The Dragon's Wrath: Shadows in the Flame (5 page)

Chapter 78: Hard Cap, Soft Cap

(Tuesday, November 23rd Game Day /
Tuesday, April 20th Real Day)

There were three real days or roughly nine in-game days left before the next mission. One week out from the original raid was when I decided to conduct the second. A short reprieve for FWB. Enough time to build something of substance so that I could burn it down but not so much time for them to actually shore up their defenses… just enough, to make it hurt. Revenge was more than hitting a target hard.

There was the psychological element too. A lingering fear, a taste of what could lurk around any and every corner. The message would be hammered down, instilled into their very beings until they couldn’t take it anymore.

And then at that point, the mocking would begin.

I had been continually monitoring FWBs progress through various blogs, forums, and at times even streams. It had only been four days since I hit them but they were increasingly spouting off rhetoric about what they were going to do me.

Damage control at its finest.

The whole situation was almost comical… a small-to-medium sized guild of casuals mixed with a few hardcore players numbering maybe in the fifties attempting to challenge an unemployed hardcore game addict with a standing NPC population well over a hundred and with unlimited resources. Laughable, really.

They worked for a few hours a day to rebuild their village while I put in fourteen hours a day. They grouped up to get things done while I had dozens of NPCs do the same. They also thought the number and level advantage was on their side too.

They were mistaken.

Though a few random players had wandered by to check the place out as pictures of Dragon’s Breach were uploaded on the web as well. Anonymous sources for the most part but there was another post that looked suspiciously like another breach of confidentiality from the A&B Meetings. Details that shouldn’t be out there.

I didn’t know who was responsible for all of the details but I couldn’t stop it. Players were free to come and go on the outskirts of my territory and I couldn’t stop every random person in the forest. Some people were genuinely trying to level, explore, and set up camp. Even a few player houses had been created near Andal as of two days ago.

Those things were out of my control.

As far as the Alpha and Beta Meetings though, I couldn’t help but wonder if Emily was the one giving me away. She was the host, she had the data, she shared it with the testers… and in turn those testers leaked it out to the world. Sure, she talked about all sorts of information so it wasn’t as if she had singled me out on purpose.

The land itself singled me out, seeing as I was the only one here.

Maybe it wasn’t her fault either, maybe she was just the messenger. Whatever the case was, she was the figurehead and the symbolic face of the meetings. She might only be a messenger but I wasn’t happy with her or her cohorts. I was fighting on two fronts now and one enemy couldn’t be fought. That left FWB to be the demonstrative guinea pig.

They weren’t ready for what was to come.

“Status report!” I yelled out into the forest.

“All clear!” came back a shout from a male.

“All clear!” came back a shout from a female.

“All cleeear!” came an oddly high-pitched squeal from someone.

Shaking my head at the last reply, I tried my best not to laugh out loud as I internalized my thoughts and feelings on the matter. The oddly voiced reply was practically genderless but I had an idea as to who it belonged to. A good person really… just a strange voice was all. A really strange voice.

“Move forward!” I shouted to them as I started to pace myself in the direction of their voices. The Infested Zone was being utilized to power level my troops and we were already twenty miles deep into the forest. Camping gear was brought along as well as a bundle of warm clothing as the temperature had started to drop considerably with the increasing snowfall. Winter was on the way and traveling would soon become difficult.

When the time comes, I’ll have to find other sources of entertainment.

For now we would hunt until we reached the cave. Dire wolves, goblins, and rattanorv groups were out patrolling and were readily available. There was also the occasional sighting of adverse weather conditions that signaled the presence of a frost troll, of which one had never been caught or killed. The rest of the creatures were standard fodder really.

These groups of mobs weren’t a challenge for a team of casters and tanks. The men and women were clearing through the area at a breakneck pace and I couldn’t help but wonder when the current creatures would phase out and new ones would swoop in. My hope was that it would occur relatively soon.

Overhunting of an area was supposed to activate the conditions for the game to change its parameters slightly, increasing the difficulty in relation to the individuals in the region. Starter zones being the lone exception as they kept a radius of low level mobs for the beginner players. Yet despite the conditions being met, nothing was changing.

The goblins roamed as packs of five at around level fifty up to level sixty. The rattanorv roamed as packs of ten at similar levels and the dire wolves were usually alone but around level seventy. Level fifty-plus bears were also running about but they were very small in number with the hibernation period having started for them in-game.

I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a hard cap… or a soft cap, on the level of creatures that an Infested Zone would bring in. At first I figured it was based purely on scarcity but that didn’t seem to be the only factor. The other thought was that it was tied to the player levels in the vicinity.

The casters were already in their forties level wise with the original warriors well over seventy. My new warriors with their lower potentials were pretty far behind and were stuck in their twenties still but they could manage without too much issue. They were mainly frontline tanks and all of the heavy work was handled by the casters in most fights.

My level on the other hand had stagnated significantly.

It was rather embarrassing to think about, really.

Kate, well… she was nearing level one-hundred already with her potential being somewhat exceptional. Seeing how high potentials conferred an experience boost, any NPC with strong ratings had it extremely good when it came to leveling. I mean, for every kill we made Kate received double the experience that I did.

There was almost no way for me to actually catch her in level unless I left her at home and soloed my way through content. Another trip to an instanced dungeon might help in that regard. That didn’t sound too bad either.

Sure would beat the winter up here.

Well, based on all of the high levels running around the idea that the Infested Zone was tied strictly to scarcity and level seemed to be out of the question. My last thought on the matter was that it could potentially be tied to the level of the settlement nearby.

Dragon’s Breach was still a village for now.

I would have to wait until it upgraded to a Town to find out.

Lost in thought, a sudden gust hit me as the cold air sent a chill through my coat and forced a reactionary shiver. An ominous feeling was pervading the surroundings… the feeling of being possessed.
Ah, this was a familiar feeling
, I thought to myself.

In an instant the wind had picked up as the snowfall began to obscure my vision. The noise of the supernatural storm blocking out the calls of my troops as they tried to ask for instruction. It seemed even the trees were against me as the canopy that had been letting in light slowly grew dark.

Standing under the shadow of a tree amidst the frenzied snowfall I was alone. The white and green scenery around me turned to white and gray as I started to scan the distance. Looking from left to right in a circular motion, I continued to turn until I had scanned the entire area surrounding me. The thickest part of the storm was where the sun was moments before.

Marked trees told me the direction was west… in this forest I would never be lost without the sun. I couldn’t be lost here. I, we, prepared for that. There were thousands of marked trees in the vicinity, something to bide my time while the male and female NPCs played at being players. They hunted while I prepared for the worst.

Now it was time for me to hunt.

This [Frost Troll] was mine.

Taking one step after the other I continued on my westerly course, straight into the thick of the storm. One glance at my arm revealed the amount of packed snow that had accumulated on my clothing. My shoulders were growing heavy… my face, almost frostbitten. The temperature had plummeted to below freezing as the small creek along my path had frozen over, with instances of wildlife clearly visible.

And clearly frozen.

Then as I took another step into a heavy and hard gust that forced me to lean in, there it was. The [Frost Troll] in all its glory. Hunched over the carcass of a small bear, the troll was distracted by its dinner. Believing in its supernatural defenses that protected it while keeping others at bay, it munched away on raw flesh with the ignorance of an apex predator. This creature had nothing to fear here.

Walking towards the monster and through the miniature blizzard that surrounded it, the closer I got the easier it became. The eye of the storm… pleasantly cool and nothing else. The wind had died down as the snow continued to fall heavily around the outskirts of our small radius but inside, inside we were free from the effects of the storm.

“Hey, do you speak?” I asked with real interest.

In total shock the troll sprang up from the shock of an unfamiliar noise as it dropped torn flesh to the ground and took a step back. Eyeing me for a moment before something registered in its brain, alerting it that I was a threat.

“So you’re not intelligent,” I said dejectedly with a frown.

Anger quickly flashed across its face as it roared loud enough to shake the trees. Throwing its arms up in the air with a speed that was hard to follow, the air around me began to immediately cool as thick white snow began to rapidly circulate.

Dropping all pretenses I lowered my shoulder and charged through the wind wall, bursting through and right into the chest of the massive troll as it was startled by my move. Tackling the troll proved impossible as the massive eight-some foot tall creature must have weighed in excess of five-hundred pounds. Shifting my weight while wrapping my arms around the creature’s waist, I swung a leg behind it and engaged a throw.

Utilizing all of my superhuman strength born from countless hours of manual labor within the game, I slammed the creature down into the ground as it quickly grabbed me and attempted to pull me apart. Locking arms with the creature, we wrestled in the snow as it tried to rotate on top of me. A quick shift of my weight and position allowed me to turn on its back as it attempted to throw me off.

Managing to mount the troll’s back, I quickly sunk an arm around its neck with my left hand placed on top of its right shoulder. Left arm completely across the creature, I then grabbed my left hand with my right as I pulled back, sinking my left arm and forearm underneath its jaw. Elbow lined up with its nose and with my right elbow tucked down behind its back, I pulled and tightened with all of my might as the creature attempted to buck me off by twisting violently from side to side.

Struggling with me on its back, it frantically clawed at my arms but I ignored the small chunks of flesh being ripped off as I transitioned into the final step, securing the choke with my left hand resting on my right bicep and with my right hand behind its head. Squeezing and pulling my arms in tighter, I held the lock as the creature’s movements began to slow. The grunts and huffs of the creature attempting to breathe while constricted soon grew quieter as the sluggish resistance had all but ceased.

Collapsing first to its knees and then falling face-first into the snow, not more than ten seconds had passed since I locked in. Relaxing my grip as I released my bloodied and mangled arms from around its throat, the scene was rather gruesome. Blood was pouring out of the multiple wounds and down onto the frost troll’s white fur.

Standing back, I gathered a golden-white energy between my palms and let it shine down on me. The cleansing warmth of a [Holy Light] rapidly reduced the pain and stopped the hemorrhaging of my one slit wrist almost immediately. My overall health relatively fine, I skipped a secondary heal as I began to inspect the creature splayed out in front of me. No visible wounds on the body, relatively healthy looking, and clean white fur minus the portions where my blood had drenched it. All in all, an interesting specimen.

Opening the combat log, I wanted to see how much damage each
strike
did, if it did any at all. The details within showed that the creature was losing stamina for every second under my choke and once it hit zero, it began to suffocate. Similar to drowning.

Similar to how I killed Milly.

Though the most interesting thing was that I didn’t gain any experience this time around. Mainly because it was still alive.

I released as soon as it fell.

This unconscious creature wasn’t for me. No, this creature was for research… this was a training tool for the weak NPCs that needed to get stronger. They weren’t far away now.