Chapter 42 – Flipping a Coin

I can’t believe my luck. Who would have thought that I, some random ass player in a random ass city ended up finding endgame content that not even thousands of higher-level Villains before me have managed to do? The rewards for this job is quite figuratively insane! A thousand experience and a class-unique item? That’s like adding the reward of three or four quests together into one. I know that there is a very finite number of class quests in the game, but this really takes the cake.

For most regular players, they are able to unlock class-specific quests every ten levels, and the rewards are usually far better than most other quests. They are nowhere near as powerful as these rewards though. Class-unique items are usually reserved for players who cross the level fifty mark. To get one at level ten? Wow. Why hasn’t any other Villain stumbled upon this yet? Is finding a friendly NPC faction really this hard? True, I never found any when I was playing as a Necromancer, but I kind of decided to avoid people at all costs back then. Did I really miss some grand opportunity? Could a class-unique item have changed the tide of my failed assault at Culmin Village?

…

I don’t want to think about it. It’s probably better if I don’t go down that particular rabbit hole. Changing my class to Thief Lord was probably for the best. No, that’s wrong. It is for the best. I’ve already managed to achieve more this last week than I ever did playing as a Necromancer. This is my future, and I need to stick to the path I have chosen.

These rewards though. The class-unique item in particular. I wonder what it is? The few class-unique items that have been picked up by high-level regular players in this game so far are all amazingly powerful, granting an ability related to their class. The item you get is always randomized, meaning most players won’t get the same item for the same quest. This makes it far more difficult to predict what sort of item you get, and it’s harder to tailor your playstyle to revolve around the class-unique item. The effect of these items can vary a lot, and sometimes you want to keep the effect hidden. It’s nice to have an ace up your sleeve after all. Who wouldn’t want to hide their ability to turn invisible for ten seconds, or reflect all damage for the next five seconds for example? The possibilities of these items are huge, and it can definitely lead to some unique developments for my character going forward. The question is though: Could the item be the exact thing I need to get me out of my current predicament?

Maybe. Probably not. No, definitely not. I’ve been so lucky lately, I’m bound to run out of steam at some point. But, perhaps I should trust in my luck one final time? One last reckless rump in the sack with old lady luck? Ah, who am I kidding? I will probably never stop being reckless. I won’t be stupid about it though.

I’ll do it like this. Chances are really low that the Plaguebringer will finish his concoction during these next few hours. The night is soon approaching, which means the city is crawling with players. If I were him — assuming he’s not (more of) an idiot than I am —, I’d avoid spreading the plague while there is an abundance of players who are capable of combating the plague before it even gets a chance to properly spread. He doesn’t get any experience points from killing players after all.

This means I probably have seven, maybe eight hours of safety. I have absolutely no guarantees my assumptions are correct, but the statistical probability of his plague being done brewing isn’t terribly high. Seven hours aren’t much when the most powerful type of plague takes ten days to brew. It’s a sixteen point eight percent chance of it being done during the next seven hours in fact, give or take. Probably higher. It’s still a risk, but it’s a risk that might be worth taking. My survival is actually guaranteed if I buy some powerful cure disease and healing potions. The city’s population dying out for a few days would still hit me like a brick, but managing to keep the sewers a secret for a while longer might just make the risk worth it. Do you know what? I think risking it is the lesser evil. Barely.

I should spend this time trying to get the class-unique item. If I get the item and it turns out to be useless, I’ll message Anna and have her wipe the guy from existence. If the item turns out to be exactly what I need though, then I’ll try to bait the guy into a trap. It’s like flipping a coin. Or maybe spinning a wheel? Anyway. The next few hours will decide which path I’ll tread.

----------

I spend the next two hours preparing. I resurrect my two fallen Hoodlums and buy some new armor for them. It’s getting kind of annoying buying all this stuff every time they die, but it’s a necessary expenditure. Trying to have them fight without any gear would turn disastrous real quick. At least I have a decent stockpile of weapons from hunting the zombies on hand though.

I send Cobra and the rest of my underlings back down into the sewers to help my last few underlings reach level ten. With the boost from my ‘Mentor’ skill, it shouldn’t take too long. In the meantime, I start creating some more traps. I bought a fair share of interesting new potions I want to try out, and I have a particularly interesting idea I want to experiment with after I noticed the success my glue trap had on the Plaguebringer.

The going is slow, but I manage to build a decent stockpile of traps by the time Cobra and the rest of my underlings return. Seeing that they’ve all reached level ten, I nod in satisfaction before we head out.

The Syndicate I’m hunting has taken up residence in an abandoned tavern at the southern edge of the Harbour District. It’s in a remote and rundown area of the city, and I can’t see much activity nearby from either players or NPCs. The building I’m looking for actually looks so indistinct, I have a feeling the system populated the building the exact moment I decided to accept the quest. The game has been known to do this before, where previously abandoned areas suddenly spring to life as quest locations as soon as they’re needed. I suppose it’s the game’s way to create dynamic content for the game without unnecessarily overtaxing the game systems by having too many unused monsters strutting about for long periods of time. It makes it harder to find online guides on completing quests too, seeing as no two quests are necessarily the same.

The tavern is a two-storey building located deep inside a cul-de-sac near the oceanside. The neighbouring houses all seem to be abandoned, seeming to fall apart where they stand due to a lack of maintenance. The doors and windows are all nailed shut and I can’t see any light from inside. It looks kind of spooky, but I suppose this makes it easier to perform the quest. Nothing would be more annoying than have the locals call for the city guards while I’m in the middle of combat.

The abandoned tavern is the only building that shows signs of life. The door and windows are all shut but light escapes through the cracks in the window on the first floor. I’m not sure how many are in there, but the building is large enough to support a significant amount of enemies. I shouldn’t go in blind, so I take Cobra and my two Cutthroats with me to sneak around and look for an alternate way in.

We start by circling the area, getting a feel for the layout of the land. There’s not a lot to see, but I spot a few good escape routes to take if things go south. Finding a way in turns out to not be too difficult of a task. Apart from the front door, there are two other points of entry. There’s a kitchen entrance at the far back of the building as well as an open window on the second floor. Entering through the second storey window could be the most optimal path to take, but I also don’t want to split up my troops too much. Most of my underlings have some sort of climbing ability, but I do not. That means if I want to come along on the mission, then I have to enter through either the front or the back which means I would need to split my forces. I’m not overly keen on splitting my troops over multiple floors since I don’t know how many enemies are inside. If either of my groups get swarmed by the enemy, we could end up in some serious jeopardy.

We inch our way closer to the building, trying to get a look inside. All the doors and windows are firmly locked, but there are a few cracks in the wooden shutters that should allow me to get a peek inside.

I find a window at the front of the building that has a crack in it that is just large enough for me to get a decent look at the interior. As predicted, the main door enters into an open bar area. I spot several enemies, at least four, all level ten. I only spot two different types of enemies, and I waste no time inspecting them.

[Human Thug(10). HP: ???/???.]

[Gnome Thug(10). HP: ???/???.]

[Wood Elf Prowler(10). HP: ???/???.]

[Human Prowler(10). HP: ???/???.]

Ouch. That’s a tough fight. Tough, but not impossible. The problem is that I don’t know if fighting them will attract additional enemies. There’s a door leading to some back room and a set of stairs leading upwards. It’s also a bit worrying that I can’t see the enemy leader. One thing is definitely for certain though. Unlike my previous jobs, this is definitely a combat-oriented quest. Luckily for me, that’s not all bad. Combat quests are usually a tad tougher than other quests, but they are also fairly straight-forward. Unlike the stealthy bard’s college job where I had to evade some high-level guards, this job should only have enemies within my level range. It’s still a hard rated quest though, so I still need to take extra care in proceeding forwards.

So, how am I doing this? The main problem with this fight is the possibility of enemy reinforcements. If this turns into an extended fight, then I should try and kill the enemies in here as quickly as possible. I have a few powerful abilities as a Thief Lord, but they also have fairly long cooldowns. If I burn off all my heavy-hitting skills early, I run the risk of having no skills available for the inevitable boss fight.

Hmm. I need to play this one safe. I’ll hold off on using my abilities until I figure out if there are any enemy reinforcements. Four enemies shouldn’t be too difficult with my current lineup, but the lack of healing is always a worrying aspect if there are multiple battles in a row. If we lose too many health points, it might put us in a tough spot later. I’m trying to go for a speedy run here after all.

To compensate for the lack of early combat prowess though, I should take the risk and participate directly in the battle. I may not have any offensive capabilities, but I still have a decent mana pool. While my ‘Calm’ spell is far less effective in the middle of a combat scenario, it is still able to momentarily disrupt enemy NPCs for a short time. I reckon I can buy my underlings up to four or five seconds per cast, which is actually a fair amount in the middle of combat. It’s a bit annoying that my health pool is so low though. I should consider placing a few of my next points into Constitution. I can’t really afford the risk of random death.

Since I don’t know if the enemies will call for reinforcements, I think my best tactic should be to go for speed rather than caution on this first encounter. There are several enemies, and I need to kill them as quickly as possible in case their numbers get bolstered. Four enemies I can handle. Six or seven? Not so much. I’m not overly fond of rushing in like this, but recklessness is often the safest tactic there is. It’s a pity I don’t get to use any of my traps here though. They’re not as viable in a blitz attack where I’m the aggressor.

I should probably hit them from two sides. I’m not sure if there are any enemies by the back entrance, but the layout of the room suggests there is little room for more than an enemy or two in the kitchen. There probably isn’t anyone there at all. The real problem is upstairs, but I should be able to block any reinforcement from coming down with little effort.

I decide to send a small team of heavy hitters to the back door. This sets them up for a great flanking position while also making sure they can kill any stragglers quickly on their own. I decide to send Cobra and my two Cutthroats, leaving me with the remaining three Thugs and two Prowlers for the attack at the front of the building. If all goes well, we will kill the four enemies downstairs before they even know what hit them.

Content with my plan, I order my underlings to apply Blight Poison to their weapons. Sadly, I don’t have more than four paralyzing poisons left as I used a whole bunch of them hunting undead in the sewers earlier. I probably should have been a bit more stingy with their use, but I couldn’t really predict I would end up with this quest, now could I?

I take a deep breath while I watch Cobra’s team disappear around the corner of the building. Right. This is it. Pure combat. You can do it, Ryan. There are only four of them. Easy. The plan is pretty straight forward. My team is supposed to enter first, drawing the attention of the enemies within. My goal is to separate their Thugs from the Prowlers, making it easier for Cobra’s team to take them out, thus eliminating their main damage output. Simple in theory, not always as easy in reality.

I roll my shoulders while my hand unconsciously pats a small leather pouch on my side containing a high-level cure disease potion and five high-grade healing potions that I’ve prepared for a personal emergency. They cost me an arm and a leg, but they’re worth it. If the plague hits us during this mission, I’m certain I’ll make it. It would suck to have my underlings die, but at least I’ll be able to recover their gear.

Right; enough dilly-dallying. Here goes nothing!

I tense my shoulders as I order my two half-orc Thugs to kick the door in. They are only happy to oblige, and soon after, the wooden door slams open as my underlings and I barge into the Tavern. I look around as we enter, seeing the surprised faces of the four enemies who occupies the room. Our two opposing sides just stare at one another for a quarter of a second, no one quite comprehending the situation. I quickly locate my first target and start channeling my ‘Calm’ spell. The translucent mist gathers around my hand and shoots off towards the closest Prowler. The Prowler is hit straight in the face and I watch as the spell takes hold around his head. He blinks twice, and I can see his shoulders sag as he loosens his grip on the crossbow.

Then all hell breaks loose.

The two enemy Thugs shout in outrage as they charge at my own men, raising their short swords for an overhead strike. My own Thugs are quick to comply, spreading out to try and flank the enemies as they approach. My attention is drawn elsewhere, however, as I need to keep control of the two ranged units. The first Prowler is already showing signs of coming to his senses, and the second is nowhere to be seen. Where the hell did he-

Pain shoots through me as a crossbow bolt slams into my shoulder. Recoiling from the shock, I take a step backwards. Looking around, I locate the second Prowler just as his head disappears behind the bar counter, probably to reload his crossbow. Shit. He’s using cover!

My eyes instantly jump back over towards the first Prowler who is about to wake up. Before he comes fully aware though, my two Prowlers launch their own projectiles at the incapacitated enemy. He takes two crossbow bolts to the chest, completely nullifying the effect of my spell. As he comes around, he raises his crossbow and takes aim, but not before my second ‘Calm’ spell is finished casting, once more bringing the Prowler into a daze. His shoulders slump, and he accidentally triggers his crossbow. The bolt is loosened and flies harmlessly above the heads of the fighting Thugs at the center of the room.

“Where the hell is Cobra!?” I shout as I crouch behind my line of Thugs and drink a health potion. The crossbow bolt that hit me earlier took half my health points, and I can’t risk getting hit again.

Almost as if on cue, the door to the kitchen slams open as Cobra tackles an unknown enemy into the room. The two combatants fall to the ground, and weapons flail around as the two start a mortal struggle. Moments after, my two Cutthroats charges into the room, each one of them dashing towards a Prowler each.

“About fucking time.” I mutter as I once again look around the room. It seems like we are winning. The two Thugs at the front is steadily being overpowered by the might of my own three Thugs, and their two Prowlers are too busy dodging the deadly daggers of my Cutthroats to do anything. The third Thug from the kitchen is mercilessly being hammered into the ground by Cobra while my two Prowlers are taking potshots at every opportune moment. Perhaps I’m actually way too overgeared for this mission? If this is all the mission has to throw at us, I’ll probably be done before-

Shouts appear from the top of the stairs, and I turn around just in time to watch two Thugs and another Prowler leap down the steps.

Oh, come on!