“Try it one more time, man.”
“Move that fucking shield to the side and let the goblinstein punch you!”
The party had been grinding for hours, working on some basic combat routines and testing out their skills. Their monster of choice for endless battles? Level 1 goblinsteins. Three foot tall classic green goblins with pointy ears and noses, and claws for days. The catch was they were composed of multiple body parts stitched together, some with limbs from entirely different creatures. A modest-sized furry loincloth covered their nether-regions. There was a never-ending supply of the little green bastards aimlessly wandering the fields surrounding Fiddler’s Green. Their only skill was if their body parts were torn off with a hard enough strike, they could pull themselves back together and reattach their separated parts. They were weak as shit. “Cannon foddersteins” as Alissa called them. She had bravened up a lot in the short time since the initial werewolf encounter when she was helplessly scared.
Wendell had his shield dug into the ground, but this time—after an annoying amount of chickening out at the last second—he finally lifted it and held it out to the side.
The goblinstein, who had been panting, got a second wind when he saw the opening. He snorted and slugged Wendell in the thigh with a series of jabs. This exertion depleted his second wind quickly, and he doubled over. He glanced at his opponent’s health bar and groaned, plopping on his ass and ripping out clumps of grass and chucking them while kicking his feet in a miniature fit of rage.
Alissa laughed, but Peregrine kept his composure and focused on getting his teammate up to snuff with his Defend class. If one of them was a weak link, it would get them all killed. “Now hit him with your shield until he hits back. Repeat until you drain his health bar. Don't worry about your health, it didn't move an inch. Trust your shield's abilities.”
The downside with Wendell's Defend class, was that his offense totally sucked. Peregrine had ranged magic, and Alissa could do heavy physical damage. But Wendell had a difficult time killing enemies. At this point, it was clear that his stats made him the group tank. But they wanted to see if he could kill something using the shield’s abilities, just in case things went south in a battle. Because, so far, he was afraid to be a tank.
Wendell hoisted his shield and slammed it down on the goblinstein’s head. The little monster rolled around in pain, but his health bar didn’t reflect how agonizing the impact looked. It was still green, dropping maybe an eighth of the way.
“Again,” Peregrine called out.
Wendell gave him a concerned look. “Can’t one of you two kill it? I don’t like bashing a living thing to death. I feel like a monster.”
“It’s us or them.” Peregrine folded his arms. “They won’t hesitate to kill you, and there’s no other way out of this realm. It is what it is. Again.”
Wendell hoisted the shield. The goblinstein curled up and threw his hands over his face for protection. He cried softly.
This was enough to make Wendell lower the shield and slide his arm through the straps, stepping away from the small creature. “Sorry,” he said. “I can’t do it.”
The goblinstein cackled and jumped to his feet, making a run for it. He only got a short distance before Alissa caught him with her sword and diced him into an assortment of pieces. She followed up by grabbing his arms and legs and chucking them in different directions, so they couldn’t pull themselves back together. His health bar had been depleted, but they weren’t sure if the little shits could still piece together with no life left. This would at least buy them some time. Not that they were worried about the level 1 beasts.
Peregrine didn’t have the heart to scold Wendell for not finishing the job. Hell, he didn’t like killing things, either. Even if goblinsteins were gross little atrocities to existence, it was still hard to take their lives. And if he didn’t want to go on a murdering spree, it was hard to ask someone else to. As far as he knew, none of the party had been serial killers back on Earth. Except for Alissa, maybe. She did seem to enjoy seeing red a bit much. At any rate, he noticed Wendell had had enough, so they decided to call it a day.
They headed back for Fiddler’s Green, exhausted and dirty. A hot bath at the Spin and Rinse, followed by a meal at the Mirth Tavern, sounded fantastic.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
All three stopped in their tracks and turned around. At first there was nothing to see. Then a monster came stomping over a hill, bounding for them.
[Goblinstein OG]
[Baddie Level 5]
You know those miniature freaks of nature you’ve been stomping all day? Well, you’re about to meet their big brother. And big brother has been watching you. He’s pissed. A lumpy club infused with lightning is his weapon of choice. Work together, or you’ll be squeezed into fresh human juice. With pulp.
The thing was huge, at least twelve feet tall, and thick. He was just as gross as his smaller brethren, his limbs coming from different creatures all sewn together with fat thread. His snarling lips did a terrible job hiding giant yellow teeth ready to gnaw on flesh.
Alissa charged, but Peregrine snagged her arm. “Did you see the lightning club warning? Be smart. One of his arms looks like it might be loose at the seam.”
“Of course I see it,” Alissa snapped. “I’m aggressive, not a dipshit.”
She sprinted onward and the goblinstein twirled his club overhead, bringing it down in her direction and casting a bolt of lightning. An ear-splitting crack ruptured the air as the bolt zipped toward Alissa. She managed to roll out of the way—and Peregrine barely did the same when the lightning nearly hit him after missing her.
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The two combatants clashed. Alissa swung her sword, and it bounced off the goblinstein’s leg. He gave a heavy-handed swipe. She ducked and swung at his arm as it passed over. But her sword glanced off his elbow.
Alissa was much faster than the goblinstein, but she was huffing and puffing, evading punches and weapon strikes. If he caught her with that lightning club, she’d be toast.
Peregrine saw the word RESISTANT floating above the goblinstein everytime Alissa sliced at him with her sword. Either her stats weren’t high enough to outmatch his defenses, or the thing was resistant to physical attacks. His hands shook, something he was beginning to grow accustomed to in this realm. With the sword not doing the trick, magic was needed. He was hoping Alissa would be able to kill the monster, because it was stronger than anything they’d encountered, and this frightened him. He’d also used his half-full jar of Holy ink grinding, which left his two full ones. When would he be able to get more? How much ink would he need to fight The Fool?
It took a lot of effort to force himself to dip into a fresh bottle of ink, but there was no other choice. He imagined a saw blade, spinning rapidly. It whizzed from the quill, striking the goblinstein straight in the skull. The burly creature stumbled back a few feet and shook his head, stunned. His health bar didn’t budge much, though.
Alissa took the brief moment to catch the loose stitching on his arm. Her sword cut through a good portion, leaving his arm dangling.
“Arrrggghhh,” the goblinstein roared. “Stupid humans. Killed my friends. I kill you.” He caught Allisa with his club and sent her, and Exaltation of the Fallen, rolling across the grass. Her bar turned yellow, and she struggled to get on her feet.
The goblinstein turned his attention to Peregrine, swung his club, and sent a bolt of lightning. Peregrine’s reflexes weren’t quick enough. He closed his eyes and scrunched his body to brace for impact.
The impact never came.
Peregrine opened his eyes to see Wendell standing in front of him. He was tucked behind his shield, a trench carved in the dirt where his back leg had braced against the force of the impact that had driven him back a few feet. Smoke rose off the shield. Heat waves radiated around it.
Wendell looked back. “I did it. Did you see that? It didn’t hurt at—”
A big green hand ripped the shield from Wendell’s arms and tossed it aside. Then that same hand wrapped around Wendell, squeezing him.
The Defend class punched and squirmed, but couldn’t escape the grip. His health bar was dropping, but not alarmingly fast.
“Little toy break.” The goblinstein chucked Wendell like a football, sending him flying through the air, landing in a heap twenty yards away. The green giant laughed at his accomplishment, then twirled his club toward Peregrine.
A familiar white glint appeared high above the goblinstein. A black sword came down, slicing clean through his club-wielding hand. Surprisingly, there was no blood. The monster hollered in pain and twirled around. When he spun, Alissa caught the loose arm, ripping through the remaining stitching.
Thinking fast, Peregrine jumped and rammed Quill of Beginnings in the newly-created hand hole. He imagined the saw blade again, and let it rip. And rip it did. It made a whirring sound as it zipped around inside the beast’s body. At last, the goblinstein’s eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed, health bar depleted.
Peregrine wanted to catch his breath and celebrate, but he saw one large arm, and a hand, crawling their way to their former body.
Alissa swung her sword to hack and slash.
“Hold on,” Peregrine said. “Help me lift this.” He struggled to hoist the giant club but, with Alissa’s help, they picked it up. “Aim it at the goblin.”
Once positioned, Peregrine focused on the lightning magic hidden within. He felt it sitting, waiting for someone’s command. It jumped at his touch, begging him to cast a spell. He thought of the lighting bolt hitting the goblin’s body. That’s all it took as a bolt struck the torso, starting it on fire and burning it to a crisp. He wanted to do the same to the other body parts, but couldn’t conjure another spell out of the club. So, the arm, and hand, would remain bodyless, scraping across the fields of Fiddler’s Green, forever searching for their owner.
Peregrine pulled the club into his inventory.
Wendell came walking up, a half-grin on his face. “Did you see me? It didn’t hurt … that much. My health barely went down. And my shield didn’t break.” He rested his hands on his hips. “All I had to do was trust my weapon. That wasn’t so bad.”
“You couldn’t have figured that out like ten hours ago?” Alissa slugged Wendell on the shoulder, causing him to hiss in pain. She was definitely stronger than she looked.
A round of applause broke out. This time there were fireworks, but they were only in their individual visions. Spending the whole day grinding against level 1 enemies had only increased them one level. But this fight, on its own, had gained them another. Fighting higher-leveled enemies was dangerous, but much more efficient. They checked out their increased stats.
[Peregrine]
[Creative Level 4]
Attack (Strength & Speed & Agility) 4
Defend (Block & Absorb & Withstand) 4
Creative (Magic & Durability & Adaptability) 8 [+1]
Weapon - Quill of Beginnings
Weapon Creatives - Holy
[Alissa]
[Attack Level 5]
Attack (Strength & Speed & Agility) 9 [+1]
Defend (Block & Absorb & Withstand) 5
Creative (Magic & Durability & Adaptability) 5
Weapon - Exaltation of the Fallen
Weapon Skill - Strike of Woe
[Wendell]
[Defend Level 3]
Attack (Strength & Speed & Agility) 3
Defend (Block & Absorb & Withstand) 7 [+1]
Creative (Magic & Durability & Adaptability) 3
Weapon - Life and Times
Weapon Skill - Coat of Arms
“Let’s get back inside the gates,” Peregrine suggested. “We need to get our health back up. And I don’t want to use any more ink before we fight The Fool.”
“Do you think we’re a match for him?” Wendell inspected his shield. Satisfied by whatever he saw, he slid his arm through the straps.
“We’re a match,” Alissa said. “If The Fool is still at the same level as when the Spin and Rinse guys saw him, we’ll be just fine. He’d only be one level higher than the stupid goblin. Probably smaller, too. But we need to see if we can get better weapons. My sword was struggling against that guy.” She jabbed her thumb at the burnt husk.
“Agreed.” Peregrine started walking toward Fiddler’s Green, and the rest of the party followed. “Let’s for sure hit up the Spin and Rinse again. Then we can check out the blacksmith in town for upgrades. I think I’ve got a plan for attacking The Fool. It’s a long shot, but I think we can at least get some on board.”
“D-do you think Sandra will let us eat at the tavern?”
