Dodge Tank: A LitRPG Novel (Crystal Shards Online Book 1)
Page 14
“See?” she says standing to her full height. “Nothing to it. Sneak, backstab, run, hide, repeat. Got it?”
I nod, but wonder if I can pull it off.
“If you fail sneaking, just run away as fast as you can again.”
“Okay.”
I draw my dagger and feel like a real villain as I engage sneak and creep my way toward another dockworker. They’re NPC’s but they still look like a player would. And being human, and a civilian, I feel a bit odd attacking them. But hey, it’s just a game. This is a bunch of code not a real person.
I get behind him and thrust my dagger into his lower back.
You backstab the Strong Dockworker!
-57 HP
He cries out and collapses. I waste no time sprinting away toward some crates. My heart is racing as I hear him curse behind me and clamber to his feet. I duck around the edge of the crate and try to hide. Tense seconds pass and finally I see a buff appear on my HUD.
You hide in the shadows.
Your hide skill increases by 0.5
Dang, I’m going to have to level this skill up.
The dockworker stops just a few feet from me, looks around a second and then continues back like he’s forgotten why he came. I can see my hit took off 5% of his health though. Not bad at all, considering he’s a level 30 mob and I’m level 5, but still, this is going to take a while. I steel myself and rise to tip toe behind him. I get within a couple feet and the floor creaks.
We both stop.
He looks over his shoulder and sees me. “Hey!”
The Dockworker notices you!
Your sneak skill increases by 0.3!
He throws a punch at me and I duck just in time.
A dockworker misses you.
Your evasion increases by 0.8
Level up! Your evasion skill is now 5.
“Run!” Aiko shouts.
I do so and feel another whiff of air above my head.
A dockworker misses you.
Your evasion increases by 0.8
“Getting massive skill ups!” I say as I duck back behind another crate. I make myself as small as possible and get the hide buff right before the worker rounds the corner. My heart is hammering in my chest. Who knew you could play the game like this? “This is intense!”
Aiko does her cackle laugh. “I know right? This is way better than trading blows like a robot, huh? Try again. But don’t wait so long before you backstab this time. Move faster.”
I wait till the worked walks off again and then creep back out. I get just behind and nail him with a jab to the spine that sends him to his knees in pain. I then dash away to hide again.
“Nice one!” Aiko says. “Keep it going.”
The nerve racking game of hit and run continues for about ten minutes. A couple of times I come close to getting hit again and nearly piss my pants. But I’m able to get away and hide. Eventually I get the dockworker down to a sliver of health and land the final backstab.
You defeated the Strong Dockworker!
You gain 8700 experience points.
Congratulations! You have gained a level!
Congratulations! You have gained a level!
Congratulations! You have gained a level!
Congratulations! You have gained a level!
Congratulations! You have gained a level!
Congratulations! You have gained a level!
Congratulations! You have gained a level!
You are now level 12.
You have gained 11 attribute points.
You have learned a new passive ability “Awareness”.
You are acutely more aware of your surroundings and can more easily detect hidden objects and beings.
“Holy cow!” I say out of breath. “I did it!”
Aiko starts clapping. “Nice going, Reece.”
I then get a ton of congratulations through private messages from people watching Aiko’s stream.
Lexi7even: Way to go man!
Cormack: You had me terrified a few times there! Lol
Sellie: Wow! How many levels did you just get?
Benjimo: Sweet dude!
I’m still shaking a bit from all the adrenaline. “That was major. I can’t believe I just downed a level 30 mob. I had no idea thief was this overpowered!”
Aiko laughs. “It’s not really. It’s the area. The dim lighting and tight spaces in here give huge bonuses to hide and sneak. And backstab ignores all armor value, so you can do decent damage even at your level. So long as you’re fast enough to get away, you can take them down. That’s why I say this place is a secret. Not too many people know about it.” She then pauses. “Well, I guess a few more do now, thanks to my stream. You’re welcome guys.”
I almost wish I could see her subscribers’ reactions when she says that.
“The point is, don’t go thinking you can do this with any old mob. Only these ones. I think one more will do it.”
One more. I can’t believe I’m about to do in less than an hour what took Gilly and I, plus that guy Fredric half the night. I wonder how many more secret leveling spots Aiko has. If I stuck with her, I could probably hit 85 ninja in a couple of days!
The thought suddenly awakens me to what I’m actually doing here. I’m conspiring with the enemy! Or that’s how Val Helena would probably see it anyway. And I’m probably misleading Aiko as well. She’s probably doing this with the assumption that I’ll be joining her at level 85. I wonder how long I can keep dragging this out. But no, I need to be honest here. I need to nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand. “Hey, Aiko I need to tell you something.”
Maybe it’s the sullen tone in my voice, but her face goes stiff as she raised a brow. “Tell me what?”
Here it goes. “I’m… I’ve already decided to team up with Val Helena,” I say without looking at her. “I’ve joined her guild to take down the world boss.”
I try to ignore all the private messages that come at me from her viewers.
Alice: You what!?!
Benjimo: You piece of crap!
Simone: You chose wrong, dude.
LuluHeart: You suck! :P
Jixer: Hope you fail asshat!
She doesn’t say anything for a moment, only stares at me like I’m something she wants to sink her katana into. And then her expression changes, her face brightening with a smile. “Well, I suppose I shouldn’t have been so quick to give you a free lesson. So what did she promise you, Reece? Money? A hot date maybe?”
I swallow and don’t really want to answer.
“Well whatever it was, I hope it wasn’t an easy kill, because it won’t be if you’re going in with her.”
“Actually, she did specifically make a point that it would not be easy.”
She smirks at my attempt to lighten the mood. “I probably shouldn’t blame you for being an opportunist. I guess she’s taught you well.”
I’m not sure what to make of that statement. Clearly Aiko and Val Helena have some kind of feud going on and I’m about to get stuck right in the middle of it!
“Look, I’m sorry,” I say. “Val Helena, she… She went out on a limb for me and I owe it to her. I know there’s some bad blood between you two and I didn’t mean to stir it up. ”
“There’s nothing to stir up,” Aiko snaps. “Helena keeps reliving a false version of the past that I have nothing to do with.” Her gaze then wanders for a moment perhaps lost in those same memories. And then she refocuses on me. “Besides, that old cow is deluded if she thinks a noob like you will have any chance against Vulnar.”
Her words stab me like a dagger to the chest.
“Think yourself lucky for what you’ve learned here today, Reece.” And her tone becomes like ice. “From this moment onward we are enemies, understand? So long as you’re with Val Helena you can be no friend of mine.”
Yikes…
Then she gives me a nasty scowl. “The next time we meet, you’d better hope it’s not in a player kill area.”
> Double yikes!
“I’d wish you good luck, but unlike Helena, I don’t believe in feeding fools lies.” And then she steps away in her runway model walk. “See you around, pretty boy.”
Chapter 18: Ninja
Congratulations!
You have gained a new nemesis: Aiko!
At least that’s what I imagine the game should be telling me right about now. I sigh as I sink my dagger into the back of another dockworker and feel like I’m getting better at backstabbing in more ways than one. As I run and hide, I contemplate if I could have handled things better. Maybe, but at least I ended it with Aiko before things went too far. Just didn’t think she would have gotten that ticked off about it.
I sneak back for another backstab and am almost in place, when I get a private message.
Gilly: Hey I’m back! What are you up to? (:
I complete my evil deed, taking the dockworker down to 5% health, before returning to the safety of the shadows to respond to her.
Me: Working on Thief. Level 12 right now.
Gilly: Wow already? I was just joking about being a ninja by the time I got back, you know?! @_@
Me: Well…I had a little help.
Gilly: You did?
I wonder if it should actually share with her what happened. But I need to tell somebody.
Me: Yeah. Aiko. Showed me a nice leveling spot. But she wasn’t too happy when I told her I was with Val Helena.
Gilly: What do you mean?
Me: She basically threatened to kill me. Plus her 1 million viewers all hate me now too.
Gilly: Are you serious? O_o
Me: Yeah, but it’s all good, I guess. I didn’t want it to go too far. Didn’t want to feel like I was betraying Val Helena.
Gilly: oh right… wouldn’t want to do that… -_-
I chuckle at her response.
Me: So you got a vendetta against Val Helena too now? ; )
Gilly: I just don’t like how you’re always sucking up to her. q:
I sneak back out and land my last backstab on the dockworker.
You defeated the Strong Dockworker!
You gain 8700 experience points.
Congratulations! You have gained a level!
Congratulations! You have gained a level!
Congratulations! You have gained a level!
You are now level 15.
You have gained 5 attribute points.
You have learned a new passive ability “Dual Wield”
You can now use a melee weapon in each hand.
My eyes bulge when I see the new ability. No way! Dual wield?? How cool was that! I can’t contain my grin as I equip both my daggers and do a quick double swipe to the air. I think I’m liking thief. And if thief is this cool, I can’t wait for ninja.
Me: Sorry, Gilly! (: You’re going to have to bear with me sucking up to Val Helena a little bit longer, because she said to contact her when I’m ready to unlock ninja! ^_^
Gilly: What??? O_O!! Already??
Me: Yup! I just hit 15!
* * *
I show off my new dual attack move to Gilly, who’s sitting on a wooden bollard attached to the pier. She’s upgraded her gear some. Gone is the dumpy robe to be replaced by a far more elegant one that’s a dark blue. She’s also wearing a really cute witch’s hat of the same color. I think they are a level 12 set.
She claps and cheers for me. “Way cool! Can’t wait to see you in action.”
I can’t either, to be honest. “I need to upgrade my gear I think.”
“Yeah,” Gilly agrees. “You still look like a total noob. A total badass noob mind you, but still a noob.”
I laugh at that.
“Let’s go shopping while we wait for your boss to show up.”
“Val is not my boss, Gilly,” I say sardonically.
“Oh its Val now, is it?” She rolls her eyes, but I think it’s playfully.
I just chuckled again. “I can’t win with you. Let’s go, she said to meet her near the central spawn point anyway.”
We head deeper into Swifttide away from the docks and towards the central market. The stone that forms the streets and walls of the city is a brilliant white that reflects the noon day sun and gives the crowded market an even more vibrant atmosphere. There are a lot more high level players here than in Timberdale and a lot more NPC vendors as well. I find an auction board and put up both my daggers for sale as well as my armor before looking for new gear.
“How’s your Mom doing?” Gilly asks while I’m perusing.
“She’s okay,” I say, semi distracted by the huge list of gear that’s available at my new level. I have my eye on a couple of Level 15 knives that are +1 and some cool looking ring mail armor. “She’s getting more and more worried about my brother though.”
“Why? What’s up with him? Still sneaking out?”
“Yeah and he didn’t come home last night. Again.”
Gilly pulls her lips to the side in a frown. “You ever talk to him about it?”
“Talk?” I let out a scoff. “I don’t think I could talk to that guy about anything.”
I decide to go with the knives but settle on a set of cool looking leather armor instead of the ringmail. I don’t plan on getting hit after all and the leather has some bonuses to sneak and hide. The total sets me back almost 8k, but I’m going to sell it right back when I unlock ninja, so I’m not too concerned about the cost.
“Why don’t you just follow him?” Gilly says. “See where he goes.”
“Because I can’t wa—”
I stop mid-sentence and look at Gilly like she’s just said the most profound thing in the world. I could. I could follow him. I could actually do that now.
“Plus, with all your sneaky thief training, it’ll probably be a breeze!” Gilly laughs when she says it, but I’m thinking of it seriously now. Mike has no idea I can walk. If I order a big coat or something through the nano processor, I could totally pass myself off as someone else. It’d be just like the leather armor I just bought, a bonus to hide. And even though it’s just in game, I do feel like I know a bit more about sneaking around now, thanks to those dockworkers. Even if it’s just in principle. Maybe I could pull it off.
“Well how cute, it looks like you’ve brought a friend along.”
Both Gilly and I look up to see Val Helena, in warrior mode, standing behind us. Gilly’s face instantly wrinkles into a scowl which only causes Val Helena to let out one of her Goddess laughs. “Take it easy, sweetheart. I’m just pulling your chain.”
Gilly folds her arms in a huff and turns a shade of red and so do I when Gilly catches me staring at Val Helena’s skin-baring warrior outfit. I half wonder if she didn’t switch to warrior for just that reason to tick Gilly off more.
“Normal people say hello as a greeting…” Gilly says sourly.
“Hello, Val,” I say as a joke.
Gilly then points to me as an example. “See?”
Val Helena just laughs and shakes her head. “You two really are cute. Come on let’s get going. Time to make you a ninja.”
She shoots out a party request and we both join. We then follow her as she heads away from the markets.
“So is the quest going to be hard?” I ask. “Do we need more people for it?”
“It’s level 15 so probably not. Although if you’re going as thief, I wouldn’t go too crazy on the heals. You got no Warcry to pull mobs off of Gilly if she steals hate from you.”
Dang, I didn’t think of that.
“But you shouldn’t be trying to get hit anyway. Just stand directly opposite one another. That way you can backstab the mob if it turns from you to face her. That should be enough damage to get its attention back on you again. Just don’t take on more than one at a time.”
“Wow,” Gilly says thoughtfully. “That’s actually kind of a good idea.”
Val Helena smiles at her. “I have my moments.”
We arrive at another pier, but instead of ships with sails,
this one has ships that are fitted with hot air balloons tethered along its sides.
“This is the real hard part about unlocking ninja,” Val Helena says. “The quest is on a different continent and that’s what I’m going to help you with.”
“A different continent?” Gilly says.
“The Ninja class is part of an old expansion. When it was released, there were a bunch of quests you needed to complete just to unlock the skyship route to get there. But now you can get a buddy pass that allows you to bring other players along for the first time.”
“Oh…” I say. “Cool.”
“The guild had to hunt down a legendary monster for this, so be appreciative.”
I don’t quite know what to say to that. “Wow…I’m… humbled. Thanks.”
“Yeah. A lot of people are counting on you now, Reece,” she says and then she smiles and winks at me. “So don’t screw up.”
* * *
We board after Val Helena grants us access through her buddy pass and then we’re off into the sky. The skyship rolls and sways as it gains altitude and from the sides we get a gorgeous vantage of Nasgar as the ship soars a few hundred feet over the land and water.
“How long does this take?” Gilly asks, the wind blowing back her short black hair.
“About twenty minutes,” Val Helena says.
Gilly sort of grumbles. “Why didn’t the Devs just make it instantaneous? Who wants to be stuck doing nothing for twenty minutes?”