by Dakota Krout
“If you don’t mind me asking, how does that qualify you to be a tank?” Joe quizzed carefully, knowing that this man wasn’t in the best of moods.
“As it turns out, nah too many people care for mah chantin’. Ever since ah started playin’, people have been tossing things at me! Ah’ve taken so much damage that mah constitution has skyrocketed without trying! I don’ even add points to it, but it’s double my nex’ highest stat.” Bard seemed oddly proud of the fact that people had been attacking him since he joined the game. “Ah found that ah don’ mind it so much now, and ah can take some serious punishment.”
Joe couldn’t hide his grin anymore, and a dark look crossed Bard’s face when he saw the smirk. “You’re absolutely perfect. If you would care to join my team, I’m testing a fighter today as well. We’re going to have to wait a few days for a full team, but I’d love to see what you can do.”
A considering look appeared on Bard’s face, but then he looked back at the building they had just vacated. His face hardened. “Make sure it's worth ma time, and ahm in.”
“Are you ready now? Or do you need to go get anything ready?”
“Let’s goo.”
They walked toward the city gates, meeting up with Jaxon as they were exiting. He had been talking to the gate guards, and they were pointing their pikes at him. Joe defused the situation as quickly as possible, and the three men went out into the unprotected wilds. Joe took the daily quest for hunting Wolfmen and shared it with his small party, just in case they came across the ferocious Beastmen accidentally. The trio walked through rabbit territory easily, Joe’s level making the bunnies run away in fear even though he wasn’t actually overly powerful. They saw a few small red faces but were able to cross through fox territory without having to fight, and after a short half-hour they finally arrived at their destination.
“Alrighty, guys. For our test run today, we are going to hunt some wolves. Are you fine fighting this level of enemy? They will likely be a bit stronger than you, and they will outnumber us. Feel free to let me know if this will be an issue.” Joe directed his questions to the two men, getting very different reactions from them.
“Canines? Their joints are going to be difficult to attack since they typically stand at half human height,” Jaxon muttered at a furious pace. “Their knees are too near to their body to easily strike… but their ankles–which are commonly mistaken for knees–should be fairly easy targets. This enemy should be fine for me.”
“Hold on ah moment.” Bard held up a hand, and Joe was impressed by how improved his accent was when he was calm. “This is yer party, yeah? What is yer personal ability tha’ makes ye qualified to lead us? How about ye give us ah display ah ye power, show us the kinda man that plans to lead us around?”
Joe paused, considering the man’s words. That wasn’t an… unreasonable request. He nodded at the Skald and stepped forward. “I’m fine with that. What are your perception stats at?”
Jaxon spoke first. “Eighteen.”
“…Twelve.” Bard muttered under his breath, coughing a bit to try and hide his words.
“So… the two of you might have some trouble spotting the wolves in the area, but we won’t know for sure for a little bit. The packs like to hide in the underbrush and ambush unwary travelers, so stay together.” Joe led the others into the verdant area, and they tried to scout out where the wolves might be hiding. As expected, Joe was the first to notice them. “There is a pack of five hiding right under that tree. This should work, but if it doesn’t… well, just be ready to fight.”
He moved both of his hands in the pattern needed to cast shadow spike, going a bit slower than usual as he was casting the spell with each hand. Feeling a bit of strain, Joe realized that he really should have tested this somewhere where it wouldn’t have such disastrous consequences if he failed. Maintaining his concentration, he released both of the spells at the same time. Success!
*Yipe!* A pained whimper was heard from the Alpha of the pack as two spikes drove into either side of its flank. The damage wasn’t enough to instantly kill it, but Joe channeled the spikes so the beast couldn’t escape. Within a few seconds, it had perished and fallen still. The other wolves, seeing their leader killed without a chance to retaliate, scattered into the forest and ran away yelping.
Exp: 12 (12 * Wolf x1).
Skill gained: Dual casting (Novice I). Not having a weapon in one hand may make it harder to fend off attacks, but you have found a way to make yourself deadly without needing to hold a stick or pointy chunk of metal! Whether casting the same spell or a different one, as long as you only need a single hand for each spell, you are able to cast two at once! Effect: Cast two spells at the same time. Increase casting time by 51-1n% where ‘n’ is skill level. 33% chance of failing due to faltering spell stability, +1n% spell stability per skill level.
“Whew! There we go.” Joe looked over at the two people with him. They had approving looks on their faces, so he felt that he had just won a small victory. “Alright, so my thought for a normal battle is that I’ll target a normal pack member right away so that there are only four coming at us. If I don’t target the Alpha, the rest will come after us instead of scattering. Jaxon, you need to disable them as fast as possible; let’s see how much damage per second you can manage. Bard, it’ll be your job to keep them off of us and do some supplemental damage if possible. I’ll send a few spells at them if you need it, but I am actually a cleric so my damage dealing spells are limited. I can bring us back to full health if it’s needed at the end.”
They walked a bit deeper into the forest and began looking for another pack of wolves. The number of animals in the area seemed to be a bit sparser than usual. Was it because there were fewer people in the party, or was something else going on? Joe kept a careful watch, but there didn’t seem to be anything sneaking up behind them. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw some wolves in the distance. For a moment, he had thought that something sinister was going on.
“Are we ready?” Joe didn’t wait for an answer, simply dual casting his spikes and skewering a wolf five seconds later. The remaining animals snarled and charged, leaving their fallen brother behind.
Bard stepped forward and began chanting a drinking song, “There’s ah man ah meet, walks up our street, works for the city council…” As he sang, it seemed that the wolves became inordinately angry. Their attention turned away from Joe, and the furious beasts moved as a group to attack the Skald. He held an axe in each hand, a wide smile on his face, and punctuated his chanting with devastating strikes against the canines.
Watching Jaxon fight was… interesting. He marched toward the wolves and came to an abrupt halt right before entering their attack range. He was tilting his head back and forth, and then seemed to reach out casually and jabbed two fingers into a nerve cluster on the neck of the Alpha. The animal went still, and Jaxon turned away and moved to another. This one he attacked with an open palm, striking four times as the wolf tried to latch onto his arm. Jaxon stopped moving after his combo finished, and the wolf got his jaw around his wrist. Try as it might, it couldn’t close its mouth. The wolf’s tongue lapped at his skin furiously, but its jaw was dislocated.
“Hmm. Yes, yes. That seems correct, a similar response in other species from what I have seen. Mandible structure is similar across the board. Applying pressure at this point should result in asphyxiation while the jaw is out of alignment.” One last palm strike and the wolf slid slowly to the ground, kicking its legs a bit before going still. Jaxon had already moved on, helping Bard finish off the two remaining wolves. The entire fight was much louder than Joe had expected. In Joe’s previous battles, there had been noise from blows landing, grunting, and sometimes crying out, but in this fight there had been a stream of consciousness lecture from Jaxon, while Bard had been chanting drinking songs. Quite a difference. Not bad. Just… different.
Exp: 60 (12 * Wolf x5).
“Well, that went way better than expected,” J
oe stated casually. “Even with my last team–a full five appropriately leveled people–we’d still sometimes have trouble fighting wolves.”
“I’ve been coming out here alone,” Jaxon replied indifferently. “I do appreciate someone else distracting them so that I can focus more completely on my theories and subjects.”
“Ye come an’ fight these massive pooches all by yer’self?” Bard looked askance at the Monk.
“Well, have you tried testing the joints of an angry horned rabbit?” Jaxon huffed at Bard. “Their bones are far too brittle! They usually die after a single adjustment! I needed patients with a bit more… resilience.”
Joe watched as the two men argued back and forth about the appropriate way of killing things. Looking at the wolves’ bodies sprawled across the ground, Joe nodded a couple times–deep in thought–before coming to a final decision. They had surpassed his expectations by a huge margin; these two would make an excellent addition to his team.
~ Chapter Six ~
Though Joe had told his two potential candidates that he was impressed and would like them on his team, they didn’t end their training and go back to town right away. Jaxon mentioned that he was very close to level six, so they spent a few more hours hunting wolves. As they finished off one last wolf, an intense gold light filled the air and exploded outward from the Monk. He stood straighter, and for once, his smile didn’t seem manic.
“That is an excellent reward feedback system!” Jaxon sighed happily. “Very pleasing. I bet there are already people addicted to leveling up. Back to town then?” The others nodded and began to trudge back to the city, hoping to get there early enough to avoid lines at dinner. Joe glanced at the accumulated experience he had gained, smiling as he noticed that a few stats had also increased.
Exp: 329 (12 * Wolf x24 + 41 combat healing bonus).
You have successfully led a three-man team into battle in a five-man area, and stayed there to fight for several hours without your members gaining serious injuries: Wisdom +1, Luck +1.
You have spotted six potential ambushes in two hours: Perception +1.
Joe was happy with the stat increases, though he was slightly concerned that his luck had increased as a bonus for leading his team… was the system still messing with him? Also, even though it had just increased, it seemed that his enhanced luck was not helping him right now.
A strange chuffing sound came from ahead of them on the path, followed by a much quieter yowling sound a short way behind them. Joe looked at the noise behind the team first and saw a… dog? No, that was too big to be a dog. Remembering Terra’s advice, he focused on trying to see the animal’s stats.
Perception check success! Black Bear Cub (Juvenile). Cubs are notoriously good climbers of trees and like to play games! One of their favorite things to do is run away from their mother and circle behind an unaware group of animals. It enjoys listening to the roars of rage that its mother releases when she notices that someone is trying to ‘steal’ her cub!
“Oh, this isn’t good.” Joe’s eyes widened, and he turned to tell the others to get off the path. It was too late. As his head spun forward, his eyes locked with the momma bear that was lumbering toward them. A deep, menacing growl shook the air like thunder from a distant storm. He tried to see the bear’s level but got a very frustrating notice when the information presented itself.
Perception check (partial) success! Furious Black Bear (Adult). Bears can range in level from 3-15 depending on age and strength. This bear is furious that you are trying to steal her cub and will feel 50% less pain until the end of combat.
“That’s no help.” Joe looked at the other two, “Should we fight or run?”
“Run!” Bard yelped just as Jaxon excitedly barked, “Fight!”
Jaxon continued talking, “Bears climb almost as fast as they can run, and the average bear can reach speeds of up to thirty miles per hour on a flat surface. That's forty-eight point two eight kilometers per hour for you, Bard.”
“Ah knoo’ how tae convert yer imperial measurement intah’ real numbers, tank ye very much!” Bard’s accent was extra thick right now thanks to highly increased adrenaline.
The bear decided that it had gauged their threat level… and it wasn’t impressed. She charged at them while snarling, and as the angry momma got closer, it felt like she doubled in size. Even on all fours, her shoulders were level with Joe’s chest, and in his amazement, he almost forgot to start preparing his shadow spikes. Almost.
Two spikes burst upward and jabbed into the bear’s legs, but it seemed entirely unconcerned with this fact. The beast kept moving, tearing up its muscles and doing more damage to itself as it pushed right through the shadowy material. It closed on them, swinging a hefty paw at the Monk who–instead of being proactive about the fight–was squinting at the creature with his hands folded behind himself. He swayed backward, and the paw missed him by a bear inch. Joe shook his head hard. No! No puns during combat!
The other paw swung around as the bear pushed itself onto two legs, towering above the group. Bard jumped forward and swung his dual axes into the limb as it got close, driving the metal only about an inch into flesh before the force of the blow sent him flying backward. Somehow he forced himself to retain his grip on his weapons. He hit the ground with an *oomph* and slowly started to wiggle upward.
“Don’... block!” Bard wheezed as he tried to get back to his feet. The others noted his words but kept their attention on the battle.
The bear grunted, dropping down to all fours in an attempt to crush Jaxon with weight and momentum. The man nimbly tumbled to the side, his palm reaching out and hitting the bear on his leg. “Hmph! That’s some tough muscle there… we will work on this spot until we can feel movement!” He struck the same spot again, then had to tuck and roll once more as a furious swipe passed over his head.
Meanwhile, Joe was preparing another dual cast of his shadow spikes. He released the built-up mana and channeled the attack, trying to hold the bear in place. The bear was pierced on either side, but as Jaxon landed his next blow, the bear finally managed a clean hit on him. Jaxon went down hard as the small, rounded tips of the claws dug into him and the massive paw crunched bone. His chest seemed to cave in, and he struggled to breathe with collapsed lungs.
“Jaxon!” Joe called, preparing a healing spell. He was somehow shocked that the Monk had been hit, though he shouldn’t have been. No one can dodge everything! The bear took a single step toward Jaxon, reminding Joe that he had released his spikes in an attempt to heal the man in time. It seemed that the Monk’s attack had an effect, though because as the bear put weight on its leg… the limb buckled and the bear dropped. It growled in surprise, then decided to forgo using that leg entirely.
“Grah!” Bard’s axes slammed into the unsuspecting bear’s side. It shrieked but kept its attention on Jaxon. As the animal got in range of the fallen man, it dug into him like a beehive. The paws easily parted the Monk’s flesh, and it buried its teeth into his neck. It shook Jaxon back and forth vigorously, and the light rapidly faded from his eyes.
“No!” Joe cast shadow spike three more times in quick succession before his mana failed him entirely. As the bear focused on Jaxon, Bard kept slamming his axes into the bear’s spine. The bear finally shuddered, flailed, and sank to the ground, going as still as the Monk.
You have killed a level 9 Furious Black Bear (Adult). Since your party is so small and under leveled for this opponent, experience gains are doubled. Feat of strength complete! Strength +2, Constitution +1. Exp: 50 (2 * 25 * Bear x1).
“Well, tha’ was interestin,” Bard stated, reaching down to close Jaxon’s eyes. “Should we do anything for him?”
“No… he’ll be back tomorrow; I hope that he still wants to be on the team–wait!” Joe’s eyes widened, and a grin appeared on his face. “I haven’t gotten a chance to use this yet, stand back!” Joe opened his character sheet and reviewed what he needed to do to cast his most powerful one-use-a-day spell
.
He had Bard help pull the Monk out of the pool of blood and viscera the bear had created and then stood back a few feet. After waiting for his mana to regenerate, he began the spell. Both hands went up in a yoga pose known as ‘sun salutation’ then down to his sides. Mana began to charge the air around him, and he took a step forward, sinking into a lunge with his arms still held out. He straightened, pulling his arms back so his elbows were tucked to the side with his palms facing forward. Mana began to fluctuate in front of his hands, the air shimmering from the increasing charge. He pressed his hands forward, and they seemed to meet resistance and slow down the closer they came to Jaxon’s body.
Joe exhaled through his nose… took a deep breath… and calmly stated, “Resurrection!”
The air in front of him seemed to shatter as Jaxon’s body vanished. A small portal opened in the space where his body had been, and after a few seconds of hanging in the air, Jaxon stepped through the rift, and it snapped closed behind him. He looked pretty rough; the spell only returned twenty-five percent of his health, stamina, and mana if he had access to it. He did regain twenty percent of his lost experience as well, which still made the resurrection option very desirable.
“How in the world did you bring me back?” Jaxon shook his head in wonder. “I’m glad; I was supposed to have a real-world twelve-hour penalty for not trying to ‘defend myself’ from the bear. Then the AI called me an overconfident moron for keeping my hands behind my back as the bear came toward me. Has it been mean to anyone else?”
“Yessir, it’s super mean for no reason, and yikes! That’s a hefty respawn time.” Joe winced at that information. Jaxon wouldn’t have been back for twenty-four hours from their perspective. That’s a lot of lost time they could have used for leveling and bettering themselves. Further words failed him as a notice appeared.
