 War Points, I wouldn’t have blown my wad on one passive ability.

  There was the option to increase my Command by selecting Command Limit Increase. It cost 25 War Points and would raise my Command Limit by 50%. Considering how many people were in the village, I was already gathering up most of the town militia with my current Command Limit. A higher limit wouldn’t be overly beneficial unless I could get more troops. I increased my Command Limit once up to 45, leaving me with 173 War Points to spend. I was considering selecting it again but noticed that the cost had increased to 50 War Points.

  I decided to look at the active abilities to see if any were worth having. I spotted Rallying Cry, which gave everyone temporary hit points. It also gave minor bonuses to offense, defense, and movement. These bonuses lasted for one minute, with a ten minute reset. That might be useful if you were just about to launch an attack. It must have been worthwhile, because it cost 80 War Points.

  There were others. Form Ranks allowed troops to get back into formation very quickly. That would be useful if we were scattered. I’d played enough Total War games to realize that an unbroken formation was worth more than a broken one. My men’s skills had been insufficient to really do complex maneuvers, but that active ability forced them to form up. The cost was only 40 War Points, though, which seemed much more economical.

  Reviewing the passive skills one more time, I spotted Goblin Hunter. It cost 25 points and gave a flat, 10% bonus to fighting goblins. As that was what we were preparing for, I was highly inclined to choose it.

  I spotted other options, but none of them really appeared to be super useful. I selected Rallying Cry, Form Ranks and Goblin Hunter for 145 War Points, leaving me with only 28 War Points.

  You have 28 War Points remaining. You have earned a total of 198 War Points. You need to earn 350 War Points for your n
ext rank.

  With my current rank in War Leader, and my buffs, I was 22.5% more effective at fighting in general. Additionally, I was 37.5% better at fighting goblins. I could get my forces into formation once every ten minutes. I could rally my troops for combat once every ten minutes, as well. I had a Command Limit of 37, up from 30. As my current Command was only at 28, I now had 9 slots remaining.

  I went back to my militia and added an additional 3 for a total of 40, giving me 40 militia and 20 Mercenaries for spending 33 of my 45 Command. That was a potent force if I could deploy it correctly and was all the town interface said I could get with the current population. Hopefully, it would be enough to take out the goblins.

  I strode into the mayor’s office, my office, and spotted a haggard Mar. He was sitting, staring off into space. I cleared my throat, and he turned to face me. The look of relief in his eyes bordered on ecstasy.

  “Mayor, you’re back,” he sniffled. “We got attacked by goblins, and I had to get the barracks fixed, and GowenDoud kept coming in here, and he kept demanding to be made Deputy Mayor, which I couldn’t allow, and I wouldn’t have, even if I could’ve, and then, he started yelling and trying to start an uprising, and no one was having it because you are Jim, and …”

  He was forced to pause to inhale, so I took the opportunity to break in. “It’s okay. You did well, Mar.”

  He sniffled a bit more. “No, I didn’t. We got attacked by goblins. They are going to take the mine.”

  “I’ll just take it back then,” I stated. I had done it before; I knew there were ways of taking the mine.

  We still had 37 minutes before the next stage of the siege began. Maybe we could do something interesting. Perhaps the mechanics of this weird ass place would give me a light at the end of the tunnel. I fiddled with my Battle Map for a minute and realized something. I couldn’t tell people what I wanted them to do, but I could order their units to meet up somewhere. I plugged in a spot on the map near the mine and issued my order.

  Within 5 minutes, everyone under my command was moving.

  Neat.

  Chapter 62: The Siege of Windfall

  In 16 minutes, the next stage of the siege was going to go into effect. The barrier would shrink, and we would lose the mine. I feared that my 64 men were a bit outnumbered. The last dregs of light were being offered by the sun as I heard the news of how outnumbered we were.

  “There are how many?” I asked. I had very obviously misheard SueLeeta.

  “Over a thousand,” stated SueLeeta, her normal good humor in abeyance. “There are eight hundred at each of the two points.

  “We can do this,” stated Badgelor. “I can get 10 of them myself. That only leaves the rest for you.”

  “You can’t count, can you?” I asked the badger, as I looked around at the dark faces surrounding me. Everyone, excluding the Mercenaries, was willing to die for their loved ones in the village. This could be the very battle that claimed their lives.

  “Well, that’s going to make things complicated.” I again looked around. In a perfect scenario, I could see us defeating maybe 180 goblins without getting everyone killed. At last check, 1000 was more than 180.

  I could have ordered people to defend the mine. SueLeeta might have even followed my orders. I looked deep into her hazel colored eyes for a long moment, thought about my wife for an instant, and then thought better of the entire thing. SueLeeta might have, but Fenris wouldn’t follow a suicidal order without a clear chance of victory. The Mercenaries were already edging backward, trying to figure out an escape plan.

  “Well, defending the mine is out,” I said, getting ready for the lie. “Don’t worry. I have another plan.”

  I quickly shifted into menu time.

  “You don’t have any tricks up your sleeve?” I asked my demon.

  “Not a one,” he replied. “That is a veritable fuckton of goblins.”

  I could see the mine in my Battle Map. The goblins were all along the outer edge of the barrier, with a large cluster circled around something. That part was almost like a donut, with a circle of goblins around a hole in the center, for whatever the implement was. SueLeeta had tried to identify it but had failed. The goblin scouts made sneaking in difficult, and the area was surrounded by a dark mist. Seeing into the center of the cluster had been impossible.

  “That’s where the magical implement is?” I gestured mentally at the map. I knew that magical implements came in many shapes and forms. As we hadn’t seen it, even Shart had shrugged his shoulders. The implement could be anything from a totem pole to a magical wind up robot.

  Shart nodded. “Yes, probably. That’s where I’d put the implement at least, next to the barrier and surrounded by guards.”

  “I understand that the magical implements are used to siege the town. What happens if they are captured or destroyed? Will that make the siege more difficult?” I asked.

  “If you can capture or destroy one, it might reset their current siege window. That would take them longer to siege the town,” said Shart. “With one gone, the time could go from 16 hours to 32 hours.”

  “Might?” I asked.

  “It depends on how long the siege goes. After a point, the siege is successful, and a timer starts. At that point, the barrier will decrease no matter what you do,” replied the demon.

  “Does the barrier reset?” I asked.

  “Of course, eventually. Remember, the barrier cannot be reformed while there are enemies in the town,” Shart said. “Also, every time the barrier shrinks, it stops working for a few seconds. There have been incidents in the past where enemies have snuck into villages during those brief, precious seconds.”

  The barrier extended for miles. When it shrank, it would decrease by nearly half a mile. I had trouble seeing how someone could run that distance in the few seconds that the barrier would be down. The goblins weren’t that close to the town, and they would have a doozy of a time making it on their stubby legs.

  “Shart,” I thought to my familiar, “What will the exact barrier dimensions be after it shrinks?”

  He highlighted a circle on the map. The area was much smaller than the current circle. I looked at it for a long moment, searching for just the right spot.

  I slipped out of menu time. I had spent minutes considering the plan there, but, to everyone else, it had been moments. “Okay, SueLeeta, I need you to go watch them move after the barrier shrinks. I want to see how they move that implement in the middle of the circle.

  “I don’t know how much more successful I’ll be this time,” she responded, but made ready to move.

  “Don’t kill any of them. I don’t want them to know we are even here,” I stated, looking into her eyes again.

  “Yes,” she responded, taken slightly aback. So far, I had been totally on board with goblin murder.

  “Everyone else, we are pulling back to that clump of woods over there. I want everyone hiding in 3 minutes.”

  Chapter 63: The Night Before

  Fenris had done one final check to ensure that we were as well hidden as possible. I watched the Battle Map progress. The barrier made an awful crackling sound before collapsing, flickering entirely out of existence. I heard the gasps of everyone nearby. It stayed down for maybe all of 15 seconds, just long enough to get everyone good and terrified. When the barrier sprang back into existence, it did so 30 feet beyond our current position. We were just inside the barrier. Had it not been for Shart’s knowledge of the barrier’s shrinkage, I’m certain at least a few of the soldiers would have been outside of it.

  The new barrier was smaller by 25%. It was still closer to the mine than it had been when I’d first come here, but there was a definite gap that was going to be interesting to overcome. I didn’t pay attention to any of that though, as I’d known it had been coming.

  The siege timer reset. It was now only set to 12 hours. I triple checked that before signaling Shart.

  “The barrier only has 12 hours left before it shrinks again,” I
said.

  “Ohh, yes,” replied the demon searchingly. “The goblins must have a very effective technique for sieging the town.”

  “But if we break one of their implements, we’ll reset the timer?” I asked.

  “Back to 12 hours,” stated Shart. “Probably.”

  “Probably?” I asked.

  “Well, if they have someone with the rare Siege skill, it might not reset that much,” replied the demon. “Or at all,” he added, under his breath.

  I had no way to check on the skills of over a thousand goblins. I was just going to have to trust that the definition of rare on Ordinal was the same as on Earth.

  I turned my attention to SueLeeta’s report on the goblins. Once the barrier fell, they hadn’t wasted any time. With the loud crack still ringing in SueLeeta’s ears, a collective mass of goblins began moving forward, spilling into the territory formerly protected by the mine’s barrier. They didn’t move stupidly; they were one organized chunk of green. It took 20 minutes to get back into position around the mine.

  Several goblin observers began peering in our direction, but Fenris had hidden us well. The observers didn’t spot us despite only being 500 yards away from them, but they also kept looking, like good soldiers. I recognized them as more Stone Blood goblins.

  For the next hour, we kept watch. From our down-slope perspective, we could see just up the road to the edge of the mine. The goblins immediately set up a large cookpot on the downwind side of the mine, just before the slope leading to Windfall. They certainly were taking eating seriously. The stew was on before their defenses were fully set. As we were even further downwind, we would have to pass their pot to get to the mine entrance. As we could only see the outer edge of their forces, I was hoping SueLeeta would have a better perspective and be able to find the implement.

  The whole time, more and more goblins were making the journey into the mine according to SueLeeta. Initially, probably around 100 went in. As time progressed, that number kept expanding. Nearly half the force was underground by the time the first hour was up. I knew that goblins favored being underground whenever possible, but I didn’t recall anything in the mine that would be so accommodating for so many goblins.