Brent Roth - The Dragon's Wrath: A Virtual Dream (27 page)

Maybe it wasn't so bad if you lowered the pain-threshold.

But I couldn't do that… I elected to go the Ultra-Realism route.

It seems pain will follow me wherever I go.

Chapter 40: The First Floor, Pt. 2

(Sunday, May 23rd Game Day / Wednesday, February 17th Real Day)

With the fight finally over the group sat down to recover their lost stamina, mana, and health. It was a sloppy fight with little coordination but that was expected from pick-up groups with no familiarity. Coordination was typically born from experience… either with those you have worked with, or from having done similar work extensively.

There was none of that here.

Breaking my train of thought as the archer decided to open his mouth again, "That was pretty messy at first, but we recovered. So, let's rest up and I'll bring the next group."

Yeah, no.

His strategy sucked.

Those minors had only slightly less attack power than the regular goblins, but they had significantly less health and almost no defensive capability. Five seconds to kill a minor or twenty for a regular.

There was no reason to let the minors attack me for forty seconds with impunity. Plus, it left me to attempt to guard against four or five targets at a time. I had no interest in being overworked for the benefit of some archer's ego. All he had to do anyways was mindlessly shoot his bow. Not to mention, one of them had hit me with an arrow in the back.

Speaking up, "Mind if we switch it up a little?"

The archer seemed displeased and replied coldly, "What did you have in mind?"

"Since I'm not a Shield-bearer, I don't have the AoE Taunt skill for taking initial aggro. It would work better if you let me pull them."

Silence quickly filled the air as all four members stood still. They were most likely discussing the proposition in their guild chat, where I couldn't see it. I wasn't sure what all they had to discuss though, their tank was telling them that he could tank better if he pulls.

What was there to debate?

After what felt like five minutes, I finally got my reply.

"That's fine. You're familiar with pulling, right?"

"Yup."

With a smile, I immediately got up and ran around the corner with my bow in hand. A moment later I was running back towards the large room where my party had been standing, dumbfounded that I left them.

Turning back around, I readied my axe for the four goblins coming my way.

As the goblins came into sight, the archer quickly stated the obvious, "Ugh, there's only four goblins… did you lose one?"

Yelling back to him as the goblins charged into me, "Already killed one!"

"Wait, what?"

"Focus the Minors first!"

Ignoring the idiocy of the archer-leader as I had no interest in arguing nor sitting around for five minutes while they internally discussed the merits of my proposals, I continued the fight. Once you're in combat, it's best to listen to the tank.

The goblins hit me with their charge as I took 17% of my health in damage from the minors while deflecting the regulars. Corralling all four of the goblins in front of me, I side-stepped and turned so that the archers would have a clear firing line.

Now, we could fight.

As the minor goblin to my right fell almost instantly to the rogue, a smile crept up on my face. Only to turn into a wince as the other minor goblin stabbed me in the thigh.

Swinging my axe down towards the oncoming swords of the regulars, the
clang
of metal on metal rang out throughout the cave, reverberating off the narrow walls of the passageways. The echoes continued to bounce back and forth as the fight escalated.

As I turned my focus to the two regulars, I noticed a few arrows had landed in their core. The archers had ignored my call to attack the minors. Typical leader-types with too much of an ego to step aside when out-classed.

The rogue felled the other minor goblin in record time though, and with that it was 5 versus 2 in short order.

As the Outcast Goblin in front of me lunged forward attempting to land a thrust, I simply stood my ground and took the blow. The goblin was oblivious of what was to come as I dropped the axe down.

The goblin had nowhere to go and was full of openings; leading to a clean decapitation as the goblin's head rolled in front of me. One look to my left and the other goblin soon fell to the rogue's [Flurry] of stabs and the archer's volleys.

Not interested in any further discussion or commentary from the archer, I quickly left to pull the third group. The priest had only used 30% of her mana this time, opposed to the 80% she used last time.

That's measured progress.

With every pull, we came one step closer until we finally reached the boss. There were seven trash groups and a mini-boss per level, it seemed.

Stopping for a minute to explain the situation, "Next one's the boss, did you guys want to sort the loot before or after we start?"

The rogue replied to me as the archer had long since gone silent, "We sorted the items when you were pulling, it's all junk."

Well, I didn't doubt her.

I had a good look at those cracked and rusty swords as they pierced my abdomen or sliced at my arms and legs. They were just old, extremely brittle iron swords that were only good for a few hits.

Vendor trash, essentially.

Take it and sell it at the trade post for its scrap cost, or keep it to melt down for resources for yourself. Definitely not worth using in a fight, unless you wanted it to break mid-fight.

Approaching the mini-boss for the first floor, one could easily see the difference between the [Outcast Goblin Guard] and the lower level [Outcast Goblins] and [Outcast Minor Goblins]. The Guard was level 40 while the two Goblins were 37. Those two Minors were only level 27.

Of course, I was only level 30 so, I didn't know if the levels really meant much.

The rogue then explained the situation to me, "The boss is fairly normal, we've fought him twice and only beat him once. He actually has leather armor on in addition to that shield and spear, so he's a bit dangerous."

Leaving the party in the previous room, I went alone to pull the boss.

As soon as I was at the very end of my spell range I stopped and placed my bow down against the rock wall with my axe hanging off my back. Bringing my hands up near my chest and turning slightly to the side, I started my Chanted Verse.

"Through power, darkness turns to light, render all to ash, Lightning Bolt!"

Electrical energy coursing through my hands, the balled up mass of raw power shot straight out of my open palms and instantly traversed the distance between us.

The Minor Goblin that was my intended target was soon convulsing on its knees as an arrow found its mark in the center of his forehead. Drawing once more, I released in the general direction of the [Guard] with a
thwack
.

Turning around without any further hesitation, I sprinted back down that narrow, damp, and dark passageway. As soon as I reached the open cave section, I quickly turned and drew my bow.

It wouldn't be long now.

Any second now….

And then, there they were as if on cue.

Thwack
.

Thwack
.

Thwack
.

The single remaining minor turned the corner first and soon found itself the victim of multiple arrows to the chest as it collapsed on the ground.

Not even close.

Adrenaline had started to pick up a little as I again drew my bow. That narrow passageway that was only wide enough for one goblin to exit at a time would serve as our gimmick.

The [Outcast Goblin] turned the corner next and with three consecutive
thwacks
, three arrows found their way into the center of the goblin's chest. Though that was only enough to deal around a quarter of the goblin's health, so I tossed my bow to the ground and drew my axe.

Meeting the goblin's charge but a few steps away, I abandoned my defense and took the thrust in order to bring my axe to bear. With a side swing like cutting into a tree, I cleaved my axe straight through the goblin's arm and deep into the shoulder bone, rendering that arm completely useless.

The goblin shrieked in pain as its health fell to 44% from the continual pelting of the archers. Without time to lose I yanked the axe out as I kicked the disgusting goblin away from me just in time to raise my guard.

The second regular was now in range and I swung with all of my might intending to land a solid blow.

Only to miss my swing completely, as the goblin ducked and rolled on the ground in a feat of nimbleness.

It didn't matter though.

With the temporary opening appearing before me, I had to take it.

Lunging forward with axe high above my head I swung down on the goblin as it rolled on the ground, landing a solid blow into the hip of the goblin now on the floor. Without any mercy I jerked the axe back and with unfettered aggression I slammed that axe-head into the goblin's back. Again, I pulled and repeated, hacking the goblin in front of me to pieces as blood spurted and splattered all over and chunks of goblin flew into the air.

Covered in the goblin's blood, I turned my blood drenched face to see the rogue successfully killing the one-armed goblin with a swift thrust of her sword up and through its throat.

Adrenaline still pumping as I had somehow become quite angry, I attempted to calm down while I looked around the room. The [Outcast Goblin Guard] was nowhere to be seen.

Asking loudly, "Where's the guard? Is this scripted?"

The rogue shrugged her shoulders as she replied, "No… the guard always follows the others."

Putting my axe on my shoulder while not bothering to wipe off any of the blood that was drenched on my face and body, I started to walk down that narrow, damp, and dark passageway.

I didn’t know what that goblin guard was up to, but the executioner was coming.

Turning the corner, I couldn't help but laugh.

The almighty mini-boss of the first floor, the [Goblin Guard], stood hunched over in pain with hands grasping its face. That one wayward arrow I carelessly shot had gone through the right eye socket, effectively blinding one eye.

I continued to laugh as I started a Chanted Verse, "Through power, darkness turns to light, render all to ash, Lightning Bolt!"

Watching that beautiful bolt of lightning fly forth from my palms with its lingering tail of electricity that connected with my fingertips was always a pleasure.

Watching that goblin convulse in sudden pain as it shook uncontrollably and without a sound was even more pleasurable. The paralyze-effect had rendered the goblin mute.

Raising my right hand only, I started to use [Arc Lightning].

With a solid tether of electricity shooting forth and connecting the victim and me, the goblin continued to shake as its health slowly deteriorated. That pulsating beam of raw power that fluctuated and jumped in the air was steadily stripping the guard's health away.

And then the channel ceased.

I had run out of mana.

The [Guard] shrieked and screamed at me with the most anger I've ever seen in a creature as spit visibly flew at least ten feet out in front. It cursed at me in barely decipherable English, but it didn't matter.

It was safe to say that this goblin hated me.

That was just fine with me.

Turning my back to the raging goblin, I walked into the darkness that was the passageway, disappearing from sight.

A few steps later, I turned around the corner and stopped.

Drawing my axe back and keeping a batter's stance, I patiently waited for the guard that was soon to come.

The sounds of the goblin could be heard echoing through the chamber, high-pitched grunts and the occasional scream of anger as it cursed my existence.

Those noises soon grew louder as the echoes grew shorter.

Closing my eyes and listening to the noise that was getting ever closer, I started to count the steps that could now be heard.

One… two….

Three.

Stepping forward and swinging my axe like I was aiming for a homerun, the momentum of the axe carried me around the corner just as the shadow of the goblin appeared in front of me.

The power of the swing crashing into the weight of the goblin charging head-first caused my elbow to buckle in such a way that I was unnerved. If this was my real body, that would have been a torn ligament.

But this wasn't my real body.

Recoiling from the force of the collision I soon found myself dragged down with the goblin as my axe remained stuck in its chest. A quick glance showed that the goblin had 53% health remaining.

Yeah, he was tough.

Pulling my axe with all of my strength, I was barely able to dislodge it before a spear was thrust in my direction.

Dodging it with a quick leap backwards, I stood out of the line of sight of the archers and let them pelt the goblin that was on the floor. Three arrows found their mark before the goblin raised its large circular shield that nearly protected its entire body.