Timothy Nugent Author
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Chapter 17 - Mopping Up
🕑 Added 2024-07-01 13:44:54 +0000 UTCWith his sword and dagger held at the ready, he rushed out of the dark woods into the goblin encampment. Over three hours had passed since his last attack, and the goblins had grown complacent. Only three remained on guard, while most had fallen asleep next to the still crackling fires.
His silent charge almost took the goblins entirely by surprise. He sprinted so quickly through the clearing that he closed half the distance before the first goblin shouted in alarm. He ordered Metal to join in, which added to the confusion.
“Enemy! Under Attack!” the goblin yelled while it fumbled the arrow it retrieved from its quiver.
With only twenty feet between them, it barely had time to nock the projectile, pull back, and release it before he ran the sentry through. The arrow went wide. As he ran, he barely had to angle his chest to the side. He was not sure if the dodge was even necessary. At worst, the tip would have grazed his upper arm and ripped his shirt.
After he plowed through the sentry, he turned to the next nearest guard. This trembling goblin held a shield before it, with a small mace held at the ready. However, it was so frightened by his super-human speed, it froze as he ran it down.
The third and last sentry was across the camp, and it too was armed with a bow. It released an arrow, aimed at Blake’s chest, and raised its arms in victory when it saw the trajectory.
To Blake’s enhanced body, however, the projectile moved in slow motion. He stepped around the arrow, which caused the sentry’s eyes to widen in surprise. Blake was so swift, that by the time it retrieved another arrow from its quiver, he was only six feet away.
He lunged forward and skewered the goblin. With a shake of his arm, the body was dislodged from his blade and he was ready to continue his slaughter. The leader had finally awakened and began shouting orders to its soldiers.
Can’t have that.
Blake ignored the half-awake goblins who fumbled for their weapons, and focused in on the true threat, the goblin commander. Five giant steps later, he swung his sword at the shield-bearing leader. The longsword hammered into the small buckler, and the boss grunted in pain as it was forced backward. Before it could raise its own short sword to counter his attack, Blake thrust his dagger forward and into the wide eyes of his enemy.
With their leader dead and no one else able to take its place in command, confusion mounted. Blake took advantage of the situation and rapidly dispatched every goblin near him. Half of the enemy he slew had yet to even grasp their weapons.
He moved through the flame-lit camp like a wraith himself as he darted to and fro. His attacks were like lightning, and they could do nothing to slow him. Only once during the slaughter did he feel an attack land against him. The chipped short sword easily sliced through his jacket and shirt, but only lightly bruised the skin beneath it.
Unless a goblin was incredibly lucky, he no longer needed to fear their attacks. He still avoided them if could, of course. After all, why take a bruise if you could side step the attack all together. However, his nigh-on invulnerability to the weak goblins allowed him to take risks he would never have dreamt of before.
In the end, it took only three minutes for him to kill the remaining twenty-eight goblins. When the last goblin died, the Architect confirmed that he completed the scenario within his overhead display.
He delayed his choice of reward and strode through the camp until he stood directly where the question mark appeared on his map.
Metal had long ago found the secret treasure in this scenario, but Blake had been unable to retrieve it while the goblins still lived. Now, he was able to dig through the soft dirt with his fingers until he felt a hard metal edge. Blake retrieved the small object and held it up to the light of the fire.
I guess it’s better than nothing.
According to his interface, the silver earring would grant him one extra Magic Resistance. Unfortunately, he would have to wear the gaudy item in order to receive any benefit. The stud contained three strands of silver, which led to brightly colored stones that dangled in the wind.
Blake frowned at the bauble. If he pierced his ear and wore the jewelry, he would be constantly annoyed every time he moved his head. The stones would swing through the air and pull on his lobe, making noise at every turn. However, no matter how much he would dislike it, as soon as he entered a level one scenario, he would be sure to equip the earring. One point added to his Magic Resistance was too great an advantage for him to decline.
In the meantime, however, he placed the silver tassels in his jacket pocket and dismissed his companion. Once he informed the Architect he was ready to choose his reward, four options appeared before him, and he grinned broadly.
He immediately skipped the two weapons, as they did not surpass his current longsword and dagger. In his opinion, the spiked mace displayed before him was a poor weapon, and he preferred the reach of his longsword to the shorter scimitar he could receive. The shield would be welcome, but without any spatial storage, it would be too cumbersome and awkward to haul around.
I should probably get that sooner rather than later.
He missed his ‘virtual pocket’. The spatial storage ability was one of the few general skills he would purchase before he received his class. The first level of the skill would allow him to store a little under two and a half pounds of mass. However, it was not as useful as it sounded. It took ten seconds for an object to materialize in your hand when summoning it, and it would take another ten seconds to dismiss.
After it leveled, however, it was amazing. At each level, the mass you could store was increased by another two and a third pounds. The bulky shield before him weighed nine pounds. That meant that once he leveled it four times, he could store the shield without having to strap it to his back or carry it.
Unfortunately, just like class skills, general skills were limited to your level. He would need to reach level three before he could level the general skill up high enough for it to be practical. Even so, he was going to purchase the skill before then. Skills leveled up by using them, and took days or weeks of constant use to do so.
He returned his focus to the scenario rewards. The last choice was a hide jerkin. Similar to his leather pants, the material was enhanced by nanomachines. It could withstand a sword strike or arrow far better than his body, even fortified as it currently was.
He quickly accepted the armor and waited impatiently, for over an hour, for the Architect to assemble it. While he waited, he emptied his pockets of the last of his snacks and consumed them. He withdrew his phone and stared at the blank screen.
Why am I still carrying this thing?
His parents could contact him directly through the system, and the next time he saw his brother, he would invite him as well. He could not even remember the names of the few friends he made in high school, and had no desire to reacquaint himself with them.
He tossed the plastic smartphone into the fire and watched in satisfaction as it melted before him.
When the sleeveless tunic was finally completed, it dropped to the ground before him. He gleefully slipped out of his bloody-stained jacket and threw it into the fire next to the remains of the phone. Blake then equipped the new brown armor and tightened its straps.
Clothed in hide pants and jerkin, with a sword and dagger strapped to his waist, he looked like he was headed to a renaissance festival. Finally ready to leave, he retraced his steps to the goblin fort where he arrived, climbed the ten-foot wall, and walked toward the swirling portal that was now open once again.
The goblins tightened their grip on their weapons as they warily watched him leave. Without saying a word, he entered the spatial distortion and the world around him was replaced with the void. What seemed like hours later, but he knew was only moments, he was unceremoniously dumped to the ground.
Unlike before, he was not forced to roll to even the shock. Instead, he landed with bent knees like a superhero. His joints easily accepted the punishment and he barely felt a thing.
He smiled.
Should I take a break or do another?
With his increased attributes, he felt very little strain on his body, and was bursting with energy. The last fight against the goblin army felt like a light workout. He had also finished the scenario faster than he expected. The vast majority of his time was spent waiting on the nanomachines to enhance his body and assemble his reward.
I have plenty of time. I’ll grab a snack and complete one more.
He withdrew a bottle of water from the tent and collected a few protein bars. He quickly pierced his right ear with the earring and grimaced as it tickled his cheek. When he was ready, he climbed up to the ledge and leapt toward the ground.
The portal intercepted his fall and placed him in the void. Once again, he refused to increase the difficulty of the scenario. To his relief, there was no convoluted mission where he would be forced to escort a defenseless goblin child through danger, or something equally annoying. Instead, he only needed to eliminate a goblin war band.
Good, no families to worry about.
When he exited the void, his feet sank into the sandy ground of the goblin planet, and he barely avoided a cactus. The thorny succulent was directly between his legs, and if he bent his knees any further, he would have learned just how strong his armor was.
Blake immediately summoned Metal and sent the wraith off to scout his surroundings. Surprisingly, his companion complied without argument. As far as he could tell, the war band was nowhere near him, and he would need to travel quite a ways to meet up with them.
While his companion slowly revealed the map to his north, Blake decided to check out the area to his south. He noted a large rock outcropping which he planned to climb to get a better view of the area.
He easily scaled the stone and admired the view from his new height. Across a huge stretch of desert, miles away, he saw a crumbling stone fortification. Atop the wall, he could barely discern small forms, which he assumed were goblins. However, when he checked his map, the location was clearly outside the bounds.
I guess they aren’t my targets.
He shrugged and continued to scan the rugged hills around him. His search revealed more of the map, but he failed to identify his enemies. Luckily, Metal had no such difficulties, and red marks began to appear on his map where the wraith discovered his foes.
Blake scrambled from the rocks and jogged in the direction his map indicated. He withheld caution, confident in his new power and Metal’s scouting ability.
Ten minutes later, he crested a rise and discovered almost forty goblins below. His form was immediately visible, and a scout cried out in alarm.
Well, good thing I’m too strong for them now.
At this point, he faced little danger from direct conflict. However, habit forced him to treat the situation seriously. He had seen far too many of his comrades killed because they felt they were in little danger.
Rather than jump to the ground below and attack the large army, he turned and pretended to flee. He passed a rise a few hundred feet back, which would be a perfect spot to hold his ground. It would offer him an elevation advantage and would not allow the goblins to surround him. He also hoped the area would put him in just enough danger the AI would reward him accordingly.
Similar to the battle in the caves, the pursuing goblins were forced into single file to attack him. The dead began to pile up, and the goblins were forced to drag their fallen away.
During the fight, there was only a single instance where he felt a thrill of danger. He blocked an attack with his dagger, when he saw an arrow headed his way out of the corner of his eye. If he had not turned his head at the last second, he might not have noticed the projectile until it was too late.
Surrounded by rock as he was, there was no chance he could dodge the attack. Instead, he raised his longsword and deflected the arrow with his inch and a half wide blade. The goblin’s flank attack was unsuccessful, but revealed a potential vulnerability in his position. Eager to protect his rear, he rushed forward and waded into the crowd.
Finally, after almost half an hour of battle, the last goblin fell. The archer, which had flanked him, ran when it saw how easily he slew its fellow goblins. He was forced to chase the coward as it fled, which wasted time which could be spent on another combat scenario.
Once it was slain, he removed the obnoxious earring and stored it.
Metal had yet to locate the secret treasure, so Blake decided to choose his reward and let it assemble as he waited. After another hour, he gladly replaced his off brand tennis shoes with a new pair of comfortable boots and dismissed his companion. He trudged through the rock and sand toward the now revealed hidden treasure.
By the time he reached the edge of the boundary, he was tired and annoyed. That feeling was only magnified when he shifted the sand away and uncovered the secret treasure.
Another pair of boots.
Blake kicked himself for his impatience. If he had waited until after the treasure was revealed, he would have chosen the bracers instead. Now, he had an extra pair of boots that he did not need.
Whatever. It’s not like I REALLY need the bracers anyway.
Blake bemoaned the fact that level zero armor provided protection to his body, but did not provide any extra utility. Not only was higher level armor more durable, it enhanced his magic and could potentially give him access to spells that his class did not. Once he gained his class and took on the higher level scenarios, he would immediately replace his entire set as soon as he was able.
Time to go.
With a sigh, he traveled back to Earth, where the sun had already set. He ate a meal next to his tent and watched the moon rise into the clear night sky. Blake was about to head to bed when he was notified of his mother calling him through the interface.
I’ll just wish her a good night and then head to sleep.
He accepted the video communication, and both of his parents appeared before him. When he saw the serious expressions on their faces, his fatigue instantly vanished.
“Is everything okay?” he asked in concern as he sat up straight.
“We’re fine,” his father answered quickly, relieving the tension that built up in his neck. “It’s the restaurant that’s in trouble. They shut it down.”
