Life Reset: EvP (Environment vs. Player) (New Era Online Book 2)
Page 53
I finished scooping all the food into my mouth and pushed the plate away, refocusing my thoughts.
One obvious use of the energy would be to increase Rhyno’s boss rank to tier 2. But he had proved troublesome time and time again. If he kept it up, at tier 2 he might very well be strong enough to beat me, and then I’d really be in trouble. The unruly Ogre was not far away from me, munching on what looked like an entire oxsaurian haunch.
“Rhyno, come over here,” I called out.
The Ogre grumbled but got to his feet and came over to me. “Boss-man.”
“How would you like to be even stronger?”
He looked down at me, his nose flaring. “Rhyno is the champion!” he declared, bashing the large piece of meat against his chest, spraying gravy all over his brand-new armor.
I sighed. “Remember how you used to be just an ordinary grunt until I promoted you to a champion? I can do that again. How would you like that?”
All of a sudden, he looked like he was stuck in place. His jaw hung open and his eyes lost their focus.
I sighed again. “I can make you into an even more fearsome champion, Rhyno. You’ll be unstoppable.”
He brightened up, then looked me up and down. A wicked smile spread across his brutish face. “Rhyno agrees!”
“Not so fast. I can’t have you keep disobeying orders just because you think you might be stronger than me. First swear, in Nihilator’s name, to follow me and obey my orders and never seek to act against me. Do that, and I will give you the power you want.”
His eyes narrowed, and a gurgle came from deep in his chest.
I shrugged. “Suit yourself. I can always promote one of the other Ogres. Then he would be the real champion and you’d have to obey him.”
That did the trick.
Reluctantly, looking almost as if it were causing him physical pain, Rhyno lowered himself, taking a knee in front of me. “I, Rhynorn Bloodore, THE CHAMPION, swears to follow and obey you and never act against you, Dread Totem. I swear it on Nihilator’s name.”
Ribbons of data surrounded the Ogre. They wrapped around his body like shackles then extended toward me as if handing me the leash for his collar. This was the first time someone had made a vow to me since I’d gained the ability to see the underlying metadata. It was an interesting sight.
With a mental flick, I selected Rhyno for promotion.
Promote: Rhynorn Bloodore to: Boss Tier 2, Cost: 5,000 EP. Yes/No?
Yes.
This time, the physical change was not as pronounced as before. The Ogre grew almost a head taller and his girth expanded. New muscles rippled over his body, his nails extended into sharp claws, and his bone spikes grew and became serrated.
Rhynorn, Ogre Gladiator [Boss, Tier 2]
Level: 19 (30%)
HP: 660, MP: 345
Attributes: P: 27, M: 1, S: 0
aSkills: Powerful 31, Blunt Weapons 30, Dirty Tricks 25, Terrible Roar 20, Lucky Bastard 12
Traits: Ogre (+4P, -2M, -2S), Frenzy (when below 100 HP), Boss Boon II (20 HP & 10 MP per level; +4P, +2M, +2S, +20% MR, +10 Armor), Shadow-Touched
Resistances: Armor 160 (+30), Physical 75%, Magic 50%
Background: Once a feral beast, now uplifted to the rank of a boss by a Dread Totem goblin.
Equipment:
Giant Spiked Steel Mace (Runecrafted)
Ring of Bound Soul (2 charges)
Oxsaurian Leather Armor (+30 armor)
2 X Stalker Pins (Runecrafted)
“Congratulations,” I said dryly. “You may go now.”
The Ogre lumbered to his feet, bowing his head. It might have only been because his head nearly touched the roof, but I still enjoyed the gesture.
“Yes, Dread Totem, I obey.”
We can only hope, I said, eyeing the Ogre. His stats had improved across the board, and at 660, his health pool nearly doubled. A few more levels and it would rival my own.
That done, I went to the hobs’ officer’s table, where the senior members of my army were eating. The new lieutenants I had recruited were not with them.
The hobs all murmured a greeting as I approached. Bob straightened up. “The new troops are awaiting your arrival at the Dark Temple as you instructed, Dread Totem.”
“Good, but that’s not why I came over.” I met their eyes. “You saw what just happened with Rhyno?” They nodded. “I can offer two more promotions. Any takers?” I had decided my next bosses would be the disciplined hobs. I’d had quite enough of unruly Ogres, thank you very much.
As one, all the soldiers stood.
I chuckled. “Good to see you're enthusiastic about this. But as I said, I can only promote two. Let’s just see who’s the luckier among you.”
I had meant that literally. I accessed their information thread, checking their Lucky Bastard skill. At level 17, Bob was the highest among them, but I purposely passed him by. I’d be losing a lieutenant if I chose him, and any one of the common soldiers could be made into a boss, making the upgrade more pronounced. It was a simple concept to calculate: If a soldier’s power was 1, a lieutenant’s 3 and a boss’s 5, promoting a lieutenant would grant +2 power, whereas promoting a soldier would give +4 overall.
Yulli, the scout bow trainer, and Kilpi, the tank warrior, had the highest luck after Bob. I motioned the two of them to step forward. “Will you vow your allegiance to me?” I had decided on the spot that any future bosses I promoted would have to pledge themselves to me first. I didn’t want to have to put up with any possible power struggles. I’d learned a valuable lesson from Rhyno’s disobedience.
The two hobs took a knee and vowed their loyalty.
Then they too began to change.
Yulli became taller and leaner, and her gaze changed to that of a predator on the hunt. I sensed she received skills that increased her damage potential with a bow. Kilpi just hulked up. His frame thickened as more muscles developed, snaking over his arms and torso, and his defensive abilities shot through the roof.
I frowned. Why didn’t I receive a prompt to select their boss types like I did with Rhyno?
I guess that makes sense, I admitted.
“Resume your normal duties,” I ordered the still kneeling duo. Having been upgraded into bosses didn’t make them instant officers, not anymore. I had learned that the hard way. These two were just stronger versions of their old selves.
Down another 2,000 energy, I had just over 6K remaining, but I decided to ease up on EP for now. I could use it to upgrade skill levels, but my troops were still training and increasing their combat skills on their own, so there was little sense in throwing energy on that path.
I returned to my seat and opened the Religion Interface, scrolling down until I found what I was looking for.
Personal Blessings (Directly applied to specific Shadow-Touched creatures)
Liquid Darkness I: The body exudes tangible liquid darkness when wounded, mending flesh and closing wounds, at a rate of 1 point of damage per 5 seconds. Cost: 10 FP
Shadow Body I: Can form shadow claws with 50% armor penetration. Cost: 10 FP
Shadow Armor I: Darkness covers your body. Increases armor by +5. Cost: 10 FP
Coat Weapon I: Any weapon wielded becomes coated with darkness, which sharpens it. +10% damage, +10% armor penetration. Cost: 10 FP
Faith points were harder to come by than energy, but I had just over 1,100 FP. Though I was planning to save it to upgrade the Eternal Night effects, I figured I could spend a few dozen points to give the bosses, my army’s spearheads, a little extra edge.
I cracked my knuckles. But first,
it's time to pamper boss numero uno. I eagerly targeted myself and attempted to purchase Liquid Darkness.
Ineligible Target
The selected individual is under the influence of several conflicting conditions and can’t accept any individual blessing.
I decided not to brood on the matter and instead purchased Liquid Darkness for Rhyno and Kilpi. As melee warriors, they were more prone to getting injured. For Yulli, I purchased Coat Weapon I; as a DPS, she would make good use of the extra damage.
Thirty FP was as much as I was willing to spend for now.
After purchasing the first rank of each blessing, a new option to purchase rank 2 appeared, offering increased bonuses, and costing 20 FP each. But I decided that was enough powering up for today.
I was just about to leave when Zuban entered the mess hall. I waved at him. “Hey, Zuban, over here.”
My foreman approached and bowed his head respectfully. “Dread Totem.”
“We have unlocked the next settlement rank. We are now a village.”
“I have noticed. It is no small achievement, Dread Totem. Congratulations.”
“I want to build the Chief’s Haunt next.”
“Hmm …” Zuban pursed his lips.
I waited patiently for him to work it out.
After a long pause he said, “We have finished building all the ‘high-priority’ buildings, as you call them, so we can certainly divert our efforts. However, this project is especially expensive and requires rare resources. I believe the exporter should be able to trade for most of what we need, but the magic crystals are going to be a problem.”
“Can’t you use void crystals instead?”
His expression became thoughtful. “Why …” he spoke slowly, “… we just might be able to do that. That only leaves two obstacles.”
“What obstacles?”
“The crude chest I designed for your current house will not do. Ryuk, our new carpenter, can help with that, but we will need a proficient enchanter to complete his work – set magical traps, wards, and such.”
“And what’s the second thing?”
“A Chief’s Haunt is an Expert-ranked building. Since I’m only an Apprentice constructor, I’m afraid my builders will not be able to work to their full potential. The daily BP for working on this project will be reduced by 20 percent.”
That meant the building would take effectively 1,250 BP to complete. Between Zuban and Wolrig, the teams were generating 250 BP per day, so the penalty was tolerable. The big issue was summoning a goblin enchanter.
I remembered seeing this profession in the Breeder’s Den Interface. It was ‘Advanced Crafter’ and it cost 20 exquisite food, as much as an adept. I had enough purple salt but was down to my last two magmashrooms. That was going to be a problem.
I noticed one of the goblin gatherers getting his daily meal and an idea came to mind. “Get started on the building,” I instructed. “You’ll have your enchanter.”
“Yes, Dread Totem.”
I went to the goblin gatherer.
“I need you to gather magmashrooms from the cave. Can you manage that?”
“Me can,” the goblin piped in apprehension.
Problem solved. I grinned to myself. Now I wouldn’t have to crawl through that cave looking for pockets of the rare plant.
“Make sure to look for them near lava streams,” I called after the departing gatherer.
He nodded, then disappeared into the throng of goblins.
I looked with some surprise at the masses around me. Over 20 goblin workers were passing through the mess hall at any given time, not to mention dozens of foblins who were brawling over every small scrap of food. My clan had indeed grown.
“Well, now that that’s done …” I grumbled to myself and teleported away.
I reappeared an instant later at Totem’s Watch, looking down at the 23 assembled soldiers below. The seven new lieutenants stood a few steps away from the grunts.
“Welcome to the GreenPiece Clan,” I greeted them. “You will be tested to see if you’re worthy to join the clan’s protectors. If you pass, as long as our clan endures, you will never truly die.” I noticed the lieutenants shift uneasily. A smile touched my lips. “You seven are exempt from the test; you will have your chance to prove your worth in the days to come.”
I proceeded by granting the Lucky Bastard skill to the lieutenants. As already-seeded individuals, they were in no danger of accidentally imploding.
Then, I called the rest of the soldiers up into the temple and started the naming ritual.
***
Eleven, I thought sullenly.
Out of the 16 new soldiers, five had failed to take in the new skill and had to be sacrificed. Only 11 hobs survived the rite and had become seeded individuals. My own Lucky Bastard skill seemed to have been taking a nap today. At least the population loss didn’t cost us the settlement upgrade.
I ordered the new troops to gather at the forest clearing leading to the valley’s exit. Eleven hob soldiers, seven lieutenants, and six of my veterans made up the hunting party.
It turned out I had unintentionally created a small problem. Since I had to leave a force to protect the clan in my absence, the veterans hadn’t had a chance to level up. They were now commanding troops who were more than twice their levels. This was upsetting for the hobs’ militaristic mindset, but I was about to rectify it.
The 24 soldiers were all geared with the sonic-enchanted weapons I had Runecrafted and were garbed in magically strengthened armor. It should make the coming hunt easier than the previous ones.
My War Party Leader skill had increased during the last hunt, and I could add 11 more individuals. Adding noncombatants the last time had worked out nicely, and I had no qualms about taking advantage of this obvious game exploit. I could have added more soldiers instead, but that would have been counterproductive. If I had taken them with me, the already higher-level hobs would hog the majority of XP, and if I left them behind, the fraction of XP they’d be receiving would barely be enough to level them. It was more efficient to add workers instead.
I added Zuban, Tika, and Guba to the party. Since research was starting to become a bottleneck, I also added Romil and Primla. As an afterthought, I added the six nameless goblin lumberjacks. Wood was becoming an invaluable commodity for export, and I could use the production boost their increased levels would bring.
“Everyone ready?” I looked around. “Let’s go.”
31 – Hunting Real Monsters
I felt powerful riding Tempest at the front of a well-equipped fighting force.
Like the previous two hunting trips, we made it through the forest unmolested and rested during the daylight at the border of the oxsaurian zone.
The next night we broke camp and went looking for our quarry. It didn’t take us long to find a medium-sized herd and start working on them.
I used my summoned mastiffs to lure in the beasts one by one, then froze them. My Dark Mana skill was now high enough to freeze even the occasional higher-level beast.
Once the oxsaurian was rendered helpless, I unleashed my troops on it. The low-level soldiers inflicted very little damage, but the enchanted weapons sped things up compared to the previous hunting trips. The veteran hobs shone with their superior combat skills. Kilpi, now a boss, delivered a killing blow, crushing an oxsaurian’s skull with one hit, draining its last remaining ten percent HP.
By the time dawn broke, we had butchered a total of 15 bulls. Both the soldiers and those that were still back at the clan had leveled up considerably. The hob soldiers reached level 15, the lieutenant 16, the veterans 17, and even I gained a level. I now had
a small army of badasses under my command.
My daily EP is probably through the roof right now, I thought with satisfaction.
The first rays of light were starting to show. “Alright everyone, take the meat and get back to the campsite.”
My troops followed my orders, collecting about 2,000 units of raw meat and some hides off the butchered beasts, then we marched back to the campsite to sleep off the day.
We woke up again on the next nightfall.
“You will return to the clan without me,” I told them. I looked around for one of the new lieutenants who had distinguished himself during the night’s hunt. “You, Vaelin, you’re in command; make sure everyone gets back to the clan.”
“Yes, Dread Totem, Chief, Sir!” The lieutenant drew himself up, his fist banging on his chest.
He was an excitable fella, but he was new, so I could look past it.
I stayed behind, watching the departing soldiers until they had disappeared into the thick forest, then I jumped on Tempest’s back and went looking for more oxsaurians to hunt.
The night had flown by almost without me noticing it. I had a lucky break and managed to locate two small herds that were not led by the powerful alpha. My dagger and Freeze worked overtime as one by one, I sacrificed each of the huge beasts.
As the next morning rolled in, I had gained five levels, reaching 38. I had also gained 20 void crystals and a whopping 800 Faith Points. I was now only 60 FP short of being able to purchase the next level of the Eternal Night blessing, a critical boon to ward off our enemies.
Since I now had the option to teleport straight back to the clan, I didn’t have to return straight away. I decided to hunt solo for another day before returning to the clan.