Alpha World Book One: Gamer for Life

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “No,” Gerald replied, “level ten, but we can take them.”

  “Why don't we grind a touch longer? If you hit nine and I hit eight it’ll be even easier inside,” Alburet said.

  “Some of us only got a little over an hour left and we want to hit the place is why,” Rocksure said. “We can do it with the tank and healer we have. If we dropped you and got a real DPS it would be cake.”

  Biting back his reply, Alburet turned to Marysue, “It's your group. If you want go in, we go in.”

  Mary smiled, “Thanks Alburet, but Gerald is really the one in charge. I made him the leader during the last fight.”

  “We’re going in,” Gerald said with a smile. “We just have two goblins between us to get to the main doors. I’ll pull them both over to the wall next to the portal. Once we drop them, we step inside.”

  Alburet renewed Retribution on Gerald, “Lead on, McDuff.” Gerald began to trot across the courtyard to grab the two mobs between them and the portal.

  “Wrong quote, actually,” Fluffball said.

  “Yeah, but most don't know the real quote,” Alburet chuckled. “Lay on, McDuff, and damned be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'”

  Fluffball pursed her lips, “Thank you, I hate it when people misquote good lines.”

  Alburet chuckled as they reached the wall, “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew, Horatio, A fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a thousand times, and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My Gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips...”

  “Enough, get into the fight,” Gerald called out cutting off the line. “Recite Hamlet later. We have mobs to kill.”

  “Fair enough,” Alburet smirked as he slammed his staff into a goblin's head. “I shall not quote any more full lines while combat is ongoing.”

  Fluffball growled as she leapt into the fray, glowing her usual red from the Berserker buff. “I enjoyed it, not many can actually get the lines right from any of Shakespeare's plays.”

  Mary giggled, “So if he did the garden scene of Romeo and Juliet to you...”

  Fluff missed her next attack as she spun towards Mary blinking, “What?”

  “Enough,” Gerald roared, “We are fighting here.”

  Rocksure sighed, “This is all the Summoner’s fault. If we kick him for a real DPS, all of these issues go away.”

  “No,” Marysue replied firmly, “he was very helpful to me and he is holding his own. As long as he does as Gerald asks, he will stay.”

  The fight ended a few moments later and the loot was collected. “There’s a safe spot just inside the entrance. You’ll also get the quest for the dungeon when you step in, make sure to accept it.” Gerald entered the white swirling mist that denoted the dungeon entrance. He was swiftly followed by Marysue and Rocksure.

  Alburet winked at Fluffball, “But, Soft! What light through yonder window breaks?” Fluffball went a deep red through her fur before she darted into the portal, cutting him off. Alburet shrugged, “Guess not.”

  “Struck out trying to catch some tail,” Bob cackled.

  “Oh, you so funny,” Alburet sighed, “come on before they wonder what happened to me.” He stepped into the portal following the others.

  Alburet

  Human Summoner

  Level 7

  Strength: 5

  Agility: 12

  Constitution: 20

  Intelligence: 25

  Wisdom: 27

  Charisma: 20

  Health: 550

  Mana: 620

  Spells:

  Demon Skin-Rank 2

  Demonic Retribution

  Summon Least Imp

  Fire Blast

  Sap Strength

  Abilities:

  Personal Spells

  Goblin Fort

  Alburet blinked, his vision refocusing to the dimmer light inside the fort. The interior was a hallway with lanterns providing illumination. Behind him stood the doorway out, visible through the white swirling mist that was the portal. He accepted the quest that popped up via notification when he entered.

  Quest: Kill the Commander

  Reward: Increased rep with all Stormguard factions

  Bonus: Kill the two optional bosses and receive random bonus loot from Quartermaster.

  “Good, we’re all here,” Gerald said, “okay, the layout here is quick and easy. There are three bosses total, two of them optional. The Jailer in the basement prison area isn't all that bad. This level has the Captain of the Guard, he summons adds throughout the fight and can be a little tricky. The real boss is on the second floor. Named Guglug, he’s the Commander of the fort. Guglug summons adds like the Captain, so when we do that fight you will get an idea of how the Commander works. He’ll also throw poison clouds around the room which means you need to be on your toes.”

  “We have patrols and trash packs to kill first,” Marysue reminded him.

  “Right,” he nodded at Mary, “the packs mostly come in shield, melee and caster trios. I will grab all of them. Kill the caster first, then the melee and finally the shield user. Any questions?” No one spoke so Gerald nodded, “Right. Alburet, give me your buff and then go to the end of the hall and tag the caster, then back around the corner behind me. We’re going to 'line of sight' pull as many as we can to make things easier to handle. Once I hit the caster you can all jump in on it. Leave the others alone in the meantime, I’ll have to work to keep them from aggroing on Mary as it is.”

  Alburet cast Retribution on Gerald before walking down to the corner with the others behind him. He glanced around the corner, spotting the first group standing and talking in the hallway. He conjured his first Fire Blast before stepping out and hitting the caster right in the head like he was throwing a baseball. As soon as the spell hit the caster, the other two goblins ran at him and the caster started to conjure something of its own.

  Alburet ducked back around the corner before the spell was done, ducking behind Gerald who was waiting. “Let the games commence,” Alburet said as he got another Fire Blast prepared. “Follow the leader, Bob.” Bob shook his head while he prepared his own Fire Blast, staying silent for once.

  As the two goblins turned the corner Gerald shield bashed the sword goblin, stunning it for a second as he slashed at the Shieldbearer, scoring a hit. Both of them stopped focusing on Alburet and turned on Gerald instead.

  Gerald did his best to mitigate the damage as he struck twice more with his sword. One hit the melee goblin, but the other bounced off the shield of the Shieldbearer. Just then the caster goblin turned the corner and everyone tensed, waiting for Gerald.

  The Goblin Elementalist was level ten, but only had 558/600 health and 650/700 mana, it also carried a flaming ball in its hand. It tossed the fire onto Alburet, who yelled in agony as the fire burned him before Gerald could hit the goblin in turn. The others attacked the goblin caster with fury, easily cutting it down, allowing it to cast only one more spell with Gerald as the target.

  The group turned its attention to the melee goblin and dispatched it easily as well, leaving the Shieldbearer for last. Alburet pursed his lips and hit it with Sap Strength as a test. The goblin looked stunned as the tower shield slipped from its arm and clattered onto the ground. Everyone else paused for a second as well, surprised by that turn of events. Everyone came back to their senses as Bob laughed and hit the mob in the face with a fire blast.

  “Well done Master, stripping its strength made it unable to use the heavy shield,” Bob cackled as the group resumed the attack.

  After the mobs were dead and looted, Gerald turned to Alburet. “Why didn't you do that on the pull?”

  “I didn't know it would work,” he replied. “I was hoping it would drop the spear, I didn't think shields had strength requirements.”

  “Yeah, my kite shield is right at the edge of my strength right now. It takes forty strength to use a weak tower shield. So I guess we know it has less than that once you weaken it. Next time we p
ull start with that on the Shieldbearer instead of hitting the caster. You seemed to feel that fire bolt he hit you with.”

  “Yes, it was not fun. Playing full immersion sometimes is a right pain,” Alburet admitted. “Thankfully, when Marysue heals me the pain vanishes. We good for the next group?”

  Gerald frowned at him but nodded, “Yeah. We go down the hall to the next corner and repeat the last pull.”

  Once everyone was set Alburet looked around the corner to find another group of the same kinds of goblins waiting there. He buffed Gerald with Retribution then turned the corner and cast Sap Strength on the Shieldbearer. The Shieldbearer dropped its shield and kept trying to pick it up as the melee ran towards him and the caster began a spell.

  Ducking back behind Gerald, Alburet advised them, “Caster is trying to cast and the Shieldbearer is trying to pick his shield up, it should take a minute.”

  Gerald grunted and slashed the melee goblin as it came around the corner. “Okay, we’ll have a minute or so to kill the caster.” As he finished talking the caster came around the corner and he cut it. “All on the caster.”

  The caster was down and the melee almost down when the Shieldbearer came around the corner. It slammed its shield into Alburet before anyone knew it had made it to them, stunning him for two seconds.

  Gerald switched over to the Shieldbearer and used his taunt to get aggro. “Finish the melee first,” he said as he began to build more aggro on the defending goblin.

  Once the stun wore off, Alburet cast Sap Strength onto the Shieldbearer, again stripping it of the protection it wanted and allowing the others to cut it down easily. “This looks like it’s working out good, but I think I'll stand further back next time.” Alburet chuckled as Marysue’s healing took away the pain from his bruised face.

  “Well, looks like you might be useful for something after all,” Rocksure said with contempt. “Get your loot so we can move.”

  “Is your mom yelling at you about the time, Rock?” Alburet asked blandly as he picked up his fifth Goblin Supply, finishing that quest for him as well as another Defender armband.

  “Fuck you dude, just cuz I slept with your mom last night,” Rocksure said bristling.

  “So you’re a necrophiliac? Guess you’re playing the wrong class then, eh?” Alburet rejoined quickly, smiling broadly, knowing he was lying about his mother being dead but wanting to needle the fucker.

  “Knock it the fuck off, both of you,” Gerald said firmly. “The next one to snipe at the other will be removed from the group.”

  Alburet held back the automatic 'yes mom' reply that tried to get out. He nodded, “We going to keep clearing the patrols before we tackle any of the bosses?”

  “Yes. We’ll clear this floor before meeting the Captain in his room. It won't matter for the adds, but that's the way I want it in case we die during the fight.” Gerald said as he motioned Alburet on, “After you, puller.”

  Alburet dipped a shallow bow, “Why thank you, sir.” He started walking to find the next patrol or group.

  The next few pulls were repeats of the last one, except that Alburet didn’t get damaged when the Shieldbearer finally showed up since he stayed further back after pulling. After they completed a circuit of the ground floor they walked back to the door that had a plaque notifying them it was the Captain's Room.

  “Okay, remember, he will call adds,” Gerald said. “I’ll pick them up as best I can. Once I have them, burn the adds down first. He calls them at 75%, 50%, and 25% life and goes into a frenzy at 10% life which is where you need to go all out. Any questions?”

  When no one had any Gerald held out a fist, “No one else has cleared this place yet, so let's do it.” The rest of them bumped fists together before Gerald opened the door. Just before he walked in Alburet hit him with Retribution, getting a nod of thanks from Gerald.

  The room was large, maybe fifty feet square with shelves holding various knickknacks along the walls. The center of the room held a massive Oak desk behind which sat a goblin easily half again as big as the ones they had been facing already.

  “Who dares interrupt my paperwork?” The Goblin Captain roared as he got to his feet grabbing his two-handed sword from next to the desk.

  Alburet targeted it and took in the information, Captain of the Guard level 11, 1500/1500 health. Alburet noted the rusty steel cap on the goblin’s head as well as the rusty chain shirt and leather pants. Pursing his lips, Alburet put his back to a wall and slid along it waiting for Gerald to grab aggro.

  “The King of Stormguard sends his greetings,” Gerald replied with a dark smile.

  The Captain bellowed and came around the desk to be met by Gerald's upraised shield. The three DPS waited impatiently as Gerald landed his first attack. Alburet caught Bob's eyes and pointed to the goblin’s legs, getting a nod in return.

  As the Gerald’s third blow landed he shouted, “Got him, let's do this.”

  As Gerald spoke Fluffball launched herself across the room to close the distance as Rocksure, Alburet and Bob all hit the Captain with spells. Bob and Alburet hit the legs of the Captain, getting a little more damage as the armor value was lower there.

  Rocksure's spell hit the goblin in the head and he frowned, “Fucking helm is negating a chunk of my damage.”

  “Go for the legs,” Alburet said as his next spell again hit the Captain's legs. “Armor cuts that amount off the damage, but only part its value for spells. Leather has a lower value than rusty steel.”

  “I know that,” Rocksure yelled back in irritation, as he did but had forgotten and gotten used to all the other goblins that hadn't been wearing helms.

  At 75% life the Captain roared loudly and a trio of adds came through the door. Mary, who was in the back of the room, made sure to tell them all. Alburet targeted the Shieldbearer and cast Sap Strength on it, making it drop the shield. It stopped for a second, trying to pick the shield up, before forgetting it and trying to cross the room to Mary, who had healing aggro.

  Gerald hit the melee as it tried to go by, getting its attention, before turning to the now shieldless Shieldbearer and repeating the process. The caster, though, stood just inside the door and threw fire at Mary making her call out for help.

  “Bob, focus the caster, I'm going in.” Alburet said as he rushed to the caster, throwing Retribution on himself. “I'll tank the caster if Rock can kill it,” Alburet said as he slammed his staff into the caster's face as it had been ignoring him.

  “That wasn't the plan,” Gerald grunted as he tried to stop the three attacking him.

  “You can't turn your back to them,” Alburet said as he blocked a swing of the caster’s dagger. “So we adapt and deal with this.”

  Rocksure ignored Alburet and focused on the melee goblin with Fluffball, acting as if he hadn't heard any of what Alburet had said.

  Alburet growled as he slowly whittled the caster down, focusing on taking as little damage as possible. As the caster dropped, he turned to see the spear wielder going down. “All adds down,” he called out, stepping back over next to Bob.

  He was hurt, but not too much still at 480/550 health. He wished he regained health in combat like he did mana. As he watched, Rocksure smirked at him before going back to focusing on the boss.

  “Alright, next time we handle the adds the same way,” Gerald said as his health was being replenished by Mary. He had taken a beating from the two adds as well as the boss.

  “Sure thing,” Alburet replied as he went back to casting, speaking between Fire Blasts. “I can solo the caster again.”

  “I am going to need to get mana back between the second and third adds, master,” Bob said.

  “Do what you have to, Bob,” Alburet replied as his mana had topped back up during the melee fight with the caster.

  The second add pack was the same as the first and dispatched the same way, though Alburet wound up at 400/550 health by the time he was done as he missed a few parry attempts. “Adds down,” he called out as his droppe
d.

  “Regaining mana,” Bob said as he sat down and pulled out an emery board.

  “What the fuck? Really, an emery board?” Alburet said, glancing down at the imp who grinned up at him and winked.

  “Naw, just fucking with you,” Bob got back to his feet and leaned against the wall. “It was funny as hell though, to see that expression.”

  “Gods, you are annoying as shit sometimes Bob,” Alburet said as he threw his next Fire Blast onto the Captain.

  “Cut the banter with the imp,” Gerald called out. “No point to having useless conversations during a boss fight.”

  Alburet rolled his eyes and saw Bob flip Gerald off while sticking his tongue out. Chuckling, Alburet tossed his next Fire Blast as Bob looked up at him, winking.

  When the last set of adds rolled in, things got interesting. This time it was three casters, who all threw fire onto Mary.