"That's it, people. Let's go."
I was without shield and sword this time, which meant new tactics for the first level, the only one which had five gabats coming at us at the same time.
After seeing how well Daggers could dodge, it wasn't too difficult to discover a way. I would begin the fight by killing two sleeping gabats. After that, Daggers would enter the gabats chamber and get their attention while running around, focusing on dodging. Meanwhile, the men in the party would safely stay back throwing fireballs.
Wait, this doesn't sound right.
What I meant to say was that Daggers would run away like a coward while Eternal and I did all the hard work of killing our enemies and saving the damsel in distress.
The first and second floors were no challenge for us and we were about to go to the third one when Eternal said he had to log out. His damage was really low but it was still better than not having it, so we went back to the cave entrance, where he logged out after ten minutes, claiming he would be back in two hours.
<Guy has been awfully quiet, don't you think?> I asked Daggers.
Our vampire companion was acting as if all he wanted was to be as far away from the gabats as possible. After the short talk we had had in Marbareus' room, I even wondered if he wanted to leave the party.
She shrugged. <I did not notice, sir.>
<Why do you insist on this formal treatment? I told you it's ok to call me my name. I don't care about this 'party leader' bullshit you spoke about.>
<My father is military, sir. The chain of command was imprinted in my soul since I was a kid. Calling you 'sir' is a good way to make us both remember our positions: you give orders, I execute them, no matter the cost.>
<Unless I order you to tank my enemies, you mean.>
<Roger. Unless they are ridiculously idiotic orders.>
So, she was one for role-playing, to put her character into a mindset and follow it to the death. She probably had experience in tabletop RPGs, too. I could respect that, even if it wasn't something I would do in an immersive reality RPG; throw away all my freedom? No, thanks.
<Military, huh? That's a place where I wouldn't belong even if I tried.>
<That is not right, sir. You would make a fine staff sergeant.>
I smiled. <Would I? I thought I was an idiot child or something.>
<You are, sir, but that is not what I am talking about.>
<Huh?>
<You save your men, sir. Even at the cost of your own blood. Even at the cost of disobeying the chain of command and being punished for it. Everyone can order other people around, but only the best of us can put other people's lives over their own comfort.>
That made me laugh. <So now I'm an idiot child, but a big-hearted one.>
<That is how it looks, sir.>
<You do realize I felt no pain in the beating, right?>
<Yes, sir.> She didn't provide any further explanation.
<Great.> I cleared my throat and made my best impersonation of a wise soldier. <Well, soldier, you are also a damn nice man to have in my platoon. Thanks for saving my life.>
She saluted. <Just doing my job, sir!>
<Then keep it going. If I had a platoon full of men like you I'd win this goddamn war in a damn hour.>
<I think you are mistaken, sir! A platoon full of me would win the war in ten minutes, sir!>
<Ha! Aren't you the smart ass? Pay me a hundred and be quick about it!>
<Yes, sir!> And she got to the floor and began to do pushups, counting them aloud.
Weirdo.
Eternal had been right: she had been a pain to work with in the beginning. She still was, refusing to do some things I told her. But at least she was frank about it.
I could almost see that political monster inside me, trying to get out of the prison I had put it back into, its black tentacles probing through the gaps in the bars and trying to get ahold of me.
'Straightforward goons,' Father would say, 'are the best muscle you can find. If you do, learn to accept their quirks and deal with them. They are rare and the most useful ones when shit hits the fan.'
That had been a very unusual day. One of his schemes had failed in such an epic way that he had called some nasty people into the house, to give some monstrous orders. His use of foul language was proof of how unstable he had been.
And I had to use all my willpower to not give in to the political Kraken inside me.
'We do everything for power. That's the blood in my veins, that's the blood in yours, our nature. And we are too good at it to let it go to waste. Don't be ashamed of it. If you want to listen to your aunt that much, you can do it too. Power can be used for the good of others.'
I would have believed him if such words hadn't been uttered the day after Mother had forced me to order a maid to kiss my feet.
That being the case, I could see the evil in his eyes, the surety that should I taste enough power, it would corrupt me and shape me into him.
Of course, that was before I had taken into my hands the ultimate power and killed him
I shook my head. I knew where that line of thought would lead and I needed some distraction.
<Daggers, stop with this shit and get two greatswords from your purse. Let's do some ridiculously slow training.>
It was a pleasant surprise discovering that the encumbered status from using the greatsword had been reduced from level seven to level six, thanks to my strength level up. It wasn't that pleasant to see Daggers move the big weapon much better and faster than me.
Still, we spared, if it could be called that. I would tire after little more than twenty hits or blocks and sit, while Daggers attacked thin air some few more times before also tiring and sitting to rest. I didn't use too much mana throwing fireballs for fear of having no MP in case we were ambushed.
<Let me ask you something.> I said in a rest session.
<Go ahead, sir.>
<You have high dexterity, don't you?> I half-expected her to not answer.
<Yes, sir.>
<So, why don't you go for better-placed attacks? Except for the way you killed the bishop, you always attack the same general region, like legs, but you never try to cripple the gabats by cutting behind their knees or something.>
She took a while to answer. <I... Did not know it was possible to cripple my opponents in this world, sir.>
<Huh? Didn't they teach you that in the Blackguard?>
<No, sir. Who taught you?>
<Experience, I guess. It's just the way I killed a big monster, by taking out its jaw while stabbing it in the eyes. And how critical hits apply when you cut necks or hit the head. And the way I couldn't carry your body with my arm almost cut off. Seems like it should work. I would try if I could hit the damn monsters.>
<I will keep that in mind, sir.>
After three hours of training, Eternal appeared again, providing no reason for his lateness and not caring that we had been waiting for him. I attributed his attitude to the way I had forced him to cooperate with me in the plantations.
The gabats had reappeared and we yet again killed all first and second-floor monsters. And yet again we couldn't get to the third floor; this time it was Daggers who had to log out.
Back to the entrance we went, and Eternal also logged out after complaining about the time. The real-life clock in my vision marked it as ten o'clock in the night.
<Jack!> The familiar voice entered my mind. It was a little more female than last time we had talked.
<Ted! How are things?>
<The worst! Can you believe Bear told me I should be an archer?! The prick!>
<Sorry, wrong call. Call your lady friends, not me. I don't care about it.>
<As if I would tell my friends I'm traveling to stupid Valia!>
<Didn't you have a traveler friend that you'd introduce me to? Nany or something.>
<She is out of Valia right now. You are the only one I have, so shut up and let the lady speak.>
<Alright, I'm just resting, so go ah
ead.>
<He said to me that because I'm always out of Valia I should focus on ranged attacks. That it is becoming too much trouble to protect my a- To protect me. Can you believe that?>
<He plays a lot more than you?>
<He is in a Dreamer. As if that made him better than me!>
<Not better, but stronger. He stays in Valia more, therefore he gets stronger faster. Plus, he already died once to protect you, right when I met you, remember? It doesn't sound like he is lying about it.>
<That was different! It was an accident and I really wanted to see Crystalia. They say it's beautiful.>
<It was even your idea? Man, the guy really likes you. I'd never chance losing the Challenge to save a girl in some stupid sightseeing tour.>
<Challenge? What are you talking about?>
<Didn't your dad tell you? The thousand highest level Dreamer Travelers who survive for a month will get eighty free attribute points. Guy just threw it away for you.>
<What?! He did what?>
<Yeah, I know; sounds stupid to me too. Anyways, he stays in Valia more, so he knows better if you can keep up with him on the front-lines. I'd rather have some long range guy helping me from somewhere safer than to have to worry about protecting a weak guy>
<I'm not a guy! I'm a lady! He shouldn't talk to me like that!>
<Now you are just being spoiled. The better you two fight together, the more amazing places you can see in Valia. And let me tell you, Crystalia is really beautiful.>
<Did you go there?>
<No; I am there.>
<God, I hate you two. I bet you would be best buddies.>
This time, there was a quick beep sound to signal the end of the call. V-Soft was changing things in Valia and I had no idea what they were until they affected me, thank to my situation with the damn Destiny Spirit.
Ted out of the way, I focused on training again. Or tried to. I was feeling bad for Daggers. 'Only the best of us can put other people's lives over their own comfort,' she had said. She clearly didn't know me.
That was a once in a lifetime occurrence. I had been responsible for the player's death in the prison. I had scammed another player in Ter'nodril. Granted, I had saved Ted, but only because I needed information. Daggers was projecting her father onto me or something. It was pitiful.
'No one cares enough about you to force you out of the game.' Her other words came to me, unbidden. Yeah, she could guess right once in a while, but it didn't mean she was always right.
Damn girl, I didn't need her pity.
Why was I even thinking about it now? Was it because of Ted and her relationship with Bear? I told her I didn't care about this kind of stuff. I was a simple man: meet girl, ask girl out, have fun with girl, repeat. I did want to marry someday, but that was for the future. I would have some fun in Valia for a long time until I decided to leave the game and find myself someone.
What the hell was wrong with this game, anyways? I had gone years of my life forgetting myself in games, without having to wonder about any of this deep stuff. Suddenly, some random guy sacrificing himself for a spoiled girl was leaving me all touched. I was acting like a girl.
And if I had time to act like a girl, I was being too easy on myself. Time for some solo gabat hunting.
The main difficulty was the first pawn gabats, simply because they attacked in a big group. They had three hundred HP each, but I could kill two with my initial four fireballs. That gave me enough time for one or two more fireballs before the other gabats were onto me.
That's when the real problem started: without a shield and sword I would be fighting hand-to-hand.
So, how could I do it? Thinking about the whole setup, a possibility came to me: what if I used the rook gabat?
The idea made me excited. I could try to kill four gabats with fireballs then run to the rook and use it as a barrier between the last pawn and myself, allowing me enough time to create some more fire morbs. Rooks didn't attack unless all the pawns were killed, anyway, and they didn't leave their chambers unless they received some damage.
If the pawn ended up attacking the rook, it would come to my advantage as some extra damage for later. If that made the rook also attack me, or I couldn't kill four pawns in the beginning of the fight, I would have to run for my life.
Anyway, when I either killed the last pawn or got attacked by the rook, I would run away until I left the cave and pray it didn't follow me. Even if it did, I would then run to the vampire guards and prepare some explanation or another for Marbareus.
With the plan made, I put it into action. The pawns were sleeping and the rook was standing, as usual. I threw the first two fireballs.
Critical for 2.0x damage!
172 fire damage dealt to Pawn Gabat
HP: 153 / 325 <?>
I wish the other damage bonuses, sneak attack and attacking sleeping target, worked on these beasts too. Or that I knew the reason it doesn't.
I killed another gabat with fireballs to the head and used all my willpower to not move too much while the remaining three gabats ran to me.
I more or less held the line and killed one more, but that was all. They got too close and I had to run for it.
They followed me up to the cave entrance. Desperate, I jumped over the edge, hitting the ground hard and awkwardly. They thankfully didn't follow me outside.
Damn quest wasn't B ranked for no reason. Since I wasn't in the mood of jumping from a great height over and over again, it was back to slow sword swinging for me.
Almost ten hours later, I greeted Eternal and Daggers.
<Did you get stronger, sir?>
<Yeah.>
My constitution and my willpower had both gone up by one and I now boasted three hundred and twenty HP, almost double Eternal's. Was it me or had his face gone a little sour? Hell, was Eternal jealous of me? That struck me as so weird that I just decided to let it go.
<That's it, you both have already slacked off too much. Let's kill bishops.> I took a few steps. <And while we do that, let's pray that the Church doesn't hear about it.>
After the usual clearing of the first two floors, it was finally time to go for the third one.
<Daggers, there's something I don't get.> She looked at me. <Last time you said you would rather not fight the bishop by yourself, but you still did it, and after a huge hit. How did you know you could deal with it?>
<I saw it attack you, sir.>
<So...?>
<I determined its speed, sir. It was clear that I was faster. Not only that, but the beast is rather clumsy with its swords. As if they are too much for his brain to properly use.>
<They didn't seem clumsy to me.>
<It is not a novelty that your brain is on the level of a gabat. Sir.>
Eternal laughed at that a little too hard to my liking.
<This time we are doing almost the same thing as before, except Daggers will fight solo in close range while Eternal and I do long range support. Let's go.>
They waited for me on the last chamber of the second floor while I went to the third to lure the first gabats. When I got there, I saw something I didn't expect.
<Uh... Guys? Come here, you need to see this.>
Jack Thorn
Unbound Deathlord
Legendary Spotter, Hedge Wizard, Pioneer, Dark Archmage
Level 13
Hit Points:320 / 320
Mana Points:620 / 620
Stamina:225 / 225
Attributes:
Strength:8
Agility:8
Dexterity:6
Constitution:9
Intelligence:14
Perception:6 + 10 [Items]
Charisma:8
Traits:
© Adept Controller:21
© Adept Energizer:13
Adept Mage:11 + 10 [Items]
Diviner:2
Gold Digger:2
Scavenger:2
Scout:2
Antimage:1
Athlete:1
Crafter:1
Healer:1
Meditator:1
Mind Seer:1
Negotiator:1
Nitpicker:1
Shadow:1
Warrior:1
18. Arachnophobia
'Most of the time, great people fall not to their enemies moves, but to their own mistakes.'
- Father
<What the hell happened here?> Eternal asked.
Instead of six beautiful gabats and their livestock waiting for us, we were staring at about eight white cobwebs on the ceiling and a dozen eggs half my size on the ground. There were lots of longswords and two greatswords in a pile in the center.
The scenery was disconcertingly familiar.
<Destroy all the eggs and find me my backpack,> I ordered as I took a sword from the pile help with it.
Low Quality Longsword
» 30 (+16 [Strength]) damage
I had to use it with both hands, but I decided against smashing the eggs with my feet as I had last time. Just as I expected, there were small fetal spiders inside.
Eternal, much smarter than me, just threw fireballs at them.
<Your shield and sword are here. The backpack too.>
Ignoring the weaponry, I went for the backpack and checked it. The strongbox where I kept my money wasn't there.
<Try to find-> I stopped mid-sentence as I saw the strongbox in the pile of greatswords. It was torn and broken and all the money that had been inside it was scattered. I ignored the coins as I searched for the ring.
It wasn't there.
<Shit.>
<What is it?> Eternal asked. <They stole some money?>
<No... Well, I think not. But I think I know what happened here.>
<What?>
<There was a kind of cursed ring in the strongbox.> I began to pick my money and put in my purse. <I found it after killing some giant zombie spider.>
<And...?>
I took my sword and shield in my hands. <And it mutated my finger into a small spider when I put it on. If it wasn't for me chopping the finger off, I have no idea what would have happened to me.>
<You are telling me there is a giant zombie spider in these caves now?>