By now he could make out more details of the cube. It was a curious structure, devoid of apparent purpose or function. Nick entered the faintly luminescent room, stepping carefully on the mirrored floor. Seeing his reflection extending infinitely into the distance, he was overwhelmed with a feeling of dread.
Sure enough, a long way to the south, a figure approached steadily. Judging from the indistinct red smudge over his head, it was a pixel runner. Nick held his weapon at the ready, wondering how this situation had come to pass.
Logically, the only way the runner could’ve followed him was through that hole near the Tomb entrance. The only builds that could’ve made that fall confidently were agility or dexterity builds. Nick waited patiently while the runner’s tag resolved itself - it was Aramis24, the foppish Duellist he’d first met on the desert surface.
Was Aramis tracking him through this vast underworld? Or had he legitimately fallen through? In either case, Nick had to kill him quickly. Where there was one pixel runner, there could be more.
Aramis didn’t seem in any hurry to engage. Nick wondered if it was a mental tactic. He dragged his tired mind into tactical mode. He knew Aramis was a Duellist - a very high DEX build with probable AGL and GUI support. Such builds were typically incapable of wielding medium to large weapons or producing serious magic. But they were capable of startling feats of acrobatics and could turn heavier builds inside out.
They also tended to be adept with lighter swords like the rapier or the katana. Unlike many other RPGs, Oakshield Junction seemed to provide plenty of leeway for high DEX builds to be very effective.
For starters, there was the sister attribute, agility - not many games devoted an entire attribute to that. Just as stamina and vitality provided logical support for STR, agility was the perfect foil for DEX. Nick had seen Duellists run rings around heavier builds and tear them apart piece by piece. Oakshield gave them a wonderful boost with the backstab ability, which, executed effectively, could bring the tankiest Knight to the ground.
DEX builds had access to all kinds of weapon buffs designed to cut through armor, from high precision weapons to corrosive acid coating. Duellists were essentially melee DEX builds where Rangers were ranged DEX builds. Rangers could be exploited, given time and persistence. Duellists, on the other hand, were extremely unpredictable. Nick had seen Aramis24 take on Jako the Corpse Scorpion - he was calm, assured and very capable. This was going to be a unique duel.
With his gear in order, the only thing Nick needed to decide was where to stand. He was happy with the center of the mirror cube. It was the only location with light and strength builds liked to see what they were hitting.
Aramis broke into sprint over the last 25 yards, show-casing his ability to spend stamina like a millionaire. Nick had heard that Duellists started with a ridiculous level of STA and didn’t need to boost until they were mid-to-late game.
Aramis’s attack was swift but ultimately avoidable. Nick side-stepped a little early but was still able to avoid the Duellist’s humming estoc. The thin blade pierced the back wall of the cube and created hairline cracks that spread to each of the four corners. The strange glass began to cast all kinds of crazy reflections - Nick had to look twice to ensure he was standing where he was supposed to.
Aramis attacked again, swinging the estoc in a lightning fast diagonal strike. Once again Nick was able to evade, watching as the blade struck the opposing mirror wall. Again the hairline cracks spiraled outward and created hundreds of facets. Nick frowned, confused by the obvious trickery. It was an unwelcome distraction.
Aramis, on the other hand, seemed to delight in the rupturing of their melee space, seeing opportunity in chaos. Nick tried to find the middle of the room again, disoriented by the refracted light. Aramis positioned himself in the corner, where Nick couldn’t quite tell where the Duellist ended and his many reflections began.
DEX builds were famous for using the quirks of battle terrains to their advantage, and Aramis was no exception. Nick was dazzled by his opponent’s “many faces” as he darted left and right. Before Nick could evade, the estoc’s pencil-thin tip was wedged in between his chestplate and greaves. The blow was short and sharp, but conferred residual acid damage. The final tally was 162 HP - not bad for a quick jab.
Aramis circled round, twirling his blade. He was having fun. It felt like this little room had been created entirely for him. Nick admonished himself for the paranoid thought - none of that would help him now. Aramis had him right where he wanted him - on the open side of the cube. It meant that Nick was facing all the myriad confusions of the cube itself.
He was tempted to pull back and engage Aramis in the plain darkness, but that was equally risky. In Oakshield Junction many DEX builds chose a night vision perk before they began. And Aramis wouldn’t have attacked so boldly if he wasn’t just as confident fighting out there in the gloom.
This felt like a setup. An ambush. Nick couldn’t shake the idea from his mind.
His panic steadily rising, the Barbarian’s tired gaze tracked Aramis back and forth across the cube. Some of the glass facets suggested he was approaching. Others said he was backing away. For a moment Nick thought Aramis had arrogantly turned his back on him, but it was only a trick of the light.
With a horrible lurch he realized he’d lost him. That was when he felt the tip of the estoc in his lower back. He dropped to his knees and fell forward, acid damage dragging his HP down to less than 10%. He’d been back-stabbed. Of course, he’d been back-stabbed before, but never so brutally. Never so triumphantly. Aramis’s weakness was his hubris. He appeared before Nick and performed a little dance. Nick could only stagger to his feet and back away into the darkness. The Duellist happily followed, waving his blade condescendingly.
Nick was as good as dead. It was imminent, like the closing of dusk. He didn’t have the tricks of his ferociously-skilled opponent. He wasn’t suited to this kind of fighting. Oakshield Junction had won. The power of Neutron Syndicate had won.
Aramis24 had his dream battleground and Nick didn’t have a chance. As he contemplated whether he should just kneel and die, a quiet thought occurred to him. He accessed his inventory and equipped his plain stone necklace. Huge letters spanned the darkness - SMASH THE GLASS.
It was so simple he could’ve kicked himself. Strength builds LOVED to smash things. He hadn’t thought of it because Aramis had already smashed the glass himself, sending the subconscious message that Nick should leave it alone. Adversaries tended to do avoid doing what the other had done. It was a clever psychological ploy and Nick had almost fallen for it.
So Nick lowered his halberd and casually walked back to the mirror cube. The way he did it was so unexpected that Aramis paused, amused. The Duellist shrugged and allowed Nick to assume his original position in the middle of the cube. After all, it made the barbarian look indecisive and weak. For some DEX runners, humiliation was a bonus. They’d lived in the shadow of strength builds for decades and liked to taunt their larger rivals.
Nick watched Aramis closely as he approached the cube. The Duellist slipped in front of the mirrored wall and was immediately lost to his many reflections. Nick took a step to the left, inviting Aramis to get in behind him. DEX runners couldn’t resist backstabs - it was in their DNA.
He swung the Halberd of the Moon in a vicious arc, missing Aramis but smashing the rear wall of the cube. Shards of glass tinkled to the floor, the wall collapsing before their eyes. The cube was now open-ended. Aramis did what all DEX runners liked to do when the game was changed - he retreated.
Nick took the opportunity to smash an adjacent wall, sending it tumbling down in a million pieces. Realizing his mistake, Aramis advanced quickly, but the damage had been done. Only one vertical wall remained, and all Nick had to do was keep his back to it so Aramis was visible against the darkness. He could tell the Duellist was a little shaken. Strength builds were just ‘see enemy, kill enemy’ barbarians - they weren’t supposed to be sly!
Nick grinned for the first time that day. He had to admit it was fun to take toys from a DEX runner. Aramis danced from side to side, but there was no chance of losing him again. Not if Nick held his current position.
Aramis pushed aggressively. He dodged Nick’s halberd strike and strafed his left side. Nick backed away and swung his halberd a second time, using valuable stamina. It was a risky move, but he’d deliberately missed the first strike so that Aramis would continue strafing with confidence. This time the blade crashed into his stupid broad-rimmed hat with a wet thud, draining 300 HP.
Better still, the halberd’s superior defense break stunned the Duellist, allowing Nick to continue his attack. He had just enough stamina to lay two more hits, draining extra HP now that Aramis’s weak defense had been exposed. The third and final cleave removed the Duellist’s smug head from his shoulders. It ricocheted against the remaining mirror wall, becoming a hundred shocked faces rolling to a standstill in the middle of the cube.
Nick looted the devilish estoc and a nice set of leather armor that had several agility buffs. The boots severely reduced fall damage. Nick would use them if required. Aramis also carried several healing crystals and an enhanced Zestus ring. No wonder the fucker had been able to dart around so much. Nick gratefully replaced his own Zestus ring, wishing he could equip a Succubus Ring in the other slot. If he saw that thieving gnome again, there would be blood.
After healing, Nick leveled up. He plugged another point into STR, looking longingly at his stats. Only one more point to go for one-handed heaven.
Feeling like he’d just defeated a boss, Nick pressed on. An uncomfortable feeling nagged at him, a bitter after taste from his victory over Aramis. The Duellist’s attack had felt like a setup, as if the runner had been commissioned to kill him. Or was that just paranoia? Was Nick so tired that everything seemed like a threat?
He liked to trust his instincts - they rarely let him down in a game world. If Neutron had a bounty on his head, then every pixel runner would go out of their way to kill him. It explained why SavaLynxxx had attacked him during the opening melee. Of course, Kain had attacked him too, but he’d been gunning for Nick from the beginning.
At length the darkness retreated a little and Nick could see a passage ahead. He strode towards it with renewed purpose. Today’s session was a lot like therapy - he was steadily smiting the devils on his shoulder, one by one. He was shocked to discover his Love points had gone through the roof.
Was he earning the sympathy vote? He certainly wasn’t looking for it - all he’d done so far was play as Nick Stanners. It’d been his most human run so far. Perhaps it was no coincidence that the public was responding so favorably.
An old wooden sign had been erected next to the tunnel - SASHA LIVES HERE.
Nick remembered the crocodile merchant’s warning, but there was no other way forward. If he could somehow take care of this ‘Sasha’, maybe he’d earn enough XP to take that last level he needed. The passage continued for several hundred yards before spilling into a wider chamber.
A circular pit dominated the room. It wasn’t incredibly deep, perhaps 8-10 feet, but it gave off a horrible smell. Nick saw a pile of wet, black things, like a pile of stillborn snakes. He wasn’t keen on entering that pit, though there was probably loot to be had somewhere under that disgusting pile.
He made his way around the edge carefully, as there was only enough room for his heels. The slick stone wall at his back wasn’t much help either. To top things off, a half-yard of ledge was missing. Eminently jump-able, even in heavy armor. The type of jump he’d made hundreds of times before.
But one of the great truths of RPGs was that you never attempt a jump when the stakes were high. Nerves tended to tighten the muscles and cause mistakes. Nick tried the jump anyway. He was feeling OK and needed to keep moving forward. His right foot struck the ledge at the wrong angle and he tumbled into the pit. He stood wearily, sensing he was about to become [very] acquainted with Sasha.
She was a snake. A massive, powerful constrictor who came slithering out of a barrel drain to claim her prize. The dead snakes suggested she’d suffered some kind of calamity, which didn’t bode well at all. She swept toward Nick with clear intent to kill.
She must have been over twenty feet long, but that wasn’t what sent chills down Nick’s spine. It was more the rippling thickness of her body. If given the chance, those muscles would squeeze the life from him in seconds. He was mesmerized by the intricate diamond patterning on her back as she approached.
He suddenly longed for the old days, playing games on his Sentinel unit. Not so long ago he’d been able to look up ways of defeating creatures like Sasha on Nex. If he was stumped, which wasn’t often, he had access to support and tips from gamers all over the world. Fights like this one so often depended on standing in a certain spot or watching for a particular attack pattern. Oakshield Junction didn’t allow for a gamer’s natural learning curve.
The serpent reared and spat at Nick. The liquid hit him square in the face for no damage, but it gummed his helmet and made it difficult to see. He backed along the wall, slipping on the dead snakes littering the floor. He made it halfway around the pit when Sasha lunged. Expecting the move, Nick side-stepped and swung his halberd savagely. The blade bit deep into the serpent’s flesh, draining a good portion of its HP.
Angered, Sasha surged forward, looking to coil itself around the pixel runner. Alert to the danger, Nick tried to strike at its head, but it pulled back with surprising dexterity. The halberd was momentarily wedged in a floor crack. Sasha seized on the opportunity, heaving itself onto the weapon with tremendous force. Nick heard a loud crack as he was thrown backwards into the rotten corpse pile.
Not only had he lost over 300 HP, he was no longer carrying his primary weapon. He could see it lying in pieces, snapped neatly in half. The fact it wasn’t glowing with a loot symbol gave Nick cause for concern. What the fuck was he going to do now? He accessed his inventory and equipped the next available weapon just as Sasha butted him with her hard head. He took damage but was able to roll away and collect himself.
He wielded Stinger in his right hand, nothing in his left. Man, he would’ve given anything for a heavier sword! There was no time to dive back into his inventory, as Sasha was intent on harassing him. He backed away, almost tumbling into the dead snakes again. Every time he went near them, Sasha grew angrier.
Sweating profusely, Nick backed to the far side of the pit, frantically trying to remember how to quick-equip his steel buckler. He tried swiping his left hand, which successfully removed all his armor. He would’ve laughed if his situation wasn’t so dire. The serpent lunged and spat, forcing Nick back across the pit.
He covered the ground far quicker now that he was stark naked - which laid the seeds of an attack plan. The key to this fight was creating space between man and beast. It was the kind of duel strength builds hated, but they were unavoidable. Nick had gone naked in RPGs before, precisely so he could exploit the boost to agility and stamina.
Maybe, just maybe he could land a few blows with Stinger and let the residual poison build-up do its worst. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was a plan. Waiting for Sasha to lunge again, Nick readied his dagger. He felt seriously vulnerable fighting this way, like a primitive hunter-gatherer in ancient times.
The snake surged and almost knocked him off his feet. It began to circle round, angling for a big squeeze. Nick plunged Stinger into its side, the blade meeting initial resistance against the scales before sliding in. Sasha didn’t seem too perturbed, coiling around him furiously. Panicking, Nick used his newfound agility to clamber up the closing coil and tumble over the other side.
He bolted to the far end of the pit where he let his stamina regenerate. That was too close, but at least he had an attack template. Sasha wasn’t showing signs of distress, but Nick was confident the poison would eventually do its work. She might have been immune to poison, but it was more likely that she just had high resistance.
>
Nick initiated a guerrilla attack pattern, striking and retreating in turn. He was careful not to allow himself to be surrounded by those powerful coils. After three “bites” from Stinger, Sasha began slowing down. As for Nick, he was getting used to the rhythm of the duel and was now familiar with the serpent’s lunging attacks.
Slowly but surely he wore his enemy down. After the sixth hit-and-run attack Sasha was declining rapidly. Nick watched with immense satisfaction as the monster gave one final hiss and shuddered. Perhaps fittingly, her body rested on her children. Elated, Nick re-equipped his armor and healed to max.
Sasha’s corpse yielded 1200 XP and tipped him into the next level. Another point to STR. But - would he be able to salvage the broken halberd? He rushed over to the wreckage but wasn’t able to access the pieces.
“Fuck!” he screamed into the ether. Life was cruel, but Oakshield Junction was a bitch. After everything he’d been through, Nick had lost his beloved halberd at the worst possible moment. He felt the injustice of it like a body blow. Without the halberd, all he had was a ridiculous stat allocation that skewed dangerously to strength at the expense of other attributes.
Worse, Nick’s only other weapon was a dagger. Nothing against Stinger, which had just taken down a massive boa constrictor, but he needed something heavier if he was going to survive. Still angry, he combed the pit floor. Alas, Sasha didn’t yield any loot. He cursed the game as he checked the walls for an exit, doubting he’d ever played anything so loot-tight.
After several minutes he located a rusted door on the north side of the pit. There was also a gap in the base of the wall a few yards to his left. It didn’t smell too great, but curiosity got the better of him. He rolled under and found himself in a squalid chamber strewn with rotting bones. He hacked away at a dirt mound and was surprised to find a loot package inside.
Strength Build: A LitRPG Saga (The Complete Strength Build Cycle) Page 16