Enoch did a full quadrant around the battlefield. He caught up to Choo Choo. Grabbed him. Put him in his bag as he took cover behind a tree trunk. He braced himself, thanked the old geezers for his Intellect Ring, pointed the wand over his shoulder and fired blind. Accuracy, after all, hardly mattered with that spell – as long as you didn’t hit anything too close to yourself.

Mana passed into the wand. Barely any recoil to his surprise. Eyes wide shut, face grimacing, expecting the incoming calamity. Nothing. He peeked quickly. Saw only absurdity. There was line of piled food from his position to a poor mutant, covered in comestibles. Bananas, pineapples, melons, berries, bread, cheese and fresh meat. It was not a wand of Alchemy Fire, but a wand of Bountiful Harvest. Great combination there Andrej. Thanks for the quest. A+.

To Enoch’s disbelief, three pig things and a pack of tiny badgers broke ranks to jump on the food. A cow followed, then her sister.

Enoch put the wand back. Tried to pick a separate spot in his bag. Might as well sort them now. His hand foraged for the original bundle. Choo trashed about as Enoch grabbed at random. Finally found one of the remaining four wand. Same tactic, grasp the tree stump, tense up, fire.

Artillery fire. [-9 Health]. And that was just from his exposed parts. The wand flew from his hand. Rode the shockwave to unseen glory. Single use items weren’t worth the trouble of retrieving them. Best of luck little wand.

Yellow light surrounded Enoch again, and presumably the catchy tune, unheard in the post-apocalyptic silence. Level up. These wands were a gift from the devs.

The chat scrolled by madly, in sharp contrast over the dazzling afterglow. They were enjoying themselves.

“… and a fruit salad came out. Can’t make this stuff up.”

“Cowgirl was thick, her sister even better.” Tip | 20$

“Came in for the Ogre Trains, stayed for the food.”

His exposed hand hurt under his damaged Steel Glove. He took one deep breath, saw a multitude of faces staring at him with deadly intent, most of them half burned, burst open, dripping pixelized blood.

Enoch waved awkwardly, his mouth in a neutral line. A mangled leg fell beside him. Time to go. He Dashed straight out of there, went for a loop. Safer to find a new angle.

The crab guy caught up to him. Really? That was one dedicated crustacea.

Enoch dug Choo from his pack. The little guy had time for a “Hi Master,” then got pressed to the tip of a rope.

“Animate that,” said Enoch.

The artifact’s core spun faster. Purple light sparkled out of it. It spread around the rope. Barely in time for a baseball throw to the charging crab’s legs. Choo caught on with the tactic, twisted and turned, tangled the beast.

The crab tumbled forward. Legs tied up. Its stumpy eyes wiggled. His pincers clasped at the empty air, panicked. It flinched as the Steel Spear found his exposed belly, again and again until the server reclaimed his AI code. Off to a better world, free from running pirates and their devilish rope.

Choo rewound his tracks to free up the rope. Enoch patted him, gave him a “Well done buddy,” and continued onward, his peg leg pecking the rocky ground.

***

Up on a small peak, kneeling on his peg leg, Enoch observed the battle. The Artillery Fire had wrecked the attackers. Waves of corpses surrounded two craters of mutant dust. What passed for officers bellowed at the chaotic mass, or barked, hoping for order.

Human soldiers emerged from the destroyed palisade. They formed ranks. Charged with confidence. Their tight formation mowed the wildlings. A long, relieved sigh escaped Enoch’s lips. He might turn in his delivery quests after all.

He took a mental pause and read the chat.

“Not sure why the commentator is frothing at the mouth so much, Enoch is doing fine.”

“Not gonna lie, this might be one of the best casts I ever watched. Weird, but very entertaining.”

“Guy is resourceful. I thought he was done when he lost his leg.” Tip | 14$

Enoch surveyed his surroundings, no visible scouts or back up force around. He found a ravine, laid in it and beamed up to his obsidian moon.

Six available points for two levels. He walked straight to the Parkour node, activating +1 Climb on the way. The knot of expectations between his shoulder plates relaxed. Finally, some fun. Too bad about his leg.

He turned, walked over the illuminated paths. Wondered about his next move. The Perception line caught his eye. He would end up in the Drone Shaft soon. He could taste it, an amazing quest, just for him. Escort or Exploration. He had played enough games. His instinct had adapted. He could dance with the AI now. Well, Perception it is.

He needed good senses down there. Dark tunnels with traps, chasms, pits, precarious bridges, treacherous ledges, and lurking predators. Chock-full of fun.

With that in mind, he went to +1 Perception, branched to Analyse. He bit down on his principle, wasted a point on an empty node to reach Night Vision. Too good to ignore.

His eye sockets morphed. Grew. His vision blurred. When it came back, the stars were brighter. Enoch now smelled the surrounding obsidian diffused in the thin atmosphere. Not sure how the devs had programmed this one.

A doted line appeared after the Night Vision node. His first hidden path. About time. Veil. A decent skill, not real Stealth but a passive concealment. It dimed your presence. Mostly helped at a distance. Made it hard to spot you. It often led to a specialized class. Maybe he’d explore that branch eventually, but his next level really had to help his fighting abilities. Soon, he wouldn’t be able to face monsters of his level.

Enoch transitioned to Choo’s moon. After biting the bullet on the useless +1 Willpower last level, he now had great choices, Totem Golem and another level of Animate Object. He took both.

Perception 4 | Attribute | Rarity 1

Multiplier x5 | Dodge 2 |Mana +40

Parkour 1 | Skill | Rarity 5

Adherence 1 | Rolls 1 | Quadrupedal 1

Fall damage decreased by 100%

Passive

Analyse 1 | Skill | Rarity 2

Reveals target’s level | Reveals Target’s class | 10% chance to reveal the target’s Skills and Spells | Critical 1 on analysed target

Duration 1 hour | Refresh 1 minute

Cost 15 Mana

Night Vision | Skill | Rarity 3

Night vision increased by 100%

Passive

Animated Object 3 | Spell | Rarity 4

Invests multiple objects with the caster’s mana. The objects fly around on their own and follow mental commands.

Duration 30 minutes | Refresh 1 minute

Cost 40 Mana | Capacity 20 pounds x2

Totem Golem 1 | Spell | Rarity 7

Summons a Totem Golem | Health 200 | Mana 100 | Damage 4 | Stomp 1 | Heal Aura 1

Duration 1 hour | Refresh 6 hours

Cost 60 Mana

Character | Enoch

Level | 7

Class | Scout 1

Attributes | Strength 3* | Agility 1 | Endurance 2 | Perception 4 | Intellect 1* | Luck 1 | Mobility 4 | Speed 5 | Jump 5 | Climb 5 | Swim 5

Resist 3 | Dodge 2 | Reroll 2% | Loot 10% | Sphere vision 2

Health 135* | Stamina 160 | Mana 140

Skills | Dash 1 | Sprint 1 | Persistence 1 | Parkour 1

Aura | Justice 11

Factions

Edele village 25 | Liked

Bounded Artifact | Choo

Level | 7

Attributes | Intellect 1 | Craft 2 | Willpower 1 | Luck 1

Skills | Animate Object 3 | Telekinesis 1 | Totem Golem 1

Personality | Jolly

Enoch beamed back with enthusiasm. Immediately said, “Summon the Golem Totem.” Purple light danced, flew upward. Matter coalesced around the core. A granite cylinder came out of the particle effects. Its shape carved in the likeness of an angry face encased in two flared ends, top and bottom. It hurled toward the ground. Stomped hard. Shot a wave of pebbles and dust.

The chat went wild as Enoch went down the slope, followed by his floating, angry head of a friend.

“Bam Bam Barrel Golem.”

“Started as a Scout, ended up as a Pirate Shaman.”

“Turbo Nerd, Lord of the flying rocks.” | Tag Little bro