by Adam Drake
“Cool,” he said. “So you got yourself trapped in that rock stuff there and you're asking for my help, right?”
“No,” she said.
“What? No?”
“I wasn't asking,” she said. “I was expecting your help. And have been for two days.” She smiled back at him.
Rob was glad he'd disarmed himself or things might have gotten ugly “Expecting my help? Can't you ask for it?”
Myna's lovely visage was marred by a scowl. “Are you going to rescue me, or not?” she said, crossing her arms.
Tired of the childish banter, Rob gave in. “Okay, sure. Since you asked so nicely.”
Ignoring the jab, Myna said, “A rock troll did this to me while we were fighting. But I injured it badly enough to drive it away.” She pointed at the rocky hill. “It's gone up there, somewhere. Find it and kill it. That will release me from this stuff.”
You have been offered a quest. 'Rocky Road'
Kill the rock troll to free Myna and she will teach you the Sweep Ability.
Reward: 1,000 experience points.
Accept? Y/N?
Rob stared at the quests description in surprise. Sweep Ability? Was that like the Charge Ability Dodger had used?
Now fully motivated to help, Rob accepted. “What's the Sweep Ability?” he asked. The more cool stuff he could learn, the better.
“We'll get to that once I'm free. I don't give up something for nothing.”
I don't doubt it, Rob thought. “Okay, fair enough. Which way did it go?”
She pointed and said, “Be careful. If you die, who knows how much longer I'll be here for.”
What a pleasant woman, Rob thought as he reequipped himself and started up the hill. Hopefully all his rescue quests won't involve someone like this.
As he climbed he lost view of Myna and the forest. He was surrounded by high rocks and narrow paths which led off in different directions between them.
He realized he should have asked her for more information about the rock troll, but figured she might not have shared, anyway.
Ahead, he suddenly heard a commotion. It sounded like an animal growling and the crashing of rocks. He hurried ahead to a bend in the path and carefully peered around a large boulder.
A dozen paces away he saw a large black bear fighting a tall man. As Rob took in the scene, he saw the man was covered from head to toe in little rocks. Even his head was made up of rocks, devoid of a face. The rock troll.
The bear was swiping at the rock troll with a huge paw, knocking it to the ground. The troll quickly recovered and stood, but was batted down again. The troll was missing its left arm.
Oh, hey, Rob thought. Let the bear kill it. It'd save him the trouble and the risk of bodily harm.
The bear kept trying to bite at the troll, but its huge teeth scraped off its rocky skin. For the troll's part, it looked like the bear had been taking a beating as well. The troll would suddenly shoot out with its one arm, its hand in the form of a spike, and slash at the bear.
This went on for several more moments until the bear managed to get a good hold of one of the rock troll's legs. With a powerful yank, the leg cracked free of the troll's body. The troll fell to the ground, but didn't seem to register any pain, and continued its lancing jabs.
The huge bear dropped the leg and tried to grab the troll's head with its mouth. Suddenly, the troll jabbed upwards and the tip of its hand-spike caught the bear in its mouth.
The animal went berserk and turned to run away.
From the ground, the troll reached forward with its one arm and a large rock shot out of the end of it. The rocky projectile struck the bear in the rump and instantly, the creature became encased in stone.
Rob gasped in surprise. It was the same kind of rock that trapped Myna. The bear's head was the only part of its body free of the rocky encasement. It roared and panted in desperation.
The rock troll ignored the bear and flipped over on its stomach, pulling itself along the ground with its one arm, its hand now the shape of a hook.
Rob couldn't believe his luck. His target was severely injured and even missing limbs. He moved out into the pathway and trotted toward the crawling troll.
As he passed the trapped bear, the huge beast tried to snap at him with its wounded mouth, bloody saliva hanging from its jaws. But it could barely turn its head.
Rob eased up behind the troll which didn't appear to notice him. Up close, he could see the detail of its rocky skin. It looked like a strange sculpture made entire of little rocks glued together. As it moved, the little rocks ground loudly as they shifted.
Figuring he had to start somewhere, Rob hacked at the back of the being's leg.
You have advanced in Axes! Skill has increased from 5% to 6%.
The rocks at the point of impact came loose and fell away.
The troll stopped and twisted around to look at him. As it did, it quickly shifted on its back and its arm shot forward.
Oh, damn! Rob thought, as he pulled back and brought up his buckler. The hook at the end of the troll's arm was now a point, and it glanced heavily off the front of the shield.
Rob attacked again, this time swiping at the being's arm and striking below the elbow. Little rocks flew everywhere and he could see a deep, gash revealing more rocks inside.
The troll pulled itself toward him, its faceless head swaying with the motion as it dragged itself.
He hit it again, and again, focusing on its arm. Each time the being lunged at him with its hand-spike, he either dodged away or caught the blow with his buckler.
Rob could see the arm was close to being severed and when the being lunged forward again, he swung for the wound.
But instead of a spike at the end of its arm, the being shot out a rock which smacked into the buckler. Instantly, the entire shield was encased in rock which went up Rob's arm to his shoulder.
Stunned, Rob couldn't hold his left arm up as the rock encasing it was too heavy. He was suddenly pulled down to the ground by his buckler arm.
Horrified, he looked at what had happened to him. I'm an idiot, he thought as he tried to move, but couldn't. I'm trapped! It's got me! He looked to the troll which was ponderously dragging itself to him.
Trying not to panic, he tried to move away, but couldn't. The thing reached toward him with another spike attack.
Angry, as well as terrified, Rob swung as hard as he could at the creature's arm. His axe bit deeper into its wound and suddenly the arm fell off to land on the ground.
This time the troll took notice, turning its faceless head to look at its new stump. As it did, Rob reached over as far as he could while still pinned to the ground by his buckler arm. He swung downward with his axe and caught the troll on its neck.
The blade cut deeper much to Rob's relief. He struck at its neck, over and over.
The troll tried to pull away but only managed to futilely kick its leg about with the effort.
Not wanting to be trapped like this forever, Rob roared and hacked at the troll's neck until the head suddenly popped off its rocky shoulders to thud to the ground.
The next moment, the troll's body crumbled into a pile of little rocks.
You have killed a Rock Troll. You have gained 500 experience points toward your next level.
The rock encasing his buckler arm turned instantly to dust, and he suddenly found himself free.
“Oh, thank god!” he said as he moved his arm about. It was too messed up to consider what would have happened to him if he stayed stuck like that.
Quest complete. 'Rocky Road'
You have slain the troll and freed Myna. Speak to her to learn the Sweep Ability.
Reward: 1,000 experience points
Suddenly, a roar tore his attention away from his limb.
The bear was now free, too, and it whirled about to face Rob, blood and saliva hanging from its wounded mouth.
“Oh, shit,” Rob said as he jumped to his feet.
The injured beast charged at h
im, roaring in pain and rage.
Wide-eyed, Rob backed up until he was against the rocky wall of the pathway, his buckler held in front of him.
The bear swatted at him with a huge paw, nearly wrenching his buckler away with its power.
Rob countered with a swing aimed at its wounded snout and caught it on the bridge of its nose.
The beast roared and swatted at him again.
This time, Rob ducked and managed to roll to one side, with his buckler to the ground.
You have increased in Dodge! Skill has increased from 5% to 6%.
As he emerged from his roll, he slashed at the monster bear's front leg, creating a large bloody wound.
The animal turned to swat at him again, but Rob was now clear to run down the pathway.
Heading back down the hill as fast as he could, he heard the huge beast behind him in pursuit, panting and grunting. Injured or not, the animal had the power to rip his head off with one good swipe.
But as he got distance on the bear, he heard it suddenly tumble and collapse to the ground. He stopped to look, panting for breath.
Its wounds bled profusely, and its fur was coated in thick blood.
Sensing it was no longer a threat, Rob leaned against a tree and watched the great beast slowly die. It only took a few more minutes.
You have killed a Giant Bear. You have gained 450 experience points toward your next level.
Rob's Axe of Blood had claimed another victim. Maybe he should start notching the handle.
Despite being tired and battered, he had enough sense to go back and check the rock troll for loot. He kicked at its pile of little rocks until he found a glowing shard at the bottom.
You have taken an item: Medium Shard of Life Magic
Value: 5 Gold Pieces.
Ah, nice! He wondered if shards worked like potions where two mediums created a large.
He returned to the bear's mountainous body and tried to figure out a way to check beneath it. But he didn't have to. Nestled in its bloody jaws was a ring.
You have taken an item: Ring of the Bear
Durability: 45/45
+5 to all melee damage
+1 Strength
Value: 8 Gold Pieces
Oh, nice! He removed the glove on his left hand and slid the ring on. This, plus his gloves, brought his strength up to 14. One more and he could wield his Sword of Pain.
He moved down to the base of the hill, happy with how things turned out. Gaining the ring had put him in a better mood.
He'd had one hell of a morning so far; bandits, bats, and bears, and it wasn't even noon, yet.
As he rounded the final boulder, he saw Myna standing at the base of the hill. Arms crossed, her freed foot was tapping impatiently at the ground.
Oh, and bitches, too.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Took you long enough,” Myna said as he approached. “I thought you and the troll decided to become lovers and run off together.”
Maybe I should have, Rob thought. “It took as long as it needed to. There was a bear to contend with as well, not that you care.”
“You are just full of excuses, aren't you?” Myna looked him up and down. “Guess you need another heal, huh? You know it's wise to try and avoid taking damage when fighting. You might live longer.”
“Never realized that, thanks,” Rob said. As she healed him, again, he braced for another cuff to the ear, but it didn't happen.
Finished, she stood back and said, “Okay, let's get this over with. I have places to go, and people to see.”
Feeling the abrasiveness of her tone, Rob finally snapped. “You are one hell of a piece of work, you know that, lady?”
She blinked her huge eyes at him in mock surprise. “Oh, do tell.”
“Considering I just saved you, don't you think you can knock it off with the attitude? What kind of damsel in distress insults her rescuer?”
Myna's expression turned angry. “Damsel in distress? Who's supposed to be the damsel in this scenario? It certainly isn't me. You're the one who needed all the healing, remember.”
“I was going to use my potions.”
“Because you can't heal, right? I can tell you lack the spell which is more than a little sad. Oh, and you didn't rescue me. I rescued myself.”
“How do you figure that?” Rob scoffed. “I killed the troll thus rescuing you from being trapped.”
“No, I told you to kill the troll. It was me instructing you what to do. You were the best available tool for the job and used you accordingly. So I rescued myself.” She offered him a smug grin.
Rob had to fight down the urge to Shield Bash that smile off her face. This conversation was going nowhere, and he had to stop letting her bait him into arguing further.
With a sigh, he said, “Okay, fine. You rescued yourself. Now, can you teach me this Sweep Ability?”
This seemed to mollify her. “That's better. And yes, I'll teach you, but first you need to learn what Abilities are.”
When she went quiet, Rob counted to three then asked, “Okay, what are Abilities?” He wanted to just get through this.
Her demeanor changed, and she visibly brightened. “Abilities are like skills only they don't need points of any kind to make them more potent. Instead, they require energy and sometimes one or two underlying skills to increase their effectiveness. Understand?”
“No.”
It was her turn to sigh. “Okay, Sweep is an attack you can use which hits up to three close-quarters opponents at the same time.”
“Nice!” That would be immensely useful.
“It costs ten energy and has a ten second cooldown. Ten seconds in a fight where you're outnumbered is a long time, trust me I know. But it's better than waiting hours, like some Abilities.”
“So I can Sweep every ten seconds?”
“Until your energy drains out, sure. Then you'll have trouble simply raising your arms. The key is not to use it too much. Let your energy have a chance to regenerate, then use it again.”
“Okay,” Rob said, “sounds straight forward enough.”
She stood back a few paces and drew her sword. Rob noticed its long thin blade looked like smoky glass. “Hold your axe out like this.”
Rob followed her lead.
“Then do a wide swing like so.”
Rob imitated her movement.
A message appeared.
You have learned a new Ability: Sweep
Can hit up to three close-quarter opponents at the same time with a melee weapon.
Energy cost: 10, Cooldown: 10 seconds
This was followed by another message.
Achievement unlocked! 'Never Stop Learning'
You have learned your first Ability. Congratulations! There are many more out there to learn once you locate the trainers for them.
Reward: 5 skill points.
“Nice!” Rob said. Rescuing this crazy chick actually had an upside. “Thanks.”
Myna shrugged. “It's what I do as a trainer.”
“Hang on, I have points to distribute,” he said calling up his skill list.
“You leveled?” Myna asked.
“No, an achievement reward,” he said, trying to focus. As he scanned down the list, he froze at his Magical Affinity sitting at 1%.
Wait a second, he thought. What was wrong with that number? Then it hit him and he cursed. Saif had explicitly told him to put any skill points into Magical Affinity at his next level. But Rob had completely forgotten and put them elsewhere. He needed to bring that skill up to raise his mana for spells.
Grumbling, he put all 5 skill points into Magical Affinity raising it to 6%. In turn, this bumped his mana to 28.
“You don't look too happy,” Myna said.
“I goofed up a little,” Rob said with a sigh. “Not an issue, though. So, are we finished?”
“Yeah, sure,” she said, looking a little disappointed. “Why, where are you going?”
Rob noticed she'd relaxed a bit. Maybe teac
hing Abilities mellows people out in this world. “Yeah, places to go, people to rescue,” he said with a grin. He got his bearings and faced east, the direction of the house.
Conscious she was watching him expectantly, Rob said, “Well, it was nice meeting you.” Not. “Take care.”
He headed back into the forest.
But before he got ten paces away, Myna called after him.
