We moved through the valley’s thick forest at a fast pace with Ahslazaria leading us and occasionally scouting ahead. We kept off the forest trailer, to our left and traveled in single file with Rhynorn bringing up the rear. I hoped keeping him in the back would reduce the chance of his crashing progress from alerting the enemy to our approach.

Vic chuckled in my mind.

No need to be insulting Vic, I reprimanded, suppressing my own grin at his words.

Despite the heavy undergrowth, the wiley hobgobliness found navigable paths. Maybe it was a Scout-skill thing.

When we were in sight of the forest clearing she stopped abruptly, which made me bump into her, earning me a look of disapproval from her and a chuckle from Vic.

I rolled my eyes at Vic’s comment and whispered to the scout. “Ash, why did we stop?”

She looked ahead and sniffed at the air. Her petite tusks protruded as her lips curved in a grimace.

“They are approaching.”

I straightened, my heart thumping hard. We were about to engage the enemy.

I used one of my new ‘tricks,’ to relay orders to my troops.

Everyone, spread around and surround the clearing, conceal yourselves and wait for my command.

Being able to send silent commands to my troops gave us a significant strategic advantage. We needed all the edge we could get against this overpowered enemy group, though by itself, this ability I received by wearing the 'Earring of the Warlord', wouldn’t be enough to win us the fight.

At least it made me look cool, like a goblin pirate.

Moments after my troops positioned themselves, I heard several people approaching.

These travelers are going to learn just whose territory they’re trespassing on, I thought grimly.

I felt Vic’s discontent at my thought. For a while now, I’d been able to sense his surface emotions. It was similar to his ability to listen to my own thoughts, though more limited. I now sensed that for some reason, my thoughts were troubling him.

The travelers came into view at the edge of the clearing, led by the green-clad elf Ash had reported.

They walked casually, without a care in the world. Ash’s description was accurate. I could read the information streams filling my mind as I looked at them.

The group was made up of two spell casters; a Healer and an Evoker. Two agility based fighters carrying swords covered their flank. The elf leading them was a scout with a nature affinity.

Their levels ranged from 18 to 21. Very strong for this territory. Too strong. I didn’t understand what they were doing here. There was no challenge around here that would justify the long voyage to get here. They would earn hardly any XP from the local wildlife, and there were no special riches to find either. At least as far as they knew.

My attention was drawn to the last member of the party. My upper lips curled up in a snarl and a surge of hate welled up inside me when I identified his race. The last member was a dwarf, the goblins’ natural sworn enemies. He was so heavily armored there was only one word to describe him. Tank. I could literally smell the foul odor of metal coming from him.

As the dwarf walked, I spotted flashes of white metal between the thick steel plates of his armor. Reinforced with mithril underneath, I realized. It would make the armor lighter and tougher than if it was made of only steel. But what really made me hesitate and take a sharp breath, was the sense of raw power coming from him.

Not fully trusting my mundane senses, I used Analyze.

Ragnar

Race: Dwarf (Stone)

Level: 40 (97%)

HP: 476, MP: 284

P:44, M:4, S:4

Skills: Taunt 47, Challenging Cry 46, Shields 54, Axes: 54, Hold the Line: 22, Vampiric attack 14, Smith 31, Baking 14

Traits: Steadfast (resistant to takedowns), Dwarf

Resistances: Physical 67%, Cold 10%, Fire 10%, armor 122

That was…ridiculous.

What would a level 40 Dwarf tank be doing in a party half his level?

That guy could single handedly wipe out his own group if he chose to, let alone our already overmatched force of lowbies. For a guy like him, walking through this forest was a pleasant stroll through the park.

Vic pipped in.

Then it dawned on me. This wasn’t a random expedition through the wilderness seeking adventure. The group was too high-level for this area. There could only be one reason for a group as powerful as this one to be here. They were searching for something specifically. And the only thing travelers might be interested in this area was … me.

These bastards are here to find me!

The tank was probably a bodyguard the group hired to escort them and likely he cost them a fortune. From his perspective, this trip was a waste of time, there was absolutely nothing to gain from a low-level area like this for him. So he would have to be well compensated for his trouble.

Regardless, they were already standing at the edge of the clearing, inspecting the wreckage of the old Chief’s Hut at the center. I couldn’t risk them getting any closer to my settlement.

I watched the group moving closer to our ambush point. My troops surrounded the part of the clearing where it funneled back to the forest path.

They were getting closer. Ten meters. Eight. Six.

I was about to call for the attack when the green clad scout raised his hand. The group stopped in their tracks, standing near the destroyed structure.

The scout carefully viewed the ambush site in front of him, his eyes narrowed.

“What’s the hold up?” The man in red robes demanded. I plucked his name from the air, Nitrohawk.“We are wasting our time, there’s nothing here. This shitty hut clearly indicates there are no goblins here anymore.”

I breathed a bit easier, it looked like my little decoy was about to prove itself.

The scout studied the path before them unhurriedly. “There’s something hiding nearby, I got a prompt alerting me to an enemy presence nearby.”

Damned scouts and their enhanced senses. I cursed silently as my hopes crumbled.

Nitrohawk sneered. “And you’re stopping for that? The toughest mobs around here are the Forest Ogres, and they’re no threat. Besides not many could hide here with all those thornthistle bushes growing nearby. I say let them attack, I want to finish this lousy expedition so I can get back to grinding my skills at the Academy.”

Interesting, they aren’t here on their own initiative. They were sent here by someone. So someone else was looking for me… I didn’t know why, or who was behind this, but I planned to find out.

The scout shrugged. “Suit yourself, but I’m not taking point”.

The other travelers followed the exchange with indifference..

Nitrohawk grunted. “Geesh, what a wimp. Move aside, let me show you how it’s done.”

He moved forward, mumbling arcane words.

A ring of yellow-red flames erupted around him, hot enough that I could feel the heat radiating from my hiding spot. The ring moved along with the wizard as he walked, wilting the nearby vegetation and leaving a trail of blackened ground.

I cursed silently. That was a Fire Shield spell. It wasn’t an overly advanced spell, but as it was cast by a level 18 character, it would cause serious damage to my lower level troops. I couldn’t send my fighters to engage the wizard, they’d get slaughtered. Engaging the caster in melee would incinerate them or melt their crude weapons as they pass through the flames. Fortunately, I had alternatives.

I expected my War Party would be able to handle the five travelers, but the Dwarf was going to be a tough nut to crack. The level-gap made his already high resistances even more significant. It would take us too long to pound him down. If we had engaged him first,it would leave the other travelers unoccupied, able to attack us at will.

No. The only way we could achieve victory, was to eliminate the lower level players before they could regroup, then we could concentrate all our forces on the tank.

I had no illusions regarding the outcome of this battle, we were going to suffer loses.

But I had planned for that. I looked around at the dozen disposable foblins hiding nearby and grinned.

I started channeling my mana, charging up a drilling arrow spell, while sending a series of orders.

Ash and Bek, at my command, shoot at the one wearing red. Zia, Kilpi, engage the two swordsmen in melee, but don’t attack, use your shields to keep them occupied and concentrate on defense. Bob, Vrick, take the scout, he's a ranged fighter, so close the distance quickly, get him into melee range and keep him there. Kroakar, Ryker attack the healer, that’s the one with the white robes.

I looked at the comically stupid foblins. As for you, err…kill metal dwarf. The foblins didn’t have any weapons, but that’s what the Brawling skill was for.

The hobs and goblins all nodded their understanding. The foblins gaped stupidly, one of them mumbled quietly, “me hear voicings.”

I gritted my teeth. Noise was an absolute no-no during an ambush. I was having second thoughts about bringing the stupid buggers, but I was already committed to this course of action. Luckily, the approaching traveler didn’t hear the extra-moronic one whispering.

The red robed wizard reached the center of our ambush zone.

“ATTACK!” I bellowed..

Nitrohawk froze as enemies suddenly jumped out of hiding all around him.

Like good cannon fodder, the foblins charged first, followed by the more seasoned hobgoblins. They streamed around the red mage headed for their intended targets, behind him. Two foblins, unlucky or stupider than the rest, crossed the fire ring and fell as lifeless charred corpses. The air was filled with the smell of roasted meat.

Ash released her arrow just as Bek and I launched our spells at the oblivious Wizard in red. The magic arrows were much faster than the mundane one. My Drilling Arrows hit first, slamming through the fire-ring and into the traveler, their rotating heads easily burrowing through his magically enchanted robes.

Drilling Arrows hit Nitrohawk for 64 damage, [(15+17)X2]

My attack blasted 70% of his health away. Then the other arrows hit him as well, doing 27 more points of damage, claiming the kill. Ash howled triumphantly as the wizard’s lifeless body dropped to the ground. “Raaaaarr!”

Like me, Nitrohawk had built his character as a Mental focused one. But unlike me, he didn’t have the extra boss bonuses to beef up his health. That made him a glass-cannon; a person who could dish out a lot of damage but sucked at absorbing it. Our combined range attacks were enough to send him to respawn.

One down, Five to go, I thought grimly.

Taking advantage of having the initiative of the surprise attack, I began casting another spell.

Shadows gathered into larger black masses around me and the ground cracked beneath them as I activated my Shadow Hound spell. The fancy visual effects were the reason I hadn’t cast this spell in advance, it would have given away our position.

Meanwhile, all the hobs had reached and engaged their targets.

The remaining travelers overcame the shock of the ambush, drawn their weapons and readied themselves to meet their attackers.

That was a mistake. By reacting to my tactics and only focusing on the enemies targeting them, the travelers allowed me to dictate the course of battle.

I grimaced as the two forces clashed together. They have a reason not to be worried.

Despite the travelers losing one of their members early on, my little army was at a severe disadvantage with the enemy levels were at least three times their own.

My strategy optimized our chances. But optimizing an attack against a massively overwhelming force just made an utterly shitty situation slightly less shitty, the smelly-stuff didn’t stink any less.

The already alert, green-clad scout was the first to react. As Vrick and Bob charged him, he had time for a carefully aimed shot that struck Vrick in the forehead, penetrating his skull and killing the poor goblin lieutenant instantly. Still that shot bought Bob the time to close in and engage him in melee.

The scout was 14 levels higher than the level 7 hobgoblin lieutenant, but he was a ranged fighter, and was limited in his ability to engage in a face to face confrontation.

Bob led in with a sword thrust, slashing the scout for 18 damage. Before the scout could recover, Bob pointed his other hand. Vines uncoiled from his forearm and wrapped around the archer’s legs, restricting his movement and preventing escape.

Zia and Kilpi, my two shield bearers, were jockeying for positions against the two swordsmen, their guard high as they kept the fighters’ attention. I hoped that at least, Kilpi shīrudo, the stronger of the two, would live up to the name I assigned him, which meant ‘shield’ in two languages.

Vic said dryly.

The other two hob warriors had rushed the healer with their axes held high. But the healer calmly raised his staff and with a word was enveloped in a white sheen of magical force.

I cursed. That was a Holy Shield. It was similar to my Mana Shield spell, except it only defended against evil monsters and didn’t consume the caster’s mana.

Kroakar and Ryker struck the Holy Shield with powerful swings, but their axes had no effect against the magic barrier.

Nesteph, kicked Zia’s shield, sending it wide open, then lunged forward with both his short swords, eviscerating her and taking off 80% of her health.

The two-handed swordsman lunged at Kilpi and swung, putting his whole body into the two-handed strike. The powerful attack hit the shield, shattered it and hurled Kilpi away in a cloud of splinters, leaving him less than half his health.

I glanced at the foblins attacking the Dwarven tank. What I saw, was a bloody massacre.

Using the momentary surprise, the foblins had charged the dwarf, but they’d triggered some sort of ability as soon as they got near, allowing him to attack preemptively.

Swinging his axe with an almost bored expression, Ragnar, the tank dispatched four foblins, while easily fending of the other six with his shield.

I winced. Well, at least they manage to keep his occupied.

Given that it was a successful ambush, our initial attack seemed underwhelming. But considering the level gap, the fact that we’d managed to kill even one traveler, and a wizard at that, was impressive.

The sword wielding travelers were preparing their next attack while their healer started a chant.

I completed my spell first and three Shadow-Touched Mastiffs leapt out of the shadows. Two Mastiffs attacked the swordsmen, while the third went for the healer.

Taken back by the sudden appearance of the charging dark beasts, the swordsmen forgo finishing off the downed hobs and turned to face the attacking Mastiffs. Their attacks were perfectly timed but their blades passed harmlessly through the shadowed bodies. The third Mastiff wasn’t as lucky. It leapt at the healer, but the traveler shot a Holy Bolt at it. The white Holy Bolt hit the Mastiff in mid-leap, exploding the beast’s Dark-wrought body into trails of smoky shadow that faded into nothingness.

Meanwhile, Bob was doing well keeping the the scout engaged. The hob lieutenant repeatedly slashed with his sword, forcing his opponent to deflect with the bow-stave, preventing him from going on the offensive.

Bob’s vines slithered and constricted around the scout’s body, further hampering his movements.

The flow of combat was going pretty well, but just when I thought we were gaining the upper hand the dwarf tank intervened.

Bellowing a deafening challenge, the tank banged on his shield.

An area taunt. I realized. Shit!

Except for Bob, all of my forces, including the mastiffs, disengaged their targets and charged at the tank.

A ‘Taunt’ debuff symbol appeared next to the icon of each party member’s on my display.

Things were about to turn real bad, real quick. It was time to bring in the heavy guns.

Rhynorn, engage! Take down the Healer!

Branches exploded into the clearing, showering the combatants with splinters as Rhynorn Bloodore burst from hiding and charged at the healer.

One of the travelers yelped in fright. “Crap, it’s a boss!”

Rhynorn ran at the healer, holding his club low, like a golf cue and used his momentum to swing it upward.

The club hit the Healer’s white bubble, launching it into the air. I could sense the Ogre expending his mana to enhance the attack using his Dirty Trick skill. The healer and his bubble soared high into the air, then crashed into the ground, right in front of the Ogre. The bubble winked away from the impact just as Rhynorn started his follow-up attack. The giant club descended on the head of the confounded Healer, planting him into the ground figuratively and literally. A critical hit!

Battle information flowed all around me, I had only needed to open my senses to grasp it. I knew the healer was nearly finished.

I had intended at first to keep my more dramatic abilities a secret. But the first bout of combat, brief as it was made me realize I would have to go all in if I wanted a chance of winning this one.

Flexing my will, my dagger shot forward and sunk deep into the traveler’s chest.

Dagger hit Jeknett for 32 damage [+6 physical, +26 dark]

Immortal killed!

Boss tier 3 progression: 1/50

That was interesting. Apparently I’ve just discovered another way to increase my boss tier, once that didn’t require me to spend huge amounts of energy.

The other travelers turned to stare at their fallen comrade. Their eyes widened as darkness oozed out of the dagger, consuming the body and leaving behind a good sized Void Crystal.

“What the hell was that?” Shouted the scout, still trying to fend off Bob’s attacks with his bow.

“Over there”, the dwarf tank calmly pointed at me with his shield, while easily repelling the attacks from the horde around him. “There’s a caster behind that tree.”

The two melee travelers engaged Rhynorn, their swords biting into his thick skin, drawing blood and taking 30% off his health bar.

“Holy crap! It’s another boss!” The Nesteph squealed once he noticed me. He sounded like a teenager. ”Where the hell did Vatras send us?”

I froze as I heard that accursed name. Vatras.

Hate filled me, as my thoughts raced. Vatras! These bastards are his minions.

Unable to control myself, I stepped behind my hiding place.

“You are all dead” I said with barely contained rage.

Concentrating on the dual wielding traveler, I reached with my mind, found his mana pool and commanded it to stop flowing. Nesteph froze mid swing. I directed my dagger at him. As with the healer, the dagger hit the traveler full in the chest.

Nesteph, level 20, Sacrificed

+80 faith points

Immortal killed!

Boss tier 3 progression: 2/50

It looked like sacrificing travelers was way more rewarding than sacrificing fellow monsters. Not only did it enable me to move up in my boss tier, but I’d also received four times the normal amount of Faith Points, it was enough to unlock the next Faith Rank.

Nesteph was quickly consumed by darkness. Only the scout, the two-handler sword guy, and the tank remained.

“Crap!” yelled the scout “Ragnar do something!”

“Don’t get’chya panties wet b’woy” grunted Ragnar. He looked directly at Bob and used Taunt again. This time, unable to resist, Bob disengaged from the scout to charge at the tank.

Now that he was not being pressed, the scout put his long bow to deadly effect. Utilizing some sort of an Area-of-Effect skill, dozens of brightly glowing arrows filled the air. The arrows rained down, dropping the foblins, the mastiffs and all the hobgoblin warriors around the dwarf. A couple of arrows even hit the overpowered tank, but those simply shattered harmlessly against his armor.

Only Rhynorn, Bob and I remained. Two bosses and a lieutenant against three high powered travelers.

Suddenly, a green-golden light surrounded the Ogre and his health jumped up by 10%.

And Bek. I corrected myself.

Vic snorted in my mind.

Four against three. I can work with those odds.

Meanwhile, the sword wielder danced around Rhynorn, slicing him in measured, precise strikes, bringing his health down to 50%.

Enraged, the Ogre bellowed, activating his Terrible Roar skill. A Shaken debuff icon appeared over the scout and swordsman’s heads. But failed to affect the tank. At the same time, I felt myself invigorated and let loose another volley of Drilling Arrows while a still taunted Bob charged at the tank with enhanced speed.

Another golden-green light appeared around Rhynorn and his health shot up by another 10%.

“They got a healer!” the scout yelled.

In response, I froze him. Or at least, I tried. The scout stopped moving for barely a fraction of a second, then he was free again.

Damn, he must have some sort of skill that resisted my power. I changed targets and concentrated my firepower at the swordsman. I summoned and fired my Drilling Arrows at him just as the Ogre gladiator retaliated. Using his Dirty Tricks again. Rhynorn’s club struck the player’s sword, deflecting it to the side, then followed through with a devastating hit to center of his torso. The still Shaken Traveller failed to dodge the massive attack and the impact took over a 100 of his hit points, then my Drilling Arrows slammed into him in rapid succession.

Drilling Arrows hit Zellion for 64 damage, [(15+17)X2]

We’d beaten and stabbed him continuously, bleeding his health down to 10%, but the tough bastard kept fighting.

“God damnit” He yelled . “Heal! I need a heal!”

No one gave him any heed, or heals.

Bob swung at the tank, but the Dwarf easily intercepted the blow on his shield, absorbing the hit, then slashed at the vines Bob launched at him, tearing them apart.

Raising his longbow, the scout drew back, targeting me. The arrow at his string started glowing red. But he was too slow. With a thought I raised my Mana Shield just as the arrow was released. The arrow banged against the magical barrier and exploded with a thunderous THUMP. It drained a good chunk of my mana bar, but no damage got through.

Even with that hit to my mana pool, I had over 400 points left. That was more than enough to last me through this fight.

Time to end this. I thought and launched the dagger at the injured swordsman, timing a Freeze to take hold of him just before impact.

Dark Mana skill level increased to 27

Zellion, level 18, Sacrificed

+72 faith points

Immortal killed!

Boss tier 3 progression: 3/50

Finding himself suddenly without opponents to fight, Rhynorn Gleefully charged at the bow-wielding scout and swung his massive club. The heavy weapon connected fully and the hapless traveler’s body was flung through the air, crashing into a tree trunk five meters away. It was nice to have the heavy-hitting Ogres on my side for a change. The scout slid feebly to the ground, stunned. Surprisingly, he still had half his health bar remaining.

Bob did his best to keep the tank traveler engaged, but he was ridiculously overmatched. Bashing away with his shield, the traveler dropped Bob to the ground, then delivered a fatal blow with his axe, splitting my lieutenant’s skull, ending him and his 75 HP with a single strike.

Another green-golden light surrounded the Ogre, healing him to 80% of his health.

The tank stared at me calmly.

Behind me I could hear Rhynorn grunting with pleasure as his club made an increasingly squishing sounds as he beat down the traveler into a pulp.

“Hey there fugly, I guess yor tha goblin we was sent after.” This Ragnar had a thick southern accent.

I bared my teeth and snarled at him, feeling the unexplained surge of hate welling up again. “Dwarven mongrel! I’ll kill you me and gnaw on your bones!”

The dwarf smiled. “I din’t evan believe it when Vatras said you was a playah. But - I b’een wrong b’for. Y’gone all feral b’woy.”

I reined in my anger. “I’ll deal with that bastard soon enough. After I kill you!”

He chuckled. “You’ an what army, b’woy? That low level beastie o’ yors wonna put a dent O’me.”

He was right. Dammit!

“But I tell y’what, b’woy” he continued, “I’ve had it up t’here with this low-ass-level forest. Could’a earned m’self some sweet levels with all tha time spent ‘round here parts. I reck’n I done mah job, found you good, b’woy. Y’re aint worth the effort o’ putting down. You’re Vatras’ prob now, enjoy yor miserable existence fo a little ;pnger, b’fore he comes for ya.”

With a roar of anger I opened my inventory and retrieved the Fire Rod I’d crafted, just as the dwarf took out a scroll from his inventory. We both activated our items. A jet of flame shot from the Fire Rod and engulfed the dwarf, singeing away 30 HP. But his body was already fading, disappearing as the effects of the teleport scroll whisked him away.

Bek came out of hiding. “Is… is it over?” he stuttered timidly.

The Ogre roared triumphantly. “Good fight! Strong enemy! Rhynorn Bloodore is the champion!”

“Yes Bek, it is over.” I replied tiredly, looking at the corpse strewn ground around me. Out of a party of 23, only the three of us survived.

Now that the battle was over, I was being bombarded with messages.

Victory!

Total War Party XP gained: 27,840

Ashlazaria gained 1 levels (dead)

Zia gained 1 levels (dead)

Borbarabsus gained 2 levels (dead)

Kilpi shīrudo gained 1 levels (dead)

Kroakar gained 1 levels (dead)

Ryker gained 1 levels (dead)

Vrick gained 1 levels (dead)

Rhynorn Bloodore gained 3 levels.

Bek gained 4 levels.

Level up! You have reached Character Level 18. You have 1 ability point to allocate.

Level up! You have reached Character Level 19. You have 2 ability point to allocate.

Level up! You have reached Character Level 20. You have 3 ability point to allocate.

I stared at the information in front of me in awe. The amount of Faith Point and XP from defeating travelers was at least four times what I’d get for killing monsters of equal levels. While travelers never got XP from defeating other travelers, it seemed NEO rewarded my kind handsomely for dispatching those otherworldly creatures. Having survived the fight, Bek and Rhynorn received additional XP and leveled up more than the others.

Vic interrupted.

I raised my upper lip in disgust. Maybe I once was, Vic, but NEO doesn’t see me as such. It is not some ‘game’, it is a living, breathing entity. Only by accepting that and mastering its rules, could I hope to survive.

Despite our victory, I started to feel uneasiness settling at the pit of my stomach. We were this close to losing.

I could sense Vic’s apprehension about my reply. His cloak form dropped from my shoulders and transformed into a purple goblin. He reached me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“You’re not a mindless NPC, boss. You are unique. Don’t lose yourself in this Dad-awful world. Your people need you.” He hesitated before continuing “I need you. Oren.”

That was touching. Despite his usual gruff, cynical manner, Vic was concerned about me.

My mood didn’t improve though

“Don't worry Vic. I know who I am. I know where I came from.”

Vic seemed unconvinced by my response. But he didn’t pick up on my next thoughts. I’d deliberately stemmed the flow that connected us as I added, to myself; And I know where I’m going. Once I’ve built the clan into the strongest monster nation in NEO, I will teach these pesky travelers not to mess with us.

Still, looking around the corpse strawn ground, I couldn’t help feeling it might be an impossible undertaking.

Bek was rummaging through the fallen traveler’s corpses searching their pockets, then piling his findings on the ground. I went there and looked it over.

Most of the stuff was random junk that cluttered all players’ inventories, regardless of their level; fifteen pieces of single-use whetstone, five units of apple tobacco and oddly enough, a gargoyle’s skull. Aside from that, the travelers dropped a total of 1800 gold coins. It was a fortune compared to my character level and I had absolutely no use for it.

Yeah, death debuff was a bitch. The random items loss was a pain, but I guessed it was better than dropping everything a character had on their person when they died, like was common in other FIVR games.

I shook my head. My thoughts were pure nonsense. FIVR. Other worlds. Only one world mattered. My world.

At the very bottom of the pile I found something that improved my mood. A varnished piece of wood reflected back the few rays of the moon. It was the scout’s bow.

Graceful Longbow

Description: An elven crafted bow. This excellent craftsmanship bow is enchanted is such way to make it more effective in the hands of the beautiful, educated and well spoken.

Runecraft viability: can hold up to 4 runes.

Type: weapon [2 hands]

Rank: magical

Durability: 67/90

Damage: base 20-25

Effect: add half the wielder’s Social attribute value to damage.

That was a nice find!

This would be a nice upgrade for Ash. I thought and I put it in my inventory.

Overall, it was an unimpressive haul, considering we have defeated five, level 20 travelers, but that was expected. Travelers did not drop all their possessions upon death. Instead, they usually lost an item or two from their inventory and a handful of coin.

I put all the loot in my inventory, including the three large Void Crystals. I threw a glance at the crystals’ stats and once again was pleasantly surprised; they all around level 200. That was more than my entire clan daily yield! That cheered me up a bit. It looked like travelers’ produced Void Crystal ten times more powerful than a normal monster.

Next to me, Rhynorn had finished collecting the items from our fallen warriors into another pile. Unlike travelers, my people dropped all equipped items upon death. Luckily, items that were in their inventories usually remained. Some of the corpses had already begun to disappear, absorbed into NEO.

I looked at the stack of weapons and armors the Ogre had collected from the corpses and once again was crestfallen at the sight. There were a lot of them.

How can I hope to stop a larger force? I brooded.

“Rhyno, please carry those back to the clan.”

He grunted but obeyed. Bending down, his huge hands scoped up most of the pile. A few smaller, unfamiliar items cluttered to the floor.

“Hold on a moment.”

I moved closer to inspect the new items.

Gold Necklace

Description: A beautifully crafted gold necklace with a silver unicorn pendant. The unicorn’s eye is made of Sapphire.

Bear Trap

Description: A spring-loaded metal jaw that activate when stepped upon. Includes a loading mechanism

Effect: required brute force to open: 40 Physical.

“Where the hell did those came from?” I mumbled.

“It’s not a great mystery boss” Vic replied. “It’s just random loot generated by the game engine.”

It irritated me when Vic referred to it as ‘the game’. I was pretty sure he was doing it on purpose.

Anyway, that was good news. It meant that in case of death, my people’s inventories were safe as the world itself generated the dropped items. It reminded me of the quest granting system, where the gods, or NEO itself, were in charge of generating the tangible rewards.

“Yep, pretty much” Vic confirmed my internal thoughts. “It also follows a certain logic. That bear trap, for example, was left behind by the scout. I have no idea who dropped the necklace though. It probably had less than one percent chance of dropping, so … good for you boss!”

Lucky Bastard skill level increased to 25

The last of the corpses were slowly being claimed by NEO. In a few hours, no traces of the battle would remain. My heart was heavy, our victory had cost us greatly.

I turned to my remaining men and waved them to follow. “Let’s head back.”

It was morning by the time we arrived back to the settlement, everyone were sleeping the day off.

I went straight to my house and closed the door behind me. I sat at my stool, my head resting on my arms over the table.

Yep, it was brooding time.