Chapter 7: Strategy

“Are you feeling better?”

“Ah… yes, Lillia. I am so sorry…”

“It’s okay, Mark! There were lots of emotions involved, it was your first battle, and it’s your first immersive game.”

“I guess you are right.” I take a deep breath and sigh with regret. Her compassionate look almost makes it up, but still. I have puked in front of her, of all of them. They must be thinking I’m a pussy.

“Hey, Mark. Sorry about that thing.” Is Mike... saying sorry?

“What do you mean? Sorry for what?”

“I should have listened to your call. I cast the spell before time. It could… have cost our lives.”

“Thank you for recognizing it, Mike. Don’t worry tho, we are here to learn. I am sure I will also make mistakes, and at that time, I’ll rely on you to cover my back.” That was truly unexpected. After his latest numbers, I didn’t think he’d come and apologize. Good, maybe he is the caring person I take him for.

“Okay then!” Rand claps his hands together. “From here on, it seems the path splits. This means that whichever way we go, we have to be wary not to get surrounded.”

“About that, Rand, I have an idea.” And I think it is a good one. “This time, I’ll be at the back of the team, the last one. I might not have much HP, but as long as their attacks are physical, I can de-materialize.”

“That… might work. But why not being already de-materialized? You can directly avoid the damage, and if you need to heal, you can switch back.”

“I don’t know their intelligence level, but maybe seeing me in specter form will make them avoid me. In which case, I’m afraid of them targeting Mike.” I reach for my beard. “Plus, receiving damage will alert me if they are trying to silently sneak behind us. And-” I start scratching my goatee, “- I actually can cast spells while in specter form. It is just that their cost is increased by 50%.”

“Oho! So you withhold that information! You will put yourself at risk, but it might work. Okay, let’s roll with it.”

“Can you give me a minute? With all the-” I can’t say puking, right? “- commotion before, I forgot to check the system messages.”

Let’s see then!

[Your party has slain a Kobold Soldier]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

“Is it normal to level up two times? What level are those monsters?”

“We believe they are about level 8. Some of them might be 10. Our team composition should allow us to face them, as long as we take some precautions.”

“Mmh, that would make sense then.”

[Your party has slain a Kobold Soldier]

[Your party has slain a Kobold Shield Bearer]

[You have leveled up]

[Heal has gained a level]

Not bad! Three levels and some progress on my Heal. What do levels grant anyway? Status!

[Status]

Name: Mark

HP: 100/100

Mana: 102/102

Inquisitor [4]

Materialize

Heal [2]

Level four and the only difference is 2 more mana? That must be a joke! “Guys, how do I even know my resistance to damage and so on?”

“You haven’t even read the user guide, have you?” By just looking at my face, I bet that Dorian clearly interprets I don’t know what the hell he is talking about. “Of course you haven’t. Short story long, your classes only give you HP and Mana. It is your items that give you all the other stats.”

“Oh! That’s why my status page feels so empty!”

“You must be kidding me… Have you never played any game? You can make your other stats appear there too, just head over to options! Did you even inspect the items I gave you!?”

“Inspect? Was that in the user manual too?”

“Yes.. yes, it was… Go ahead. Please.”

I raise the staff, and while staring at it, I think of the magic word: Inspect!

[Carved Staff]

Rarity: Uncommon

Magic Damage: +3%

Amplifies Magic Effects: +2%

A simple staff. It’s engraved with intricate patterns designed to amplify the power of the wielder.

So that means that I actually heal 20.4 HP. Hah! Well, I guess with enough time it will make a difference. Let’s inspect my other clothes.

[Beginner Pants]

[Beginner Boots]

[Linen Shirt]

Defense against physical attacks: +1%

According to Dorian, I should also be able to make my Status page more informative. A few mental orders here and there, this option ticked, and I should be ready to go. Status!

[Status]

Name: Mark

HP: 100/100

Mana: 102/102

Physical Defence: 1%

Magic Damage: 3%

Magic Effects: 2%

Inquisitor [4]

Materialize

Heal [2]

And finally, what’s changed in my Heal?

[Heal: 2]

Gather your mana to heal the wounds of yourself or an ally. Costs 25 mana and restores 20 (+0.4 I*) health. Has a cooldown of 10(-1 L*)s

* I: Items modifiers

* L: Level modifiers

Basically, I get 1 second less cooldown. Given the little effort it took to level up, the improvement is justified.

“All done! Rand, should we go right or left?”

“I don’t think it matters at all, let’s just take a left and explore. We only have about 2 hours before we are suggested to log off. And I need to go either way.” And so we head for the left branch. Is it a good idea? Who knows, really, we are going blind, without any real idea of what we’ll be facing.

As much as I like exploring in general, this cave is repetitive and boring. The Kobolds might not be the wiser race out there, but they seem quite fond of placing traps everywhere. Just now, I am healing Lillia, who has been pierced by an arrow activated by a wire. We have fallen to booby traps, pressure plates that trigger fire throwers… just about anything imaginable.

It’s not like Dorian hasn’t warned us, but none of us has his vision nor his reflexes. If only he could deactivate them, but that’s not in his repertoire. Maybe he could stay behind with us, but that would leave us open to attacks. As long as none of them are single-shot by a trap, we can rest, or I can heal.

Recovering mana is not as time-consuming as HP. For starters, HP recovery during battle is nonexistent. And, even out of combat, mana recovery rates are higher. It is class-dependent, so I can’t speak for my friends, but I recover about 1 mana per second.

“Ready for battle?” We have a few enemies in front. Amongst them, there is a bow user, so we will have to deal with ranged attacks. We can’t do much about it, staying out of its range whenever possible and quickly assassinate it. “Dorian, try to sneak behind the archer and kill him. Don’t put yourself at risk; retreat if it gets dangerous. We’ll follow the same strategy as before. Lillia, be ready to help our backline if I call for it.”

With Rand charging at the front, I have flashbacks of the last battle, a wild beast running and screaming at his enemies. As it seems, however, we are against stronger foes. The shield-bearer is still standing after the impact, and the other ones are composed and not surprised at all, already aiming for Rand.

“Go, Dorian! Lillia, give some support to Rand; he won’t be able to take so many blows that fast.” A quick analysis tells me Mike is slightly out of position, he could be an easy pick if they attack from behind. “Mike, advance about one meter and start blasting the closest enemy!”

For the most part, the battle develops as we planned. Lillia has gotten a bit roughed up while covering for Rand, 80/158, as she lacks his natural resistances. But at least that allows me to focus my heals on our tank. He is at 75, and I’ve already cast one Heal. Four more seconds to go until the next one.

I have caught a few glimpses of Dorian going in and out, stabbing and slashing at the ranger. That isn’t sufficient to eliminate him, though. “Dorian, Mike, switch targets, we need that ranger out the soo-”

[You have lost 26 HP]

“- MATERIALIZE! Lillia, NOW!”

With my spiritual form taking on, I see a short scimitar going through where my heart is supposed to be. An assassin? Are kobolds this advanced?

“Mark! That is not a kobold!” Her face showing her inner turmoil, desperately running towards me. I want to tell her that it’s fine, I can’t be harmed. But. What is it that is behind me? “It, I don’t know, it’s smaller, its fur much fluffier, its face is softer, but it still reminds of a rat.”

“Try to hold it! I can at most cast 1 heal in this form and my current mana. One more once I go back to my body. We HAVE to finish fast.”

Seeing his attacks being ineffective, the assassin immediately disengages me and focuses on reaching Mike. Of course, Lillia won’t allow it. She moves a step ahead, gathers momentum by folding her arm, and like a spring let loose, she thrusts at the speed of light. To an untrained eye like mine, there is no way the attack connected. Far from it, though, she turns it into a stab to its right leg with extreme dexterity. Fast and elegant, she has just disabled him.

“Lillia, focus on evading its attacks over damaging it!”

“Heal!” Rand is getting too low, I’m still in specter form, but it can’t wait anymore. At 30/133, anything unexpected could kill him!

[Your party has slain a Kobold Soldier]

Nice! “Materialize!” With a last sneaky attack to the back of the archer, Dorian finally manages to kill it.

[Your party has slain a Kobold Archer]

Without much more insistence, the enemy tanker also finds his death under the relentless punches of Rand and the previous fireballs from Mike.

[You have slain a Kobold Shield-Bearer]

“Perfect! Rand, keep the soldier busy! Lillia, keep on dodging. The rest, obliterate that assassin!”

And just like that, with one heal to spare, we get rid of all the enemies.

[You have slain a Shadow Mouse]