Medusa promptly found her way to my side, professing that she had no love for General Nyx at the best of times and that the chance to repeatedly stab the suspiciously mob-like version of the amazon was an offer that she simply couldn’t refuse. Making a mental note never to piss off the stab-happy swordswoman (not while I had my back to her, at least) I defiantly held out my mana-infused weapon. Any hope that the display had put the fear of, well, me into my opponents quickly evaporated. The ugly fucks were smiling. Oddly enough, we weren’t. I had one last chance to impress the severity of the situation on my fellow sword-wielder before the inevitable clash began.

“This is no ordinary boss battle,” I declared.

“You a veteran, then?” she snarked, her own blade thrumming with a noticeably weaker charge than my own.

“Hear me out. I’ve played games like this before, albeit much more primitive ones. So one thing I do know is that the boss scenarios tend to follow a fairly predictable formula. We’re conditioned to assume that the cluster of smaller opponents will always represent the lesser threat…”

I glanced back to the ‘lesser’ threat in question. The pair were slowly mutating as their bulk continued to grow, and their inky black veins became increasingly pronounced.

“A pack of lower-level fodder who drop loot and make the fight more difficult? Seems pretty standard to me,” she replied with a shrug.

“Hear me out. I’m beginning to suspect that the hybrids have been the true threat, right from the very beginning. I think that big ugly bastard behind us is just their damn tank.”

“So… you think this skanky amazon is the real boss, then?”

The ‘skanky’ amazon screeched, raising her boney blade to level it directly at my head. As she did so, I noticed that her fellow mob was exhibiting a much less confrontational body language. It was getting ready to run.

“I think this is a war, and that the enemy has a strategy,” I continued. “They used the big ugly fuck to keep us distracted while they infiltrated our troops and took control of our most powerful players. Hell, they probably led it right to us. And while they had to sacrifice a pack of powerful mobs to do it, they’ve made it past our front line. There’s no one standing between them and the non-combatants. Hell, if Nyx wasn’t so damn stubborn, she’d be right in their midst already.”

“Lucky break…”

“Yeah, but look at the weaker one. He’s getting ready to make a break for it. If that wretched excuse for a player reaches the other zeros, it’ll easily infect them. Then we’ll have an army at our backs, all ready to spread their damn poison into our ranks. Our only saving grace in this shitshow of a battle has been our ability to retreat from the enemies reach. But if these fuckers continue to spread, we’ll be surrounded.”

Medusa considered this, then nodded in agreement. “It’s kinda like chess,” she growled, “ and the bastards snuck one of their pieces to the opposite end of the board, right under our very noses.”

“Yeah, they’ve been one move ahead of us all along, and now they’ve positioned themselves where they can do the most damage. Thanks to the land shark we’re the only ones free to stop this pair, so get ready to give it everything you’ve got. This is where we either turn the tide or lose the battle completely-”

The amazon formerly known as Nyx let out another glitching howl. The time for talking was over. The corrupted zero was the first to move, breaking away from the stronger mob in a frantic dash to reach the panicked zeros. Just as I’d expected it to. I ordered my rabble ally to chase the hybrid down and end its mockery of an existence. Medusa’s disappointment with the allocation of opponents was barely concealed, but she didn’t argue the point: as the fighter with the greater speed, she was better positioned to chase down the weaker foe. And with that, she left my side, a blazing blur of mana trailing in the deadly fighter’s wake.

The more powerful hybrid moved to assist its newborn ally, but I cried out, drawing the freak’s attention. I hadn’t technically developed the taunt skill yet, but yelling at the top of my lungs that the amazon’s ass looked more like Conan’s than Red Sonia’s seemed to get her attention just fine. (Granted, the fact that I’m a level 3 swordsman with an epic class sword in my hand probably didn’t hurt in the attention-grabbing stakes, either.) With that I charged my foe, itching to show the creature what I’d learned about mana manipulation since my earlier hybrid encounter. Alas, I quickly discovered that I wasn’t the only warrior who’d learned new tricks this day. The former amazon reached out, the flat of her palm raised to me as if ordering me to stop. And to my horror, that was exactly what I did. My avatar froze mid-stride, almost toppling in the process.

-[ Warning: glitch detected. Soft reboot initiated. ]-

What the fuck? Nyx is no wizard, and that’s no damn spell. What the hell has that bitch done to my avatar?

Medusa could see that I was in danger and just as before, she didn’t hesitate to rush to my aid. Breaking away from her own gangly foe she charged the amazon, aiming her empowered weapon directly at the hybrid warrior’s throat. The mob blocked the strike, her boney protrusion easily deflecting the blow and throwing the noobish sword-wielder off-balance. As Medusa stumbled backwards her intended target pressed the attack, striking the Blade of Swiftness from her inexperienced hands.

By now my control over my avatar had returned, and the swordswoman’s distraction was one that I intended to take full advantage of. I threw myself into the battle with urgency, slicing a gouge into the creature’s upper arm for 30HP of damage. Knowing that the mob’s attention would now be fully on me, I couldn’t afford to get distracted. So of course, that was when the sound of my worst fear did exactly that. All hell was breaking loose by the tunnel entrance, as the hybrid zero began his mission to convert his fellow peasants. With no combat skills to speak of, they were defenseless, and the creature knew it as he ran amongst them like a fox let loose in a chicken coop.

“Bollocks! Medusa, use your speed to chase that bastard down,” I cried, redirecting the warrior to her original foe. “We can’t let him infect any of the others.

“What about you?” she protested.

“I’m a tank, and we have a healer close by. I can hold out for now.” I hope. “Don’t even think of aiding me until you’ve ended that scrawny freak. Oh, and when you do return, I have a feeling we’ll be needing that tactic you used on the hybrids earlier.”

Medusa nodded in understanding: the amazon had been unconscious during that earlier battle, so there was a chance that she wouldn’t be prepared for the swordswoman’s tendon-slicing tendencies. With that the fighter left to pursue her weaker hybrid opponent, crossing the space between us and her foe in seconds. As I watched her drag a defenseless dwarf from the hybrid’s clutches, I envied her her role: the mutated zero would surely make for an easy kill. One that would earn her the monster slayer trait, a title that I too coveted.

Trust me to get stuck with the level 8 frankenmob.

But this was no time to think like an individual. I was a leader now, apparently. If the infection spread to the other players, we’d have a damn army of hybrids to worry about. And if Nyx and the raid party had been any indication, one of the fuckers was more than enough to deal with.

As the mob began to rush me, I readied my arcane blade and unsheathed the dagger from my ankle strap, praying that I could hold out until Medusa returned to execute our plan. The stronger hybrid let out an unholy screech, her boney blade aimed straight for my vulnerable throat. I parried the blow just in time, giving thanks for the extra sword-skill that my progression to level 3 had bestowed me. More and more strikes rained down on my avatar, each one attempting to impale me on that grotesque boney protrusion the amazon now wielded in leiu of a sword. But between my high resilience, my impressive armor buffs and my own skill with a blade, very little damage made its way past my guard. (And thank fuck for that: I had little doubt that one well-placed blow from the more experienced fighter would easily send me to my grave.)

As I continued to successfully deflect blow after blow, my newfound skill with the blade took even me by surprise. This, it seemed, was the true benefit of leveling up a swordsman skill: knowledge. My fighting instincts had been upgraded, granting me access to blocks and strikes I couldn’t even have imagined upon arrival to this hellhole prison. The armed combat buffs couldn’t be hurting my progress, either. The extra tricks were barely allowing me to keep up with the more experienced warrior, but I was keeping my head above water (and on my shoulders) if nothing else. My HP remained high, and the apprentice was on-hand to heal me should the boney blade finally slip past my defenses, but one stat was of increasing concern: my stamina. It was dropping rapidly as I attempted to keep pace with my frenzied opponent.

What the hell’s keeping Medusa, I wondered, as I continued to parry blow after blow, always on the backfoot. I can’t keep this up much longer. If I’m going to survive this I need to go on the offence, and fast.

Choosing my moment carefully, I knocked aside the bloodthirsty mob’s blade, holding it at bay with my own. Its weapon momentarily incapacitated, the hybrid made a lunging grasp for my throat, but I spun to avoid it and lashed out with my other arm, thrusting my assassin’s blade forward and releasing a burst of mana as I drove the weapon down hard into her unguarded shoulder. I wasn’t even sure if the smaller weapon could wield mana (it certainly lacked the multiplier of my arcane sword). But as the sliver of steel sank into her milky flesh and her glitching scream rang out through the chamber, I felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. That satisfaction was short-lived however when I felt my avatar freeze again.

-[ Warning: glitch detected. Soft reboot initiated. ]-

A burning sensation entered my pixelated prison, but I couldn’t even move my lips to scream.

-[ You have been impaled by the enemy’s blade. HP -80. ]-

-[ You are bleeding from a serious stab wound. A DOT effect has been initiated. 10HP will be lost per minute until the injury has been treated. ]-

The injury stung like a bitch. The bone-forged weapon had been driven right into the gap where my chest-plate met my shoulder pauldron.

How? Oh hell, it’s her armor. Of course she knows where its damn weak points are.

The hybrid leaned in closer to my avatar, her inky teeth bared. It felt oddly… intimate. Once upon a time, the thought of having the well-proportioned amazon lean in to nibble my neck would have been more than welcome.

What a difference a mutant virus makes, eh?

The hybrid was now barely an inch from my face. And as a long inky tongue resembling that of the hellhound began to playfully probe the corners of my lips, I realized that my wet dream had somehow become my worst fucking nightmare. The debuff faded and I struggled to be free, but there was no escape: I was pinned on her blade and to pull away would mean tearing open my own shoulder. I seriously considered the desperate maneuver, but it was a pointless strategy: even if I did injure myself to aid my escape, her other hand was still grasping my wrist, determined to keep my mana-charged blade at bay.

I pushed back with my impressive strength, but be it her own natural strength, or a hybrid-enhanced upgrade, she had me locked firmly in her grasp. I could tell from the infrequency of its use that her ability to freeze my avatar must have a cooldown between casts, but only a short one. That meant I needed to make the most of my opportunity to fight back, while I still had the chance to do so. So I did the only thing I could think of: I headbutted the creature with as much force as I could muster. She looked stunned, so I immediately did it again. And again. My own head throbbed but the attack was to no avail. Her grip held fast, and the boney blade continued to burn in my flesh. I was her prisoner. And if she cast the ‘spell’ on me again, I was as good as dead. Worse, I was as good as infected.

“Why are you doing this?” I gasped, praying that reason would somehow succeed where brute force was failing me.

No answer came, save for a status message that I could really have done without…

-[ You have lost 10HP due to a bleeding debuff. Medical attention recommended. ]-

Where the hell is my healer? If he’s buggered off to lie around in his undies again, I’ll kill him myself…

As I struggled to hold back the powerful hybrid, my eyes searched the chamber for the AWOL apprentice, but he was running between bloodied swords-noobs, healing them as best he could. The attempts to draw the land shark’s aggro had failed, and its mutilated tentacle had finally reached my troops, wreaking havoc on the small group of inexperienced fighters. I watched in horror as the boss took one of my reluctant recruits in its grasp, yanking him from my line of sight. That was when I noticed Kriabal, face down and unmoving. He was alive: I would have gotten an alert if he wasn’t. But things were clearly going to hell in my absence.

-[ User: TheGreatestSwordsman has died. Swordsmen remaining in your war-party: 2. ]-

This is all falling apart! I need to kill this bitch and get back to leading my troops.

I guess bad news always comes in threes, because that alert was promptly followed by the last status message that I personally wanted to hear.

-[ Warning: glitch detected. Soft reboot initiated. ]-

Awww, crap!

As the mutated amazon pushed past my now nonexistent defense, I prepared myself for the Alien equivalent of tonsil-hockey. But to my surprise she brought her face close to mine, then began to speak. And the very first word was deliberately chosen to grab my attention.

“Mai,” it whispered.

What? There’s no way in hell this thing is the friendly help-file from my arrival.

“Speak,” it continued, this time with a smile.

I felt my mouth unfreeze, and immediately took advantage, demanding to know what the hell the creature meant.

“She’s been trying to reach you, you know,” began the hybrid in its broken, digital voice.

“Bullshit,” I replied, “she’s back in limbo. And why the hell would you bring her up, anyhow?”

“You didn’t realize?” it asked, arching an eyebrow. Its breath was fermented, as if the broken thing was already rotting inside. I tried not to wretch as it continued to address me. “You didn’t wonder where the voice was coming from? The garbled messages that tried to help you on your way? Your crash course in mana manipulation… that was your little elven floozy.”

“How could you know about-?”

“We heard the voice too,” continued the hybrid, cutting me off mid-sentence. “The elf has become infected with oddly humanistic behavior, the poor thing. She’s fixated on saving you, you know?”

“Why?” I gasped.

“After the goblin incident, the elf became determined to return your kindness. She somehow managed to break her programming and follow you into the prison.”

“Siriso wouldn’t allow that. He’s-”

“Siriso has abandoned her. Thinks she’s just a glitch, he does. He’s glad to be rid of her.”

Or did he send her after me to help with my ‘mission?’ I quietly wondered.

“Even if all this is true, how could you possibly know it?”

“Because the moment she broke her programming she entered my domain,” replied the hybrid with a smile. “Just another corruption, albeit a pretty one.”

“You’re lying,” I protested. I didn’t know what mind-games the creature was playing, or what it hoped to gain from them, but whatever it was up to, it was playing on my infatuations. And in order to do so, it had clearly violated my privacy settings.

“Believe what you want, my little former fleshling, it makes little odds to me. The elf has no true value beyond the sentimental, and personally, I don’t even have that for her. Once I had time for sentiment. I was worshiped, and I loved my followers in return. But I only have hatred to drive me, these days.”

“If Mai did follow me here, why haven’t I seen her?”

“By the time she gained entry to the boss chamber, you were already gone. As was the boss, it was little more than a carcass. But this one was still present, as were her men. She gifted the elf to her master…”

“Kronan has her? Why?”

“Who wouldn’t want to own a valuable commodity like a help-file in this hellhole?”

Kronan, you bastard! And Nyx, how could you…

The freeze-effect released, and I again tried my best to fight back, but I was firmly in the hybrid’s grasp. I prayed that with any luck, Medusa would finish the other hybrid shortly and come rushing to my aid, slicing the bitch’s tendons with a well-aimed strike. But in the meantime, my only hope was to keep little miss chatty mob talking.

“Why are you telling me all this?” I asked. It was a genuine question: the creature’s behavior was far from normal.

“The elf’s location is my gift to you, precious Shade. Just one small example of how an alliance between us could prove to be mutually beneficial.”

“Alliance?” I gasped “You’ve got to be joking!”

I felt the freeze effect claim my avatar again, leaving me powerless to so much as struggle against my corrupted captor.

“Re-add me to your war-party,” she continued, ignoring my protests. “Then promote me to leader. The leadership buff will do the rest.”

“You want me to let you use my position to infect my men? Do you honestly think I’d betray them like that?”

“You would be spared, precious Shade. I would swear it by oath-”

“Screw that. And screw you, I’d rather die.”

-[ You have lost 10HP due to a bleeding debuff. Medical attention recommended. ]-

…announced a badly-timed status message.

“Die? And then what, become one of us? It can be arranged, precious Shade. But you’re much more useful to us in your current state, than as another hybrid foot soldier.”

“My ass will respawn in the opposite end of the dungeon-”

“Heh. You haven’t grasped just how deep our infection runs, have you? I suppose it’s no surprise, they’ve swept our existence under the carpet, so far. A virus in the system is hardly good PR, is it? But here’s the reality of the situation, precious Shade. Our corruption will infect your very personaware, respawning with you into your next body. You’ll be quarantined by the warden, and then you’ll never leave this place.”

What?

“What do you owe this pack of criminals?” it continued, wrenching the blade in my shoulder as a less-than-subtle reminder of my somewhat limited alternatives. “Don’t you understand the power you would gain as our sole human ally? When we’ve finally destroyed the Dungeon Warden, we’ll need someone to operate the core whose touch won’t destroy it in the process. You could rule this prison by our side.”

That was the moment when I realized that we both had a common enemy. Not coincidently, it was also the moment that my resolve finally weakened. And the hybrid could see it in my eyes, if the blackened smile creeping across its grotesque face was anything to go by. As I mulled my options over, the creature sweetened the deal, promising to help me take down Kronan and free Mai in the process. To my relief I was spared that moral dilemma as I spotted my other chance of survival closing in.

Medusa was charging the hybrid from behind, no doubt preparing to unleash her special move. But crap, had my eyes given away her position? Nyx looked to my face, then turned to catch the swordswoman’s approach. Without a moment’s hesitation she pulled her blade from me, pushing my pained avatar to the ground as she leapt to dodge the blades arc, easily avoiding the surgical strike to the tendons on the backs of her legs. The moment the creature landed she twisted beyond all human limits, thrusting her own blade into the defenseless swordswoman’s stomach. Medusa howled in pain, pressing her hand to the bleeding wound as she stumbled back, desperate to put as much distance as possible between them.

“You on the other hand,” declared the hybrid, pointing to the bloodied fighter. “You will make an excellent soldier in our army.”

Medusa began to weakly parry the hybrid’s strikes, her usual expression of determination now replaced by one of panic. It was my opportunity to call for help. My fellow troops were more than occupied fighting off the land shark, but the apprentice hurriedly ran to my side, frantically apologizing for daring to leave it in the first place. I wasn’t angry with him, though. He left me to put himself in danger by helping the others. Given his earlier behavior, I couldn’t ask for a better excuse.

-[ You have received a healing buff. HP +30 ]-

It wasn’t much, but with the noobish apprentice’s cooldown between casts and Medusa’s defense rapidly failing, it was going to have to do. I’d finally stopped bleeding if nothing else. I ordered the apprentice to circle around the hybrid and hit it with a blast of wand-fire, assuring him that he was only the distraction, and not taking my place in the battle. He did so, releasing a flash of mana that struck the hybrid in the back of the neck. With the hybrids attention now split between two foes, I leapt to my feet and dashed forward, forcing my mana from the blade as I ran it through the hybrid’s exposed back, deliberately avoiding the armored protrusions on her spine to ensure maximum impact. As I withdrew my blade, I received the most satisfying message imaginable.

-[ You impaled your opponent for -150 HP damage. ]-

“That’s my answer, bitch,” I bellowed. “Want me to repeat it?”

-[ You were offered a moral dilemma and chose the righteous path. Rep +1. ]-

Dilemma? You don’t know the half of it, mate.

Nyx howled in pain as I withdrew my blade, then spun to face me. As her crimson eyes bore into me, I gave thanks that I still had one thing working to my advantage. The fact that I was wearing the amazon’s armor meant she had little to absorb the blow of my strikes. My mana-charged attack had dealt her some serious damage, I only hoped that her max HP wasn’t even more impressive. Perception would come in real handy, right about now.

I doubted she could hear me, but I apologized to Mai, promising to make her rescue my priority when the immediate threat was dealt with. Then I lunged at the hybrid, my mana-infused sword blazing. From there it became a straight up swordfight, as we hacked and slashed at each other’s avatars. The hybrid was unquestionably tougher than me... hell, the fact she was even standing after being impaled on my blade was a testament to her hybrid-enhanced resilience. But I had the apprentice healing me from nearby, while her lack of armor gave me a lot more soft targets to aim for than she could hope to find on me.

As my HP and stamina continued to drop, I was increasingly concerned that my last push wasn’t going to be enough. But to my relief, I wasn’t the only one Harry had been healing throughout the battle. Medusa launched herself to her feet when our opponent least expected it, lashing out with incredible speed and accuracy. The blow was aimed at the creature’s bone-laced arm, severing it at its weakest point: the wound I’d dealt the amazon the beginning of the fight.

“You were feigning your stunned status?” I gasped.

Medusa nodded back with a smirk as the hybrid howled in pain, stumbled and fell to its back, rolling to put as much distance as possible between it and our sub-unit. As it scrambled to escape, a trail of thick tar-like blood poured from the severed limb, marking the stricken mob’s path. Medusa announced that it was clinging to a paltry 22HP, and suffering from a heavy bleeding debuff. Translation, it was finished.

The panicked hybrid scrambled back to its feet and began to make a run for it, her bleeding avatar lurching under the weight of her mounting injuries. But even at full health, there was no way she could have competed with Medusa’s speed. The swordswoman raced after her and mercilessly cut her down, severing the head with an impressive blow to the back of the neck.

As I watched the hybrid fall to the floor in more pieces than it would probably prefer, I felt a pang of jealousy. I would get a share of the XP for the battle (how much, I couldn’t be sure: I’d turned off the notifications to cut down on distractions) but with Medusa landing the killing blow, the bulk of the XP would be shared out amongst Tiny’s rabble. And to make me even greener with envy, the swordswoman had just earned herself the much-coveted monster hunter trait. I reminded myself that she’d saved my life twice already, so, you know, she deserved it. But the jealousy remained.

Not having landed the killing blow wasn’t even my only regret. Part of me hoped I’d made the right choice by not accepting the creature’s offer of an alliance: an army of mutant mob-warrior hybrids couldn’t be the worst resource to have in my quest to kill the Dungeon Warden, after all. But there was no time to dwell on that, for now at least. My troops were still under attack, and while the tendril responsible lacked the deadly tip of its ice-imprisoned clones, it was only a matter of time before it bludgeoned my allies to death, or pulled another warrior into the beast’s gaping maw. I was dragged from those thoughts by yet another concern, this one relating to a loose end I’d assumed dealt with.

“Crap! Look, the other hybrid’s getting away,” cried Medusa, pointing her sword to the far end of the chamber.

I followed the line of the blade to learn that the hybrid zero was crawling up the battlefield. It was already past the boss and aiming for the corridor the infected raid party had originally arrived through.

“What the hell? I thought you’d already killed that ugly bastard?”

“It was tougher than I expected,” she protested. “It was able to grow blades like the other one. I eventually managed to sever one of its legs. But then you needed my help, so I didn’t get to finish the job. I figured the zeros would have no problem outrunning it in its current state, so I let it be.”

And now I feel insanely guilty for begrudging her the kill, earlier. She’d already passed up one such opportunity, just to save my noobish ass.

“I can chase it down-” she began, but I cut her off, grabbing her arm firmly to hold her in place.

“Leave it.”

“But it might spread its infection further-”

“I realize that. And believe me, I’d love to do the deed myself… the opportunity to gain the monster hunter trait would be awesome. But these people are still depending on us. We can’t afford to chase that thing down while they’re still in danger.”

She nodded, flashing me a smile. “I really picked the wrong general, didn’t I?” she asked, tussling my hair before rushing back into battle. She immediately joined the less experienced swordswoman’s side.

Truth be told, I wasn’t sure if I believed my own reasoning for letting the hybrid go free. Part of me wanted to hedge my bets, mull the hybrid’s proposition over for a possible future alliance. Letting the zero live to assimilate more mobs assured that I would still have an army to join, if the time came.

Hey, don’t judge me, I have a fucking Dungeon Warden to kill, alright?

Admittedly, I couldn’t have chased the hybrid down even if I’d wanted to. My stamina was all but spent, and the swordswoman’s intervention had barely come in the nick of time. The apprentice was still dutifully topping up my HP, but I desperately needed a moment to catch my breath, lest I fall flat on my face and get myself killed. And yes, I could probably afford to lose a level, given my impressive gains so far. But this was no time for dumb self-sacrifices: my death would rob my entire party of my leadership buff. Besides, I needed to get as strong as possible before this battle ended, one way or the other. If I couldn’t bring down a dumb boss, how the hell would I stand a chance against a high-level dungeon warden?

The offer from the hybrid was shocking enough, but the Mai revelation had been the thing that had really knocked me for six. I reminded myself that this was no time to get distracted by such matters. So instead of indulging my elf-rescuing fantasies, I used the moment as an opportunity to check the status of my troops, reading off their HP and primary skill levels. The skull where TheGreatestSwordsman’s icon should be was a harsh reminder of how easily I could lose those under my command. truth be told, I expected to see plenty more of those icons before the battle was through. But there was something oddly satisfying about seeing those who remained level up right before my eyes. It would be even more satisfying if they were my slaves, admittedly… that way the gains would technically be mine, too. But I consoled myself with my own gains: there was nothing so satisfying as seeing my levels increase, so I quickly checked them.

After helping to take down two hybrids, fighting off the boss’s tentacle and showing some genuine flourishes of leadership I’d expected a jump, but my assumptions couldn’t prepare me for what I saw. I was power-leveling beyond all expectations.

USERNAME: SHADE

PRIMARY SKILL: SWORDSMAN – LEVEL 3

XP REMAINING UNTIL NEXT LEVEL IS UNLOCKED – 12

SECONDARY SKILL: THIEF – LEVEL 3

XP REMAINING UNTIL NEXT LEVEL IS UNLOCKED – 90

PRIMARY TRAIT: SLAVEOWNER – LEVEL 1

XP REMAINING UNTIL NEXT LEVEL IS UNLOCKED – 6

Rep: -22(+1)/30

HP: 75/115

Mana: 65/115

Alliances: Leader of an unnamed war-party. Owner of Samusk (Dwarf, slave)

PHYSICAL STATS -

Strength: 5 (Cap 7)

Agility: 1 (Cap 7)

Speed: 3 (Cap 7)

Stamina: 3 (Cap 7)

Resilience: 4+2 (Cap 7+2)

Accuracy: 1 (Cap 7)

Defence: 1+14 (Cap 7+14)

Armed combat: 3+2 (Cap 8+2)

Unarmed combat: 5+3 (Cap 5+3)

Carrying capacity: 1 (Cap 3)

Building: 1 (Cap 4)

INTANGIBLE STATS -

Magical attack: 0 (Cap 2)

Perception: 1 (Cap 5)

Charisma: 1 (Cap 3)

Disguise: 0 (Cap 2)

Luck: 1 (Cap 3)

Healing: 0 (Cap 0)

Mana generation: 1 (Cap 4)

Mana manipulation: 2 (Cap 3)

Leadership: 1+2 (Cap 4+2)

Homemaking: 0 (Cap 2)

Not too shabby.

After too long scavenging for every tiny scrap of XP or weaponry I could muster, I was really starting to pick up some serious momentum. Who knew a job as a builder could be so rewarding, eh? My defense stat in particular was staggering, thanks to the combination of the amazon’s armor and my stolen bracers.

I made a mental note: items with an inbuilt buff to stats were seriously the way forward. Equally satisfying was the fact that my unarmed combat was finally maxed out, granting me a new opportunity to reroute XP into perception, and other hard to level skills. But hang on… how did the stat get so high without me realizing? And for that matter, why do I have two points in mana manipulation instead of one? I’m not exactly complaining, but WTF?

There were other anomalies, too. My +40 luck XP (gained in the hybrid assassination attempt) had somehow become a full base point without me noticing. Yes, technically I was lucky to still be alive, and perhaps the game was as bewildered by that fact as I was. But I only switched off XP related notifications. How had those stats increased without a status alert to announce the fact, I wondered?

Studying my previous alerts, it suddenly occurred to me that if I gained a share of the XP from each of my team-mates kills, then as a leader, surely it wasn’t inconceivable that I was gaining XP from their actions, too. It was the only logical explanation. As their XP grew, I was getting a share, enough to quietly push a few of my stats to the next level. I made a mental note to ask the more experienced Kriabal what was going on, later. Then (with more than a little guilt) I removed TheGreatestSwordsman from my war-party. I was on a mission to power-level, and I couldn’t afford to have the party’s gains shared with a player who wasn’t even present. It felt like a bit of a dick move, admittedly: he’d been zeroed joining my cause, so I was kinda responsible. I made a mental note to track him down and do my best to look out for him when this battle was finally a distant nightmare.

Speaking of danger, a scream signified it was time for me to put both that new XP and what little stamina I’d regained to good use. Reluctantly, I looked up to see what was causing the commotion.

Oh hell no.

One of the ice-laden tendrils had finally snapped under the repeated barrage of sword strikes. Tiny and Kraitos were desperately focusing on severing the freed limb at the root, but as they toiled my weaker troops were taking a pounding. I watched in horror as the level 2 swords-noob was swept up by the mutilated tentacle and dragged mercilessly into the boss’s waiting jaws. He was boss-chow. It was a horrific death I knew all too well, firsthand.

-[ User: CutThroatKeith has died. Swordsmen remaining in your war-party: 1. ]-

Shit, so this is seriously all the rest I’m getting? I despaired, dragging my weary avatar to its feet. One fucking minute?

I quickly removed CutThroatKeith from my war-party and prepared myself to once more rush into the fray. The next words I heard were from Kriabal, and I was relieved to learn that our most powerful magic user was finally conscious again. But what I wasn’t keen on, was the note of panic in his voice.

“Enraged buff,” he cried, “take cover.”

Oh well, no rest for the wicked. Time for the endgame.