No, he thought bitterly, they could wait him out and keep him pinned up in the tree for days. If that happened, he would be weakened by the hunger or starvation debuffs. He had to fight them now, while he was at 100%.
Putting his back against the tree Luna had climbed, Jace waited for the wolves to get closer. He didn’t need to wait long. With his Cat-Vision, Jace saw three wolves bolt from the woods, running straight at him. Viewing them in his HUD, he saw one was the alpha male and targeted it with a Flame Bolt. “Minima fulmen ignem!”
The missile streaked from his hand and hit the lead wolf in the face eliciting a yelp from the beast.
You burn Alpha Forest Wolf with Flame Bolt for 2 fire damage.
Your Fire Magic skill has increased by 1.
The wolf stopped and rubbed it snout on the damp evening grass. When it’s head came up, its eyes were filled with hatred. He’d hoped the fire spell would scare it off but no such luck. This fight was going to get up close and personal.
Jace had 6 mana left. Enough for one spell or ability. He briefly considered trying another Flame Bolt but he didn’t think a second one would scare it off and he could use the mana for something better. Since he’d ranked his Stealth skill up to 10, he’d received the Vanish ability and he was counting on that to help him even the odds.
As the lead wolf came within range, Jace activated Vanish and, true to its namesake, vanished from sight. The wolves skidded to a stop and began growling and sniffing the air. Jace tumbled between two of the wolves, came up behind the alpha and stabbed both his weapons into the thing’s back.
You critically stab Alpha Forest Wolf for 17 damage.
You critically stab Alpha Forest Wolf for 9 damage.
Alpha Forest Wolf dies.
You gain 30 experience.
The wolf yelped once and then fell over. Jace was very impressed with the new rapier as it did nearly twice the damage as his dagger. The other two wolves sniffed at the leader and then growled at him. Darn it. Couldn’t they just run?
The one to his right lunged forward suddenly and clamped its teeth on his arm.
Forest Wolf bites YOU for 2 damage.
With his sensory level at maximum, he felt the teeth dig into his flesh and muscle and barely stifled a scream. The second one came in from behind and bit at his leg.
Forest Wolf bites YOU for 3 damage.
The second wolf’s teeth dug into his calf and he almost collapsed with the pain. But if he did, they’d kill him and he’d be walking back here to loot his body. Gritting his teeth and blinking the tears of pain out of his eyes, he lashed out at the first wolf.
You stab Forest Wolf for 7 damage.
You critically stab Forest Wolf for 4 damage.
The wolf didn’t go down and Jace realized he could be in trouble. By the number of experiences, the alpha wolf had been level 3. Since these wolves weren’t going down with 14 damage, they had to be level 2. He was down to only 8 health and didn’t have enough mana to cast a spell. He wasn’t sure he’d make it through this fight.
Punctuating his thought, both animals bit at him again.
Forest Wolf bites YOU for 1 damage.
Forest Wolf bites YOU for but you Dodge.
Your Dodge skill has increased by 1.
His Dodge skill had kicked in and saved him from one of the bites, but he was still down to only 5 health. Two more bites and he’d be done. With experience born of playing an assassin to level 95, Jace drove his rapier into the wounded wolf, while stabbing his dagger in the other wolf.
You stab Forest Wolf for 9 damage.
Forest Wolf dies.
You gain 20 experience.
You stab Forest Wolf for 5 damage.
The second wolf went down but the last one sank its teeth into his thigh and this time his leg buckled. Jace didn’t give up, but stabbed his blades into the final wolf, hoping he would do enough damage.
You stab Forest Wolf for 8 damage.
You stab Forest Wolf for 2 damage.
Forest Wolf dies.
You gain 20 experience.
The wolf fell atop of him and Jace just lay there for a long moment before pushing the creature off him and struggling to his feet. He could feel his wounds mending as he regenerated health and mana, but they still hurt - a lot.
Luna scrambled down the tree and sniffed the dead wolves. “Bad wolfers!”
Wincing from his healing wounds, Jace looked over at the little cat and laughed. “Yes, bad wolfers.”
Jace looted the three wolf corpses and received wolf pelts for his trouble and pain. Then again, animals never dropped gold, so he hadn’t really expected it.
Slumping down in front of the fire, he waited until he was fully healed and his mana was at maximum. The entire time, he was scanning the area around him and listening for any signs of other predators. Nothing appeared, so he put some more wood on the fire, dug up some worms and went back to fishing.
The rest of the night was uneventful. He managed to catch another six fish and rank up his Fishing skill. In the morning, he cooked the fish in two batches, getting his Cooking skill to increase several times despite burning two of the fish. Luna ate two of the small fish for breakfast and that seemed to satisfy her, though she did sniff at his cooked fish briefly before going back to her raw ones.
He and Luna returned to the village to see groups of happy villagers talking to each other. As soon as one of them noticed Jace, they came running over to him.
“You did it,” said one of the villagers, grabbing his hand and shaking it.
“Are they really gone?”
“Was it a curse?”
“Did you vanquish the necromancer?”
“Will they be back next month?”
Jace backed away as the villagers hit him with rapid fire questions. Finally, he held his hands up for quiet and a hush fell over the crowd. Suddenly looking at a crowd of people waiting for him to speak, he swallowed nervously. Even in the game world, he didn’t like public speaking.
“Good people,” he began. “The elf and I went into the ancient underground city of Crystalburrow. There we found a…ah… controller… that was controlling some…”
Looking at the blank looks at the villagers, Jace sighed. He wasn’t sure how to explain Diana and the drones. Even if he did, he doubted the simple villagers would understand the explanation. It was time for a plausible lie. “And we killed the necromancer controlling the skeletons!”
Your Bluff skill has increased by 1.
Your Bluff skill has increased by 1.
Your Bluff skill has increased by 1.
A cheer went up from the assembled villagers as his Bluff skill hit the maximum rank for his level, granting him the Feint ability. Jace smiled. Feint allowed him to burn some mana to set an enemy off balance and allow his next strike to be a critical strike. It was a very powerful ability. As Mordred, he’d used Feint for many levels before finally he upgraded to a better ability.
More villagers swarmed him then, shaking his hand or clapping him on the back. This went on for several minutes before people started to disperse and get back to their routine. Even so, Jace couldn’t happen to notice that everyone seemed much happier.
“Well done, good master,” said the mayor, as the squat man waddled up to him. “I have to admit I had my reservations but as you said, no undead plagued us last night and after the first few hours, I actually went to bed and got some sleep! Ha!”
He shook the mayor’s beefy hand and then the man reached into his jacket and brought out a small jingling pouch. “This is yours. A reward well earned.”
You received 100 gold.
You have completed the quest, “Plague of Undead”
You gain 200 experience. Experience to next level 440.
You gain +100 faction with Residents of Sinking Springs
You gain +100 faction with Absalom
“I may have something else that might interest you,” the fat man told him.
Absalom motion
ed Jace to follow and then lead him to the apothecary shop. Stepping inside, the man walked to the back of the shop and disappeared behind a black curtain. Looking about the shop, Jace saw all sorts of beakers, vials, burners and other things that made the shop look like a mad chemist’s lair.
The odor of the place nearly overwhelmed Jace’s sense of smell with his sensory level so high and he nearly gagged. He forced himself to breath in his mouth, but even then he felt he was still smelling it. It was an odd combination of chemicals, herbs and possibly putrefaction.
Luna, whose nose had started sniffing the moment they walked in, hopped up on one of the tables and started to walk around the various equipment, nearly knocking it over. Luckily, Jace was quick enough to scoop her up before she did any damage.
“Smells!” she protested as her nose continued to take in the pungent aroma of the lab.
“No,” he scolded her. “If you knock anything over, I’ll have to pay for it!”
He was about to retort when there was a crash and a muffled cry from the other side of the curtain. Concerned, Jace started to walk towards the curtain just as the mayor burst from the backroom holding a large object. The mayor walked over to him and thrust it at him.
“Believe it or not, there was a time when I used to be an adventurer like you. But, sadly, I took an arrow to the knee and that ended my career,” the large man told him wistfully. “But, this leather jerkin protected me through my many adventures! It’s still in good condition and it’s much better looking than that thing you wear now on your chest.”
Taking the offered jerkin, Jace viewed it in his HUD.
Second Hand Leather Jerkin
Type: Leather armor
Armor: 2 + 1 (Masterwork)
Wt: 3 lbs
Description: Once worn by the self-proclaimed adventurer, Absalom the Magnificent, this leather jerkin is in excellent condition and appears to have never seen combat.
Stifling a laugh at the description, Jace equipped the jerkin and looked at himself in a small mirror attached to one of the pieces of equipment. He had to admit, it looked good.
“Quite fetching,” Absalom said. “You cut nearly as dashing a figure as I did back in my day.”
“Thank you,” he told the big man and shook his hand again.
“Yes, yes,” said the mayor. “Now, off with you! I must get back to my potions! Oh, and if you see your elven companion, you can tell her to see me for her reward too.”
With that, the mayor waved dismissively and turned to one of the many pieces of alchemy equipment and began fiddling with one of it’s knobs.
Jace continued to hold Luna until they got out of the shop and then set her down on the ground. He’d been serious about probably having to pay for anything she broke and from his days of brewing potions as Mordred, he knew alchemical equipment was expensive.
“We have money now,” he told Luna. “Let’s go shopping!”
Chapter 28
Luna followed Jace to the general store. Since Sinking Springs was only a starter town in a newbie area, its selection was limited. Regardless, Jace looked for items that would be useful for him while he was here in town and once he joined the caravan.
He bought two more sets of picks since there would be no place between towns to buy more. Despite his earlier success with cooking the fish with a homemade spit, Jace bought a metal frying pan and a spatula. He also bought some twine, some spikes and a shovel so that he could make some traps. Finally, he bought 10 days worth of rations, in case there were some days he couldn’t find food. One could never be too careful.
Together, the items came to 23 gold, leaving him only 77 gold. Jace looked at the pitiful amount. He would still need 80 more gold for the caravan fare. While it was a good amount of coin for a new character, Jace remembered how much money he’d accumulated as Mordred. The difference was staggering. He really needed the company to fix this issue and put him back inside Mordred!
After shopping, Jace spent the rest of the afternoon running around from villager to villager to see if he could pick up any quests. It appeared that completing the “undead” quest had opened up some additional quests. Unfortunately, the new quests involved hunting, gathering or even fishing and took a while to complete. But fortunately, the new quests also rewarded twice the experience. By the time Charlena logged in, Jace had reached level 2 in Rogue.
“You’re level 2 now?!” was the first thing Charlena said when she saw him.
Jace shrugged apologetically. “I don’t sleep. Unfortunately, since it wasn’t my highest class, I didn’t actually gain anything from it.”
Charlena made a frustrated sound, though her tone was playful. “You’re not allowed to get too far ahead of me!”
“I’ll try to hold myself back,” he told her.
“You’d better!” she told him sternly, though he saw the edge of her mouth creep into a smile. “Okay! Let me go turn in my quest!”
They went to the apothecary and banged on the door until the mayor answered. The man’s scowl turned upside down when he saw Charlena and he invited her in to get her reward, closing the door before Jace could follow. It opened a few minutes later and Charlena emerged before the door slammed and Jace heard the locks click into place.
“Charming guy,” Jace muttered.
“He’s not so bad. Besides, And I have something for you,” Charlena said, smiling. She held out a pair of leather bracers and initiated a trade with him.
“Don’t you want them?” he asked before accepting the trade.
Charlena shook her head and held up her arm. “They have the same stats as the ones I’m wearing. I thought you could use them.”
Accepting the trade, Jace equipped the bracers. “Thanks! That’s 2 more points of armor.”
“Great!” she said. “Let’s go kill some things!”
Jace laughed. “Too bad you weren’t here last night. I could have used your help with some wolves that attacked me.”
Luna’s ears went back against her head and she crouched low. “Wolfers!”
“Aw,” Charlena cooed as she bent down and scratched the cat on it’s head and chin. “Did you deal with the mean ole wolves?”
“Yes.” Luna purred, rubbing her head against the elf’s scratching fingers.
“I seem to remember being there too,” Jace muttered.
“Want me to scratch you behind the ears too?” Charlena teased.
“Would you?” Jace shrugged, bent over and tilted his head toward her.
She smacked him playfully on the head. They both laughed and then Charlena stood up and looked around. “So now what?”
“We need to get you to level 2,” he told her. “Time to do some quests.”
The two of them spent the rest of the time running picking flowers, gathering mushrooms and even gathering firewood for one of the older villagers.
The quests would have been boring, but having someone to talk to while running around gathering items definitely made the experience more enjoyable. Within an hour, Charlena gained level 2 in her Scout class.
“Level 2 now!” she said happily and did a little bow.
“Great job!” he told her and gave her a high five.
As if on queue, the mayor came puffing around the corner. “Dedrurrurth! Almedha!”
The rotund mayor skidded to a halt in front of them and tried to speak but was too out of breath. Absalom bent over, breathing heavily and trying to catch his breath. He stood up and tried speaking again but then just bent over. “Goblins… goblins… attacking… farms… south.”
Mayor Absalom of Sinking Springs has offered you the quest, “When Goblins Attack”
Reward: 100 gold, +100 faction with Residents of Sinking Springs, +100 faction with Absalom.
Accept quest? (Yes or No)
“We’ll take care of it!” Charlena grinned, accepting the quest. “Come on Jace! Let’s get some goblins!” Not waiting for a response from the mayor, Charlena dashed off to the south. As she ran, she pulled
out her bow. “Come one!”
Shaking his head and smiling at the gung-ho elf, Jace hurried to catch up with her.
The two adventurers ran quickly out of town and down the southern road until they came to the first farm. They slowed to a walk and looked around. There did not appear to be any goblins, so they ran to the next farm. There were no signs of goblins there either but they did spot some smoke coming from just south of them.
Running down the road, Jace and Charlena stopped as they cleared a small hill and looked down on the scene below them.
From the hilltop, they could clearly see the thatch roof of the farmhouse was on fire. Surrounding the farmhouse were at least six goblins who were intently watching the house. Jace thought maybe they enjoyed watching things burned until he heard a woman’s plea for help from inside the house.
Charlena heard it too and started to rush towards the house but Jace caught her by the arm. She turned to him angrily. “We have to help those people!”
Jace nodded. “I know. But we’re outnumbered. We have to do this smart. Dying won’t help anyone.”
She was still tense under his grip and he let go over her.
“What do we do then?” she said through gritted teeth.
As he’d looked over the situation with a practiced eye, Jace had already formulated a plan. They didn’t have a full group nor did they have many abilities they could draw on. That meant they’d need to play it smart.
“You need to sneak over to that big oak. Stay in stealth and climb up,” he told her, pointing to a nearby tree with a lower branch she could reach but the goblins couldn’t. “As soon as you're in position, fire your first arrow from stealth. Then, keep firing at them until they come at you.”
Looking at the tree, Charlena nodded. She wanted to help, but she was smart too. “What about you?”
VEIL Online - Book 1 Page 18
