Cursemancer

by A P Gore

  “No girl, no playing now.” He turned his face away from her.

  Thia lowered her hands and made a sad face. “Thia. Play. Daddy. Fights.”

  Her words struck Noah like a lightning. He was taking her to hunt monsters every day, but it had never occurred to him that this might not be what a little girl needed. Though she was a strong demon girl, she was just a kid and needed play time, care, and love. What was he giving her? Monsters. Damn scary monsters and a constant state of worry from seeing her daddy get hurt. That wasn’t right. He shook his head in disapproval.

  This has to change.

  “Thia, come here,” Noah said. “We’ll play after getting a bath.” He flashed her a playful smile.

  His call instantly improved her mood, and she jumped back on his shoulder to lick all over his face.

  “Wait, Thia! Let me get a bath. I’m so dirty right now.”

  “Thia. Play. Daddy.” She lifted her hands in the air, and a pristine smile graced her lips.

  “Wait. First, tell me why she smells like a goblin.” Mathial cocked a brow.

  “We killed a goblin today,” Noah said. “Maybe that’s why.”

  Mathial took a step back, eyes wide. “Did you say you killed a goblin?”

  “Yes. I even got his spear, and I was hoping you would find me a buyer for it.”

  Mathial vaulted over the counter and got in Noah’s personal space. “Show it to me. Fast.” His words ran together like tightly packed test tubes.

  Noah was surprised by the blacksmith's eagerness, but pulled out the goblin’s skin and spear and placed them on the counter. Belatedly, he realized his error. Mathial didn’t like dirtying his counter by any means.

  But Mathial was completely distracted today. He picked up the spear, bringing within kissing distance, and inhaled deeply—like he could suck the goblin out of it. Then he rubbed the spear all over his body. If the goblin had still been alive, after watching this, he would never have never touched his own spear again. Heck, even Noah didn’t want to touch it now.

  Mathial started chanting in some strange language, even weirder than the native demon tongue. Noah didn’t understand a thing, but he knew Mathial had a history with goblins, and the phrase ‘Fock the goblins’ came from somewhere. It was weird to see that even the NPCs had a back story. Well, nothing felt unreal about this game, so why not?

  Mathial’s eyes gleamed with a white aura when he opened them again. A cocky smile spread across his face. “Would you give it to me, human? I’ll offer you a better room and a 10% discount on your daily rent.”

  “Sure, take it.” Even if he had offered nothing, Noah would have let him keep it, but a better room was more than welcome. He wouldn’t miss bumping his head on the cellar’s infuriatingly low ceiling, that was for sure.

  Quest Completion Alert: Congratulations, you have completed a hidden quest. Fock the goblins. This is an ongoing quest offered by Mathial. As you have completed a hidden quest, initial quest rewards are doubled. Rewards gained: A clean and spacious room in Blacksmith’s Inn. 10% discount on all future purchases and room service. 1000 experience. (2*500). Reputation: + 5000 with Mathial. New reputation: Considerate.

  Quest Updated. Fock the goblins: Mathial has a blood feud with goblins. Keep bringing him new goblin weapons and their dead skins to keep gaining rewards. Ongoing Reward: Reputation: 50. Experience: 50

  Congratulations! You have found another hidden quest. How fortunate are you? +1 chance.

  Congratulations, you have leveled up. You receive 3 skill points and 3 stat points for allocation. A new skill is unlocked.

  Poison Shield: Apply a shield around your hand to absorb 5 damage per second. Requires 5 spirit per second.

  Noah jumped with joy when the white light of level up hit him, cleaning him and bringing his health to full.

  He assigned 2 points to wisdom and 1 to dexterity to balance it out. He then accessed his character sheet in delta mode.

  Name: Noah

  Class: Cursemancer

  Second Class: Zombiemancer

  Stats

  Constitution 13

  Dexterity 7

  Wisdom 26

  Chance 5

  Health: 380/380

  Stamina: 220 (6.68/sec)

  Spirit: 260 (11.76)

  Skills

  Poison Orb (Level 5): Total Damage: 31. Skill Progression: 30%.

  Poison Shield (Level 1): Absorb 5 damage. Maintenance cost: 5 spirit per second.

  Curse of Fire Ball (Level 1): Can’t be leveled with skill points. Damage: 62. Charges left 50/50 Skill Progression: 25%.

  Current Experience: 8060/13000.

  5000 more experience before I get some zombie action.

  Noah cracked an evil smile.

  25. Goblin Town

  T he bright morning sunshine, a nice comfy mattress made up of soft cotton, a high ceiling, a small torch he could fire up at night, and Thia’s gorgeous smile weren’t the only reasons for Noah’s cheerful mood the next morning. Two more things added to his morning cheer: the level up and the memory of playing with Thia the previous evening.

  Noah, Mathial, and Thia had played a game of hide and seek in the inn’s backyard, but the way Thia had reacted to everything was special to watch. By the ten minute mark, Mathial suggested they go easy on catching her. Thia loved hiding behind small objects in the smithy. She was easy to find, but following Mathial’s suggestion, he pretended to search around her while not looking at her. That quadrupled her fun. Whenever he pretended to give up, she would jump out of her hiding place with a giant smile and a mischievous look. Giving a child the satisfaction of winning was far better than winning small games. A forgotten way of living life.

  The same smile appeared on her face whenever she found his own hideouts, which he made sure she would find easily. It was a fun-filled evening, and he’d even raised his reputation with her a substantial amount. Not that he needed it, as she was almost always around him licking his face. The evening turned out to be a good dexterity exercise too, and by the time they went to bed he had received +1 to his dexterity, which raised his life and stamina too. Every point added in the main five stats resulted in an increase in health and stamina, and that was already helping him in fights. Gone were the days when he got tired just from walking for half an hour. Now he could sprint for fifteen minutes, feeling no exhaustion.

  How would it be for level 50, or even level 100? Like being a god.

  First get your shit together and power up.

  Today, he had planned to go deeper into the forest and scout the area around the cave. If there were any more goblins, he would take care of them and receive more bonuses from Mathial. Above all, he needed to level up. He was so close to his precious zombies. He also wanted to try out his new curse of fire balls, to try and figure out how to use it to his advantage. The curse was amazeballs and did twice the damage of poison orb, but it also cost twice as much spirit. So he would have to find out if it was efficient or a dud. Then there was the spirit shield; he would want it to be active around him to absorb some damage. Looking at his current available skill points, he put 3 points into the shield skill, pumping it to level 4. He had 6 points left, and those would be required when zombies become available, so he banked them for now.

  His leveled-up poison shield absorbed 30 damage for him, which wasn't much, but anything was better than having no armor. It also required 5.75 spirit per second now, but he had 11.76 spirit generation, so he should be able to keep it active indefinitely. The 20% defense bonus was the cherry on top. But it wasn't useful unless he got some armor for himself first. Having no armor made it almost useless for now.

  Meeting the local merchant immediately jumped to the top of his to-do list. It had become a necessity.

  Today’s morning exercise routine had also gifted him with +1 strength. It’d taken him ten days to gain that point, but it meant what he was doing was working, so he would have to continue grinding fitness levels. His muscles also got a littl
e toned up, which was pretty awesome compared to the burger biceps of his real-life body. Serena, his wife, used to warn him of the dangers of fat, but he’d always ignored her. His logic was simple: he had money, and money could buy nanites, technology to cure anything in his life except magical illness.

  He sighed, not understanding his previous self. Being with Thia was teaching him many things, and the importance of family time was one of them. There were many things about his past that he would like to change.

  But that boat had sailed long ago. He could only fix one thing: meeting his daughter and making up for missing twenty years of her life.

  Mathial was working on a spear when Noah trudged downstairs. The blacksmith seemed to be working extra hard on the spear.

  Is that the goblin spear?

  “Mathial, do you know any place where I can find more goblins to hunt?” Noah asked.

  “Fock the goblins! Goblins are the sworn enemies of the demons, so not many come near the town unless they want to die. Go deeper into the jungle if you want to find some.” Mathial never took his eyes off the spear.

  “Thanks.” Noah waved goodbye, packed his lunch, and headed for the forest with Thia on his shoulder. With the increased life pool, the 20% loss to health because of the curse wasn’t bad. The best thing about it was the auto-regen of life. If he had to chug healing potions every morning, it would have been a very costly affair. Anyway, two hours were already over, and by the time they reached the cave, two more would pass. It shouldn't be an issue, he thought.

  He was so wrong.

  They were halfway to the cave when Thia clutched his shoulder, trying to steer him away. “Daddy. Danger.”

  But her efforts had the exact opposite effect. Noah heard the arrow whistling through the air, but he couldn’t remove himself from its trajectory. The arrow head sunk into his shoulder. A pain shot up from his shoulder, and he dropped on the ground. Thia moved fast, and pulled the arrow out of his shoulder. She hissed at the direction from where the arrow came, and would have jumped forward if Noah hadn’t stopped her with his other hand.

  A red notification filled his vision. It was his fault. Last night he’d been checking on something, and he had set his notifications to on in every situation. He willed the notification away and jumped behind a nearby tree. Then he quickly set the notifications to off in combat mode. He pulled a bandage from his bag and wrapped it around his wound. The pain subsided.

  “Thia can you check which direction the enemy is? And don’t attack, just report back,” his voice was a bare whisper.

  Thia’s weight lifted from his shoulder, and she vanished into the tree above them. Unlike Noah, she had great tracking skill.

  “Daddy. Big. Goblin,” she whispered in his ear. She was hanging from a tree branch by her tail. It was like seeing a bat, somehow both super funny and creepy all at once. If Thia’d had wings, she would have looked like a bat wearing a shirt and pants.

  Focus! Noah. Focus!

  “Thanks, sweetie. Let me check.” He dropped onto all fours and peered the direction Thia had indicated. Soon, he spotted a big goblin and his female goblin friend with a bow standing about fifty feet away.

  The male goblin wore thick plated armor and a bone helmet, something Noah would be easily wearing if he was a paladin.

  Damn you, asshole. He cursed the demon that forgot to tell him important stuff.

  The female had a big scar on her forehead and wore only essentials: a bra and pants. But her bow looked precious. It was long and glowed with a blue aura. Maybe it had some magical property.

  Noah ducked back behind the tree he was hiding behind when the female looked in his direction. But they didn’t seem to notice his location. They seemed to be just keeping an idle watch, like they were waiting for someone.

  What are they doing near the demon town?

  He got his answer within seconds. A demon with his face half covered by a mask walked out of the gates and cautiously moved toward the duo. When he reached them, he lowered his mask slightly, revealing a hint of a scar on his face. A chill ran down Noah’s spine as he remembered the death he’d received at the hands of that very demon. His skin itched with the urge to kill the bastard, but he suppressed it and cast perception on the demon.

  Perception failed. Are you a nut? Do you really think he is just a level or two above you? Try someone else.

  Noah did just that, targeting the female goblin.

  Female Goblin: Archer Class. Level 5. Health 300/300.

  Did I get class information because of my perception skill level?

  He repeated the spell on the big goblin male, but his perception failed with another nasty comment from the game. By the time he read the message, the trio was already on their way deeper into the forest.

  Noah paused, considering his options. Should he follow them or go back and hunt for small game? He didn’t know who the scarred demon was, so he couldn’t just go back and report what he’d seen to the head demon. He needed more information. Only then could he tell the head demon.

  “Thia. Listen, girl. We’re going to follow those three. Please don't make any sound. Also, if they spot us, just run away. Daddy will come back tomorrow. Got it?”

  “Daddy. Back. Promise?” She stared at him with big, innocent brown eyes

  “Promise.” He smiled at her, and they took their first step in the direction the trio had gone.

  The goblin male and demon walked together while the female goblin patrolled around them. She seemed to be a guard, as the male goblin yelled at her whenever she got within earshot of their conversation. The goblin and demon seemed to have their heads together about something quite important. Noah wanted to know what, but the female archer kept a close watch on the surroundings.

  Noah kept a safe distance between him and the archer. It might have been overkill for her tracking range, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Overcautious, perhaps,, but he knew he would die if the trio spotted them. There were a couple of times when things got a little iffy as the archer’s patrol took her close to Noah and Thia, but fortunately it never escalated into a full-blown search. But every time she seemed iffy, and her eyes focused on the tree they were hiding behind, Noah held his breath.

  They continued traveling for another hour before stopping in front of a mountain. Noah hid behind a huge tree trunk, watching their every action warily.

  Brown and green vines surrounded the mountain wall—vines as thick as his hand. The vines moved as the fat goblin walked near them. Noah had a feeling the vines were some kind of magical plant. The masked demon proved him right. When the demon walked closer to the wall, one of the flowers on the vine opened up and a mouth full of sharp teeth popped out of it and tried to take a bite of the demon’s shoulder. It could have gotten worse for the demon, as a couple more vine flowers were blooming, but the fat goblin jumped in front of them, waving his staff, and the vines went back to normal.

  Noah's skin itched as he realized he was going to have to follow the trio inside the mountain if he really wanted to know what was going on. He cast perception on the vine, but it failed with another miserable notification from the game. But then a quest alert popped up in front of him.

  Hidden Quest Alert: There is something fishy going on in the hidden mountain. Find out more to receive a quest. Quest reward: Unknown. Do you accept? Yes/No?

  He selected yes. There was no point in declining any quest right then. He needed the experience. Maybe he wouldn't be able to get into the mountain yet, but he would surely come back once he was stronger.

  The huge goblin ducked below a vine and vanished inside the mountain. The demon followed him, but the goblin girl waited for ten more minutes, making sure no one was following them, before following them inside.

  Noah turned back to leave, but a pair of goblin scouts stopped his advance. Two spears were pressed against his chest in a fraction of second. Even Thia was caught by surprise. She wrapped her tail around his arm tighter than normal.

  Noa
h's quick perception check revealed them as level 5 scouts, but he couldn't understand how they’d sneaked up on him. And without Thia noticing them, too. Did they have some sort of skill for this?

  “Human demon together? How you find Goblin Town of Muramba. Tell us now.” One of the slender goblins pressed his spear tip against Noah's shoulder.

  “We know nothing about any town. We are travelers and stopped here to eat our food.” Noah pulled his lunch packet from his bag. Seeing the food made his stomach growl. He and Thia’d had no food since the morning.

  “Daddy. Food,” Thia growled, making Noah realize how bad a person he was. He was an adult and could live without food, but what about Thia? How could he keep a four-year-old on an empty stomach? Shame overcame him.

  “Daddy will feed you, sweetie.”

  “Daddy?” The other goblin spoke. “You are a human, and the kid is a demon.” He poked his spear into Noah's skin again. “How can she call you daddy?” he stabbed Thia with his spear, and a painful grunt-moan from Thia followed it.

  Noah stiffened. The goblin dared hurt his daughter? He chanted the curse name and applied the fire ball curse on both of them, one after another. Two fiery balls appeared in the air and struck the goblins in their faces, wiping their smug smiles right off.

  The goblins stumbled backward. The slender one tumbled over a stone, but the fat one quickly regained his balance and charged Noah with his spear. Noah dodged and fired a poison orb at him.

  The orb hit the fat goblin. He lost his balance and fell.

  “Thia. Have some food. I'll take care of these.” He triggered his poison shield and charged the slender goblin, hitting him with a poison orb from point blank range. The goblin was just about to get up when the poison orb hit him, and the impact knocked him back down. Both the goblins had their life reduced to half.

  Noah turned back to attack the fat one, but Thia was already on him, stabbing his collarbone with her tail. The latest thrust of her tail pierced a major artery, and blood spurt out of the wound like someone had loosened the tap of a large tank.