The tunnel spilled into an open area lined with locked wagons. Nick looked at Lee quizzically.
“Market,” she said, running a finger through the dust on the nearest wagon wheel. “Hasn’t been active for a while. The pair descended a square stairwell for several minutes. A steady, rhythmic clash rose from somewhere beneath them.
They emerged into a massive hall that took Nick’s breath away. Huge stone pillars towered into a distant ceiling. Unlike the tunnels, this place had some semblance of activity. Stalls lined the walls, many of them offering weapons and armor. Lee regarded the wares with special interest, but Nick was confident he wouldn’t find anything superior to what he was currently using.
Most of the shopkeepers were dwarves who looked sternly at the pair with beady eyes, but some were human. Nick was wandering past a wagon full of trinkets when he saw something that made his heart wither. The woman standing behind the counter had an uncanny resemblance to Emily Lambert, the nurse who’d spent months looking after Nick’s late father.
“Emily …?” he blurted, his blood running cold. Confused, the woman looked at him without recognition. She was close enough for Nick to be certain - it was Emily Lambert. He felt like wrapping her in his arms and sobbing. Once again, the Syndicate had managed to find a way of hitting Nick where it hurt. They’d obviously kidnapped Emily and installed her in a place that Nick was almost certain to pass through. They wanted him to suffer. They were obsessed with tormenting him.
“You’re white as a ghost,” Lee said, wearing a new chest plate with a black eagle imprinted on it. “What’s up?”
“I know this girl,” Nick said quietly.
Frowning, Lee took a close look at Emily.
“You sure about that?”
“Positive.”
If Lee was feeling at all territorial, she didn’t show it. Instead, the look she gave Nick was filled with sympathy.
“I understand,” she said. “But this NPC isn’t like Inez. We can’t help her - there’s no one waiting in the real world.”
Nick knew all this but lingered for several moments, unwilling to leave Emily behind. Her expression was chillingly blank, as if all her memories had been erased. He prayed that the lion-hearted nurse he’d known was still in there somewhere.
Neutron was sending him a message. No matter what you do, we hold all the aces.
All Nick could do was feign nonchalance. He forced himself to walk away, using every ounce of willpower to remain calm.
“We’ll make amends,” Lee muttered under her breath. “One way or another, we’ll make things right.”
“Humans,” barked a deep voice from further down the hall. A broad-shouldered dwarf in gleaming gold armor stood in the shadows. His baritone echoed through the massive space. “Rolfic would parley.”
Nick nodded. He and Lee followed the dwarf through the hall. Once again he was spellbound by the sheer immensity of the place. Up ahead, a jewel-encrusted throne sat on a raised dais. A decrepit-looking dwarf sat slumbering at the back of the huge chair. Nick wouldn’t have taken him for King if he wasn’t already on the throne.
Rolfic wore a faded robe and looked thinner than the gold-armored guards to either side. The only concessions to his station were the sparkling rings on his fingers. The old dwarf roused himself when he heard the approaching footsteps. He spat a gob of blood on the cold stone.
“Mmm,” he rumbled, spittle hanging from his lower lip. “The Kingdom of men has fallen farther than I anticipated. Strange times indeed.”
“You would do well to listen, Rolfic,” Lee said in typically bold fashion. “The Kobold army will not stop at Durandor.”
Rolfic gazed at Lee with bloodshot eyes and let a mirthless chuckle escape his lips.
“Some things never change, I suppose,” he said bitterly. “Do you humans suppose we are free of problems here in Ulferd? That we spend our days in battle readiness, praying that humans drag us into their petty conflicts? What a curious notion.”
The menace in the King’s voice was unmistakable. Nick exchanged a look with Lee - this wasn’t going to plan at all.
“What do you need, Rolfic?” he asked.
Rolfic laughed out loud, a dry, crackling sound that suggested his lungs had been burnt to a crisp.
“Hear that, boys?” he drawled. “These two mercenaries think they can help.”
“Hold there!” a voice boomed from behind them. Nick’s heart sank when he saw a group of four pixel runners approaching the throne. A Paladin, a Brigand, a Knight and a Zealot. Nick hadn’t seen many Zealots in his time on Oakshield Junction, but knew they relied on a pure faith build without recourse to armor or heavy weapons.
This group had formed quite a diverse alliance, and that made them dangerous.
“Good King Rolfic,” said the Knight, whose gamertag was AttackBoy. “Grymdor Mine has been cleared and is now yours to use as you please.”
Nick could’ve skewered the asshole right there. If only he’d mentioned that earlier. AttackBoy flicked his visor down and looked at Nick haughtily. There was something eerily familiar about the man. Then it hit him - Ern Williams, the producer from his first season of Oakshield Junction.
Between Yul Sanford, Emily Lambert and this bastard, Nick was overrun with unwanted invaders from the real world. Ern had lost his job at Neutron due to having his legs broken by Mike Szorka. He’d clearly been given a chance to compete on Oakshield Junction as a runner. Not only that, but he’d demonstrated a high level of skill to make it this far as a strength build.
Thankfully, Rolfic didn’t look too impressed.
“Humans have been raping Grymdor for decades,” he grumbled. “Offering that empty husk as a gesture of goodwill is an offense of the highest order.”
Showing not the slightest concern, AttackBoy and his cronies circled the throne. Lee took a subtle step backwards, motioning for Nick to do the same. Things were about to get ugly.
“Slaughter each other for all I care,” Rolfic muttered. “If I am suitably impressed with the victor I might indulge the luxury of a serious conversation.”
AttackBoy turned to his runner companions and smirked.
“Slice and dice, friends,” he said. “Slice and fucking dice.”
What a dick. Nick held his katana steady as the four runners advanced with their own weapons drawn. The golden dwarves stood back in a wide circle to allow space for the fight. It was two against four, but Nick and Lee had space in which to roll. The pillars would also provide limited cover.
The main threats were the faith builds. The Paladin probably had personal health buffs, the Zealot group buffs. As such they needed to be killed as quickly as possible. If Nick and Lee didn’t fight like a well-oiled machine, they were as good as dead.
“Back-to-back won’t work here,” Lee muttered.
“We need to make passes,” Nick agreed. “From side to side. The Zealot worries me the most.”
“Me too,” Lee replied, backing away slowly. “Let’s focus on her if we can. And keep moving. Don’t give the Brigand a chance to back-stab.”
Nick nodded - that was another dimension to this PvP battle royal. Enemy tactics looked to be fairly sound. The Knight and Paladin (Evanter06) advanced boldly, looking to harass. The Zealot (Hex$$) hung back, no doubt ready with a timely group buff. The Brigand (Nightshader) simply lurked in the shadows.
Nick feinted to AttackBoy’s right, drawing an attack before sprinting away. Lee passed behind the Knight, moving diagonally across the floor. She rolled straight for Hex$$ and caught her off guard, striking her twice before AttackBoy drove the Corsair away. Nick didn’t see what happened next because he was busy rolling under the Paladin’s crushing mace.
Evanter06 looked dangerously fleet-footed for a Paladin, but Nick still managed to get in behind him and slash with his katana. The blow drew over 200HP. Though he was tempted to pursue the attack, he continued to the far wall to avoid being flanked by the Brigand. He saw Lee rolling safely to the other wall. Sh
e’d managed to drain Hex$$ of half her HP but the Zealot was now conjuring a spell.
The hall was filled with bright light. When it faded, the injured Zealot and Paladin were back to max HP. Nick’s heart sank - these guys were Bonded. Lee looked crestfallen. But then her eyes lit up and she pointed to the nearest brazier. Of course. They needed to change the tone of this battle.
They both hared back down the hall, heading for the nearest braziers. It only took one scything blow to sever the bowl from the coals and plunge the immediate area into darkness. Lee seemed intent on extinguishing at least three on her side, so Nick followed suit. AttackBoy knew exactly what they were doing and followed Nick every step of the way.
“That’s right, fucking run, Stanners,” he snarled. “I don’t mind killing you slowly.”
“You really want me to break your legs again?” Nick asked spitefully, slashing at the last brazier.
“Except that wasn’t you, was it?” Ern spat, his silver armor faintly luminescent in the darkness. “You were hiding behind your bodyguard, if I remember correctly. That’s what makes you such a good pixel runner. You’re such a pathetic motherfucker in real life.”
Nick tried to be professional and keep a cool head, but there was no escaping the personal nature of this duel. He resisted the temptation to charge in and attack the Knight, but that was exactly what Ern wanted. He could see Nightshader in the gloom, just waiting to plunge his dagger. Now that darkness reigned the battle had been evened out, but only slightly.
Nick edged back to the first extinguished brazier and was relieved to bump into Lee. A ring of light spread across the floor - Hex$$ was conjuring some kind of group buff.
“Blessed weapons,” Lee said. “Man, I hate faith builds.”
AttackBoy began swearing uncontrollably. Nick had to laugh - the group buff had conferred a glow to all their enemies’ weapons. Even Nightshader’s dagger sparked in the darkness, giving away his position.
“That’s what you get when you Bond with idiots,” Lee said. “Let’s go to work.”
The pair moved into the darkness with much more confidence than before. A glowing rod advanced toward them - Evanter06. Lee took one flank, Nick the other. theblueraven rolled and strafed the Paladin’s right side, back-rolling through his cross-swing. Nick took the opportunity to strike, landing two vicious slashes before rolling away. A light appeared ten yards behind the injured Paladin.
“Healing buff,” Lee called. “Let’s finish the bastard now.”
Nick took the feinting role, darting forward and drawing Evanter06 into a panicked power attack. Lee rolled in behind and cross-slashed her own power attack. The Paladin fell, stunned, but his HP began to climb immediately. Before it could rise far, Nick planted his katana through the man’s chest, finishing him off for good.
Two against three now - the odds were getting better. AttackBoy seemed to work well with Nightshader. The Brigand followed the Knight like a pilot fish, picking up scraps where he could.
“Let’s get the Zealot,” Lee said, diving toward the opposite corner.
Her logic was sound, but Nick saw Nightshader making an unusually fast run for her. It was a classic rogue move - never give your speed away until you had a kill in your sight. They were like fucking cheetahs.
“Lee!” Nick shouted, but it was too late. theblueraven landed a series of blows on Hex$$ and almost killer her outright, but Nightshader moved in and back-stabbed the Corsair. Lee sank to her knees with only a sliver of HP left. Nick rolled twice and delivered a glancing blow to the Brigand. It was enough to drive him away and allow Lee to roll free. Without healing herbs she was now a lame duck.
“Any water you can breathe under?” Nick asked as he joined her by the wall.
“Fuck you, Stanners,” she said grimly, waiting for her stamina bar to rise. “What’s the game plan?”
“Survive,” Nick said, as AttackBoy, smelling blood, moved in for the kill. He was carrying a greatsword and he wielded it well. The trick with a heavy weapon like that was the recognition of risk. If you were gonna swing the thing, you’d better be damn sure you hit the target because the animations were usually quite long.
AttackBoy duly moved in close and cramped his DEX opponents for space. He knew how to cut away a dexer’s lifeblood. Strength builds like AttackBoy could repel most attacks, allowing them to counter when the opportunity was presented.
The Knight’s greatsword glowed menacingly with the blessed power conferred by Hex$$. Nick and Lee were cornered like rats in a trap. To add insult to injury, Nick was hammered by a series of glowing orbs flung by the Zealot. He had no defense against the holy orbs, watching miserably as his HP drained to less than 50%.
For the first time in the battle he thought that he and Lee were going to die. What that meant for her when she woke at Neutron Studio was anyone’s guess. Nick pictured her working as a slave NPC alongside Emily. The thought flooded him with dark anger.
“I have feelings for you, Lee,” he said before swinging viciously at AttackBoy. By design, his katana sparked off the greatsword for zero damage. The counter-attack very nearly ended Nick’s life. All he knew was that AttackBoy had crowned him a brutal down strike.
Gifted precious seconds by Nick’s sacrifice, Lee used her stamina and agility to devastating effect. She rolled out of the corner and executed a cross-bladed power attack in Hex$$’s face. The Zealot was turned into mince meat. Nick rolled left and right, dodging both of AttackBoy’s follow-up attacks. Ern grunted as his stamina reached zero and was forced to resume his guard. Nick sprinted from the corner and joined Lee, who was facing off against Nightshader.
“We’ve split them,” Nick said with a manic grin. “We can do this, Lee,”
“So you like me, huh?” she asked, feinting left and drawing a dagger-swipe.
“That was just for show,” Nick replied, swinging his katana in a power strike that removed Hex$$’s cowled head from her shoulders. The Bonded pair rolled forward as the inevitable greatsword attack came from behind. They’d timed their run perfectly and were now free to circle AttackBoy with space and maxed stamina. The odds were now heavily in their favor. Two dexers against a brute was no walk in the park but if they kept in their cool they’d prevail. The key was not to fall for the inevitable bait laid out by a desperate ex-Neutron employee.
“Our data cache on your life was less than a megabyte,” Ern spat, twirling his greatsword arrogantly. “We only needed half an hour to piece together your miserable life. Your father was a working class piece of shit. And so are you. Worse, you think you’re different. Like your skills mean something. They don’t. You’re just expendable meat like the rest of them. When Neutron kills you off, the public will move onto the next hero. It’s always been that way. You’ll be a tank vegetable in a minor facility. A janitor will clean your shit and piss from the gel every few days. That will be your life. The hideous reality is that it won’t be much different to your current existence. Right?”
Nick knew it was all calculated to crawl under his skin, but he couldn’t help but feel wounded as he circled his adversary.
“Look at him, Nick,” Lee said with disdain. “Fucker knows he’s about to become a nobody. Just one more corpse on the side of the highway. Suck it up, roadkill.”
Nick had to smile. Nobody did trash-talking like Lee. AttackBoy’s forced smile betrayed his anger. Still, he refused to make the first strike, knowing the dexers would be all over him if he did. Either Nick or Lee would have to execute an elite feint if they were gonna take him down. The Knight still had over half his HP and that plate armor looked quality.
In the end it was Nick who made the move. Lee’s HP was too low to risk a direct attack. Strength builds with two-handed weapons were extremely dangerous, but they were strafable by dexers with decent agility.
Truth be told, it was the sword and shield setup that sent dexers into a cold sweat. Anyone who could stun-butt with their shield had a profound advantage over melee dexers. Ern’s fatal mi
stake would be his hubris. Wielding a weapon with devastating attack damage was fine, but there was always a price to pay in a well-balanced game like Oakshield Junction.
Strafing was an optional strength build method of attack, but it was a dexer’s best friend. Nick rolled aggressively to Ern’s boots and began strafing his left side. Alert to the danger, AttackBoy assiduously tracked him, but when Lee worked around to his rear, the critical moment arrived quickly.
The Knight initiated his power attack, a leaping downswing that produced a ring of concussive damage. Nick saw the danger with a split second to spare, rolling away from the Knight and getting hit for moderate damage. His HP sagged to dangerous levels but it no longer mattered. Lee stepped in and thrust a scimitar through AttackBoy’s chest plate. It was a devastating back-stab, a Corsair speciality. The hybrid STR/DEX build didn’t have a large back-stab window, but when it landed, it was savage.
Ern fell forward, a haunted, hunted look on his face. He crashed to the ancient stone floor and didn’t move. Nick dared take a breath, half-expecting more adversaries to leap from the shadows. Ern’s pixel runners had been defeated. A hand clasped his shoulder, making him flinch.
“Steady,” Lee drawled in his ear. “I do believe we’ve pulled off a miracle.”
Nick didn’t know why he did it. Perhaps it was the afterglow of successful battle. Maybe was the slow buildup of tension over the last twelve hours. He leaned down and kissed Lee passionately, like he’d never kissed before. Sure, only a month ago he’d spent a magical night with Emily Lambert, but there was something primitive about the feel of Lee’s lips, the saltiness of her tongue. It felt like home. Except he was in-game.
Lee didn’t resist. When he’d finished, she took a step back and looked speechless for the first time ever.
“Where the fuck did that come from?” she said eventually. “You’re beginning to scare me, Stanners.”
The faux-roughness in her voice wasn’t fooling anyone. Nick knew he was so close to winning her heart. Close enough to imagine the pain of losing her.
“You’re alright,” he said after a pause, imitating her cool detachment. “Guess I’m getting used to having you around.”
Dexterity Build: A LitRPG Saga (The Complete Dexterity Build Cycle) Page 9
