Chapter 26: Killer

For long moments, I sat, with my head bowed, while I came to terms with what I had done and with what I now was: a killer.

It had been both easier and harder than I expected to slay the two goblins. A single thrust of a blade, and that easily a life was snuffed out.

Yet the goblins had fought hard for their lives, and the skirmish had been as much a test of wills as skill. In the end, my desire to live proved the stronger. I did not regret slaying the pair. Their deaths were necessary for my own continued survival. But I felt the weight of their spirits.

Killing is easy, I thought, but bearing the cost, perhaps less so.

I studied my hands. They were covered in blood, both literally and figuratively. And I stank. Dragging dead corpses back and forth, rolling down their remains in the trench, and now spilling fresh blood had all left me reeking of death—and worse.

I must be a sight, I thought.

“I’m impressed,” Gnat pronounced.

I picked up my head to find the skeletal bat sitting on the corpse of the older goblin. I had lost track of Gnat in the skirmish. I narrowed my eyes and studied him. “Really?” I asked. “And why’s that?” Given my recent reflections on the Master and his motives, I was not feeling too well-inclined towards his servant.

Gnat chuckled. “A candidate killing two warrior-caste goblins all on his lonesome? I don’t think anyone has done that before. I really thought you were a goner there for sure.” The bat’s gaze drifted to the dead bodies. “Who would have believed you had it in you,” he murmured.

Deciding to ignore Gnat’s musings, I glanced around the camp. The first thing I noticed was the large wooden chest sitting next to the still-burning campfire. It had not been there before the fight.

“Where did that come from?” I asked, gesturing to the chest with my chin.

Gnat shrugged. “The Game must have spawned it once you killed those two.”

I looked at the familiar sharply. “The Game?” I asked. “I thought you said the Master designed this sector?”

Gnat shifted uncomfortably and didn’t answer immediately. “The dungeon’s encounters, layout, and occupants are all the Master’s doing,” the bat said eventually.

My eyes narrowed. “But not the loot chests?”

“But not the loot chests,” Gnat agreed. “They are spawned by the Game itself. The Adjudicator decides when a party deserves to be rewarded.”

I frowned. “So where do the items from inside the chests come from?”

“Loot chests are randomly populated with items held by the Game according to an arcane set of rules known only to the adjudicator,” Gnat said.

I nodded slowly and rose to my feet to study the chest containing my ‘reward.’ I detected nothing unusual about it, but once again I had to wonder if that was due to my Perception being too low.

I pursed my lips. I really needed to find a trap detection skill or ability. I couldn’t keep increasing my Perception indefinitely. I’ll do it once more only, I decided. Thereafter I would start dumping future attributes into Dexterity.

Closing my eyes, I willed my choice to the Game.

Your Perception has increased to rank 6.

I studied the loot chest anew, but failed to detect anything amiss. That didn’t prove anything of course. The chest could still be trapped. Admittedly, the likelihood was lower, but the possibility was still real.

I sighed. Right, time for more rigorous testing. Picking up one of the goblins abandoned bows, I began the laborious process of methodically testing the chests for traps.

~~~

Ten minutes later, after warily poking and prodding the chest, and carefully lifting the lid by degrees, I was sure as I could be that the chest was not boobytrapped. With only a flutter of anxiety, I swung back the lid and peered inside the wooden box.

You have acquired 3 minor healing potions. Each item restores your health by: 10%.

You have acquired a basic Class stone. This stone contains the path of: an archer. The archer is a basic Class that confers a player with three skills: light armor, daggers, and a ranged weapon skill of the player’s choice. This Class also permanently boosts your Perception attribute by: +1, and your Constitution attribute by: +1.

I stared at the marble in my hand. Finding a Class stone was the last thing I had expected. A Game message opened in my mind.

You have two available Class slots. Do you wish to acquire the archer Class?

I started in surprise. Become an archer? It was not a path I had considered, but given the equipment left behind by the goblins and my already-high Perception, there was an undeniable appeal to the choice.

“I wouldn’t advise it,” Gnat said abruptly.

I blinked. I didn’t have to ask what he meant. “Why not?”

“It will only limit your player potential. The archer Class is a basic one,” Gnat said derisively. “You don’t want to install that in your secondary Class slot, not when you can fill it with an advanced Class. If I was you, I would hold out until you acquired a better Class.”

I frowned. The skeletal bat’s words had dashed my fantasies of sniping goblins from the dark, but… he was right. I couldn’t be hasty in my choice of second Class, and at the moment I was doing well-enough with my current skill mix.

With a reluctant sigh, I stored the Class stone in my backpack. Turning my gaze upon the rest of the camp, I worked through it carefully until I had found everything useable.

You have acquired 2 goblin shortbows. Each item increases the damage you deal by: 5%.

You have acquired 4 iron daggers. Each item increases the damage you deal by: 8%.

You have acquired 2 sets of primitive goblin hide armor. Each set reduces the physical damage you sustain by: 10%.

You have acquired a bedroll. This item increases the rate at which stamina, psi, and mana are replenished when sleeping.

I studied the fruits of my scavenging thoughtfully. I could fit everything in my backpack except the hide armor. They, unfortunately were both too bulky and heavy to fit in my pack.

I will have to leave them behind, I decided and stored the rest of the items in my pack. Feeling too exposed in the circle of light cast by the campfire to dally there any longer, I stepped into the comforting darkness of the tunnel beyond.

Almost immediately, I noticed my night vision was better. The two additional points I’d invested in Perception had made a noticeable difference, and even in the darkest corners of the tunnel, I could make out the blurred outline of the shapes they contained. Good, I thought. My enhanced night vision could prove advantageous in future encounters.

I ventured only a few dozen yards down the corridor before stopping again. I was starving, and it was high time that I took a few moments to rest. Sinking down to the floor, I pulled out my water flask and rations, and sat down to a well-earned lunch—or supper.

Or whatever.