Pete yawned and stretched his arms up over his head as the immersion chair split open with a faint hum. His eyes felt gummy, his mouth was dry, and his stomach was bemoaning its abject neglect in a loud voice. He stopped in the bathroom briefly to relieve himself, and quickly made his way down to the kitchen. "Jerry, current time," he mumbled groggily.

"It is zero-two-thirty-seven, Mr. Baggs. Mrs. Baggs went to bed three hours and 27 minutes ago. Do you want me to wake her?” Jerry asked in his customary cheerful voice.

Pete looked over his shoulder with horror on his face. "Je-eezus no! I want to live to see the morning, thank you!"

"Technically speaking, sir, it is the morning, and has been for two hours and 36 minutes."

Pete scowled blearily up at the faceless walls, "Do you have another name, Jerry — like maybe Kristius?"

"No, Mr. Baggs. It was you who provided my current appellation. Would you like me to respond to ‘Kristius’ as well?"

"Never mind, Jerry. Forget I brought it up," Pete sighed wearily as he dropped into a kitchen chair, "and program the rec for a cup of coffee — hot, dark roast, two sugars, four creams."

"Conversation log deleted. Your coffee will be ready in 18 seconds."

Pete blew out another sigh as he sipped at his steaming mug of coffee, leaned back in the chair, and let his mind wander over recent events. So far, the game had been far different than he’d expected. For one thing, it was a lot more painful, and the amount of apparent physical reality was astounding. He savored the rich aroma of the bold coffee as he drank, and he mulled over what Helga had said about there being more going on than she could tell them. It seemed odd to him that an AI — even an advanced one like Helga — would or could withhold information from a human. They were, by global mandate, supposed to be completely transparent under any circumstances. Finishing off the last of his coffee, Pete thought about grabbing some food to ease the insistent complaints from his stomach, but he decided he could tough it out till breakfast. He stopped long enough for a quick shower, then managed to slip into bed without waking Jina. Even as he dozed off, his mind was still musing over the curious situation.

He woke to a gentle chime and the tantalizing smell of bacon wafting from the kitchen, and he sat drowsily up on the edge of the bed. “Jerry, current time.”

“It’s now zero-seven-twelve, Mr. Baggs. Mrs. Baggs has prepared breakfast and requests your presence.”

“Thanks, Jerry. Let Mrs. Baggs know I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He dragged himself sluggishly from the bed, washed his face, and gargled a gulp of mouthwash. After taking care of a few other necessities, Pete finally shuffled into the kitchen.

“Ah, my wayward husband finally appears! His new mistress has released him to visit me,” Jina proclaimed in dramatic tones. Her eyes sparkled with mirth over the edge of her cup as she sipped her coffee, ”So, how goes the rescuing of the virtual world?”

Pete pulled a sour face as he sat at the table next to her, ”To be honest, I have no idea! I have no timeline, no contacts, and no clue, other than that I somehow need to beat the top PK in the whole Otherverse world,” he replied with frustration. He munched on a strip of bacon from his plate and closed his eyes as he made a ‘yumm’ sound. Even if it was some sort of processed, vat-grown protein product, reshaped and reconstituted into a facsimile of bacon, it was nevertheless really tasty. He chewed blissfully on the crispy strip for a bit longer before he continued, ”We picked up a young lady for our group — a healer named Arabella. She was with that dwarf I told you about, the one with the bad attitude that we wiped a couple times. Turns out he’s her little brother.” Pete chuckled, ”and she wasn’t too terribly peeved with us for taking him down a couple notches.”

“Wait, was that the healer that you said you beat to a pulp — it was a woman?” Jina looked at him with wide, horror-filled eyes, ”You beat a woman to death? My god, what sort of monster am I married to?”

“Hey! She was out to kill us at the time, remember?” Pete sputtered in protest.

Jina burst out laughing, then got up and gave Pete a fond peck on the cheek, ”It’s a game, dear — all’s fair in love, war, and video games. I’m just yanking your chain.” Still chuckling, she fed her dishes back to the food rec, and then turned around and hugged Pete from behind his chair, ”I’m off to my Red Hat Society meeting, then I’m going out to spend part of your paycheck on whatever shiny thing catches my eye.” She did a poor imitation of a Yiddish accent, “Have fun storming the castle!” With another peal of laughter and a quick kiss, she was out the door and gone.

Pete smiled fondly to himself as he finished his breakfast. He went back upstairs, brushed his teeth and relieved himself, and then climbed eagerly back into the immersion chair.

Niko strode into the Red-Headed Rooster and immediately spotted his two companions seated at their usual table. They were accompanied by a stranger, who was rather gaudily dressed in a loose fitting, bright red shirt, dark red leggings, knee-high black leather boots, and a pointed black hat. He looked to be an elf, with straight, pitch-black hair and lean, sharp features. His bright blue eyes watched intently as Niko walked up to the table and sat down.

Arabella gestured to the newcomer by way of introduction. “This is Lucius, the mage I told you about. He’s a friend of my brother’s, but he’s cool. I told him you two were okay, and he’s hoping to join us if you’re good with it.”

With the introduction, Niko recognized the newcomer as the third member of the belligerent dwarf’s entourage. He gnawed at his lip, considering, and then looked over at Kristius, ”What do you think?”

“Two things,” Kristius chugged a huge draught from his mug, let out a resounding belch, and smacked his lips in satisfaction before continuing. He gazed down into his tankard, ”First off, honey mead should be a requirement for breakfast. I mean, honey is good for you — right? — and this here is honey and healthy grains and stuff in full liquid form — and plus, you put honey on toast, so if I eat a loaf of bread with this, I’m basically having toast and honey, which is a complete wholesome breakfast! Now, the argument might be made that consuming alcohol first thing in the morning kind of hints at alcoholism, but if you ask me, that is just being judgmental, which is simply not cool.” He looked up from his cup at the others, who were all staring at him dubiously, ”Secondly, I’m good with it. We could use a little magical oomph.”

He sniffed at the air in a conspicuous manner as he looked pointedly over at Niko, ”A quick addendum, too, Bro — you stink! I mean like oh-my-god stink! Plus, you look like a beggar. Now, I’m no fashion expert, but I think the stained burlap look is out. Just saying.” He drained the last of his mug, gulping noisily. ”I even got some new duds!” He kicked one of his tree-trunk legs up on the table, revealing brown calf-length soft leather boots, with fawn-colored pants tucked in, ”New boots too! Chicks love a guy who’s a sharp dresser,” he stated with an air of authority.

Niko pulled his gaze from Kristius, shaking his head, and turned to the mage, ”Ok, Lucius, I guess you’re part of the team.” He looked around at all of them, “We’ll form a group, and then I’ll run over to Higgs’ place to pick up some new clothes. I’ll meet you guys at the quest board in twenty minutes… ” he stopped himself at a pointed glare from Kristius, who was waving a hand under his nose, “... um, make that an hour.” He offered his hand to Lucius, who shook it eagerly, ”Welcome aboard.” Lucius grinned widely and bobbed his head, but said nothing.

Kristius interjected in a loud conspiratorial whisper, ”Dude, he’s kind of a mute, but not like a complete mute… more like a vow of silence, not much to say kind of mute, y’know?” Niko just stared at him wordlessly, and Kristius smiled, ”Yeah! Just like that! Awesome!”

As the others filed out on their way to the square, Niko spoke to the innkeeper to order a warm bath readied for when returned in twenty minutes or so. Once having done so, he proceeded to Higgs’ store, where he found the jovial halfling standing on his bench behind the counter, with a pile of goods on the countertop next to him.

“Ah, friend Niko! Your companions said you’d be along shortly! They took the liberty of picking a fine assortment of clothing for you! The young lady has excellent taste,” he paused and glanced at some brightly-colored clothing on a shelf behind him, “although the big muscly human insisted that you would prefer the bard’s outfit with the paisley design…?” At Niko’s alarmed and spirited response in the negative, the halfling pushed the pile across the counter to him. Niko found a pair of loose-fitting, light tan pants, a cream-colored padded shirt, and a wide, brown leather belt bearing a gleaming new hunting knife in a sheath. In addition, there was a tan-colored pair of soft leather boots, and a block of soap next to the stack of clothing. ”Sadly, they did not pay for it, though. Your large friend Kristius said you would be highly insulted if they did, and he made sure to tell me that you’re a successful adventurer and would accept no charity, no matter how poorly you were dressed.”

Niko rolled his eyes with a sardonic half-smile, “Of course he did.” He held up the clothes with a calculating eye, and figured they would fit well enough. They appeared to be durably made, if not particularly the flashiest style. He pulled the boots on over bare feet, and walked around the store for a few moments, but he found that having his feet covered up felt awkward, as if one of his senses was missing. He yanked the boots off and set them back on the counter. ”I’ll take everything but the boots. How much?”

“For such a good customer as yourself, 3 silver and not a copper more!” Higgs beamed expansively.

Niko started to haggle, but then thought better of it as he sighed and dug some coins out of his pouch. He thanked the halfling, who bowed in return, scooped up the pile of clothing, and headed back to the tavern.

Once there, a cheery barmaid informed him that a tub of hot water was waiting for him out behind the building, and, with a broad wink, inquired whether he might need some help rubbing himself down. Red-faced and stammering, he stumbled out the back door followed by merry peals of laughter. He stepped out into a courtyard surrounded by a high wooden fence, in which several large wash tubs were arranged in a ring around a central firepit. A low stool bearing a soft-looking towel sat before each of the tubs. A young boy had just scooped a bucketful of water from a steaming cauldron hanging over the fire, and was dumping it into one of the tubs as Niko approached. The boy bobbed his head at Niko and pointed at the tub.

“This’un here be yers, sir. Cost be 5 coppers,” he said as he held out small hand. Niko pulled out a silver and flipped it to the boy.

“Keep the extra,'' Niko said as he set his new clothes down on the stool. The boy snatched the coin out of the air and gave him a wide gap-toothed grin, and ran off into the building as Niko stripped down to his no-peeks. The mechanics of the game would allow a player to remove the beginner undergarment if he or she was willing, but otherwise it could not be removed by any means. The intent was to prevent unwanted advances or sexual attacks, because even complete immersion has its limits. Also, it was the only self-cleaning piece of clothing the players had.

Niko hissed through his teeth as he lowered himself into the steaming water. He glanced involuntarily up at his health bar, fearing he might have taken actual damage from the scalding bathwater. Reassured that he wasn’t losing health, he dropped down the rest of the way into the tub. He grabbed the chunk of soap from atop the stool and began to scrub himself thoroughly from top to bottom. The clear water gradually went murky as he washed off the caked-on grime. Players’ avatars always stayed clean in most other games Niko had ever played or read about, but Otherverse’s designers had chosen to let the players decide their own hygiene level. Aside from never needing to use a bathroom in-game no matter what you ate or drank, most other bodily functions worked just like normal — including sweating.

After scouring himself clean, Niko leaned back in the tub and summoned his character sheet. He’d accumulated three more skill points since he’d last checked, and he decided to add one point each in strength, wisdom, and dexterity. Accepting the new changes, he reviewed the updated sheet:

Niko: Human, Monk 7th level

Life Points: 84

Armor: 7 points (1 point rough cloth +7 dexterity bonus)

Mana: 0

Energy: 84 points

Strength:6 (+3 to melee damage, +3% to any checks requiring strength)

Dexterity: 10 (+7% to hit with a bow and any checks requiring dexterity, +7 to armor)

Intelligence: 9 (+6% to spot and any checks requiring intelligence)

Wisdom: 8 (+5% to energy)

Constitution: 5 (+2 to Life Points per level, +2% to any checks requiring constitution)

Charisma: 7 (+4% to reaction checks)

Racial Abilities:

-Any class

-Can learn non-class abilities at double the rank cost

Monk Abilities:

-No armor

-Stone Fist, rank 1. This ability allows the player to strike powerful blows with his fists, doing 1-3 points of damage per strike. Cost: 2 energy per strike, no cooldown

-Immovable Object, rank 1. This ability allows the player to bind his body to whatever surface he is touching, making him impossible to move by any creature with a strength equal to or less than the player’s strength. The ability continues until the player deactivates it, his energy expires, or he is rendered unconscious. Cost: 2 energy per 10 seconds. 1 minute cooldown

-Focus Energy, rank 1. This ability allows the player to increase his strength 2 pts per rank for 10 seconds plus 1 second per rank. Cost: 5 energy per rank. 10 minute cooldown.

-Basic Martial Arts, rank 1. This ability gives the player a +2 bonus to attack and damage when using unarmed combat, and a 2% skill bonus for basic hand-to-hand maneuvers.

Niko reached over the side of the tub to grab his satchel, and rummaged through it until he found the cloth strips. Upon pulling them out, he found that they were indeed no longer frayed and dingy. Like Kristius’ axe, the quality of the wraps had clearly improved. Looking more closely, he noticed a light yellowish-colored thread weaving an intricate pattern throughout the cloth.

“Examine.”

Grandmaster Otesso’s Hand Wraps

Quality: Poor

Durability: 21/34

Abilities: +3 to armor, ???

Intrigued, Niko put the wraps back in the satchel, eager to find out what other attributes they might eventually attain. He heaved himself out of the tub and toweled himself off, then on impulse he lifted up one foot to inspect his sole. It looked normal to him, but he could feel its toughness when he ran his fingers over it. Recalling some the things Taggart had shown him, he pulled the shiny new dagger off his belt and pressed the point of it against the middle of his sole. He had to apply a surprising amount of pressure before he even felt the tip poking his skin — he figured his feet were about as tough as boiled leather. He put his foot down and stood up, flat-footed on the soil of the courtyard. Concentrating on the task, he found to his astonishment that he could clearly feel the ground under each foot, right down to the individual little pebbles. ”Well, ain’t that a kick in the ass,” he muttered wonderingly. Encouraged, he stepped over to the fire and reached for a glowing coal, only to snatch his burnt fingers back and shove them in his mouth with a yelp of pain. ”Ok fine, so I’m not quite there yet,” he groused around the singed digits.

Niko dressed in the new clothes he’d bought, and wadded up the old dirty ones and left them on the stool. He went out through the common room into the street — blushing furiously when the tavern girl tipped him another knowing wink, much to her continued amusement — and then made his way through town to the quest board where his friends would be waiting. He had no problem spotting Kristius looming above the other quest seekers in the square, and he wormed his way through the crowd to stand next to the big man and their new companions near the quest board. He glanced briefly over the various quests pinned up on the board.

“Anything interesting?” he asked.

“A lot of requests to smash goblins. Blacksmith wants a bunch of their weapons and crappy armor, the mayor wants a bunch of their ears, Higgs is looking for goblin amulets. Pretty much your normal game grind-y kinda quests.” Kristius heaved a weary sigh, ”I took all of them. I figure the four of us can grind them out pretty quick, but still, it’s kind of drudgery.”

Niko nodded in resignation, mirrored by Arabella and Lucius, and they all turned to go. As he turned about, Niko felt something scrunch faintly under his foot. He looked down and spied a small, grimy piece of crumpled paper half-buried in the dirt. He was amazed that he’d even noticed stepping on it. He picked it up, dusted it off as best he could, and squinted at the barely legible writing it bore. The others crowded around him and read over his shoulder.

“I ned yur help. Meemaw is goned. I ned yu to finded her. Plees help me. I kin gives yu things.

I lives in the woods.

Timm Cranton

The now-ubiquitous scroll shimmered into existence before their eyes:

You have been offered the quest: Laddy, find Timmy!

Risk: Low

Reward: Experience (amount based on performance), admission to second part of quest chain.

Penalty for failure: None

Accept? Yes/No

Niko selected yes, and formed a co-op group with open looting, and then invited Kristius, Arabella, and Lucius to join. Almost immediately, he saw each person’s icon appear in his party lineup.

“‘Niko’s group’ again? Seriously dude, a little imagination would go a long way,” Kristius sighed as they dodged through the crowd. Once they reached a quieter spot, the four shared the quests they’d acquired, and then headed for Mrs Magen’s home to pick up the cloak and satchels she was making for them. Niko knocked on the door when they arrived, and they were all invited in by a broadly smiling Mrs Magen.

“I be havin’ all yer items here fer ya, I hope ye like ’em!” she said, handing Niko a large bundle.

Niko kept one of the satchels, passed one of them over to Arabella, and the third he gave to Kristius, along with a beautifully crafted fur cloak. He looked at Lucius and said, ”Sorry bud, we had these made up before you joined us. We’ll see if we can get one made for you later.” Lucius acknowledged him with a shrug and a smile.

Niko held up the new satchel and said, ”Examine.”

Satchel of weight reduction

Quality: Common

Durability: 20/20

Ability: Will reduce the carried weight of up to two hundred pounds of items placed within by 80 percent.

“Very nice!” Niko grinned at Mrs Magen, who beamed a smile at him in return. As he transferred the contents of his old satchel over to the new one, he took out three of the four minor healing potions he’d bought a couple of days earlier and tossed one to each of the other players, ”Just in case we need them later.”

“Dude! This cloak is awesome!” Kristius exclaimed happily as he whirled around to show it to the others, ”Plus five to armor and ten percent reduction from cold damage. Plus, it looks badass on me!” He tried to peer over his own shoulder as he continued in a more subdued tone, “I hope it doesn’t make my ass look fat, though.” He spun around and stuck his backside out toward Niko, ”What do you think?”

Shaking his head in wonderment, Niko replied, ”What I think is that you’re not right….” He turned to Mrs Magen, ”Ma’am, do you know most of the people that live around here?”

She nodded, “Well, I be supposing I do. Why ya be askin’?”

“We need to find someone named Timm Cranton. Do you know who that is?”

The old lady regarded him with a strange look on her face, ”Aye, I do be knowin’ of the boy, him and his granny Shalee Cranton. Them two be a strange pair fer sure. They be living out to the east in the Darkwood, where them goblins have taken up camp. They have a small hut there in the woods.” She frowned, “What ya be needin’ that boy fer?

Niko showed her the note he’d found, ”Sounds like he needs some help.”

Mrs Magen worried her lower lip between her teeth thoughtfully for a moment, before seeming to make a decision, ”Well young’uns, it mayhap be sounding a mite rude when I say this, but ye might wanna steer clear of them two. Rumor has it that Shalee be a witch, and the boy be her familiar.” She shrugged, “Like I say, them just be the rumors, but….” her voice trailed off pointedly.

“Thanks ma’am, I appreciate the warning. And thank you again for stitching up this fine equipment for us. I hope to see you again soon.”

She took Niko by surprise with a hearty hug, and then she ushered all of them to the door, “You need anything, you come see me. And let me be knowin’ what ye find if you see Shalee.”

Once on the street Niko looked around at his companions, ”What do you guys think? For me, I’m curious about these Crantons, and we were going to grind goblins anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah, sounds good to me,” Krisitus muttered distractedly as he rummaged around in his new satchel. He looked up at Niko, ”Dude, do you have any more of that mutton? I ate all mine.”

Niko’s eyes went wide in disbelief, “You had a week and a day’s worth!” he exclaimed, as he dug some of the dried meat out of his pack for his friend.

Kristius smiled beatifically as he stuffed his mouth full of meaty goodness, ”Yeah, but I’m twice your size, so I go through it twice as fast. And since you’re only half my size, you have two weeks’ worth, so I figured you could spare some.”

Niko folded his arms across his chest and scowled up at the big man. “Wha-at? That doesn’t even make sense! What sort of crazy math is that?”

“Dude, I can’t explain the intricacies of higher level mathematics to a common man such as yourself. You’ll just have to take my word on it,” Kristius responded with a supercilious sniff.

Niko threw his hands in the air in resignation and looked around at the others, ”How about it? You two up for it?”

Arabella and Lucius glanced at each other, grinning, and turned and nodded at Niko in unison.

“Ok then, let’s go see what trouble we can get into.”

The four left the village and travelled along a beaten dirt trail that meandered generally northeast towards a dark line of woods looming in the distance. After a little less than a half-day’s walk they drew near the thickly wooded forest, where the path was enveloped in gloom as it continued in through a dark and narrow gap through the trees. Dense vegetation pushed in close on both sides of the trail, leaving barely enough space for the travelers to press forward in single file.

“Dang, I thought ‘Darkwood’ was just a cliche title, but it really is dark in there,” Arabella said in a hushed tone, ”Kind of gives me the creeps.” Lucius nodded his agreement, eyes wide with apprehension.

“Yeah… that opening where the path goes in kinda looks like big monstrous mouth ready to swallow anyone who gets too close. Like it would just snap shut on you and then chew and grind until you’re nothing but a lifeless pulp, and you’d be screaming in agony the whole time until you croaked. Then again, you might just get swallowed up whole, and end up being slowly digested by acidic juices which gradually liquify your body. Still with the pain and screaming thing, though —”

“Kristius,” Niko said chidingly as he clapped a hand to his forehead.

“Yeah?” Kristius asked, as he scratched his beard and peered at the thicket.

“Please stop talking and take the lead,” Niko growled, ”I’ll follow, Arabella next, and Lucius, you watch our backs.”

Kristius hefted his axe to the ready and led the four along the path into the shadows. They followed a curve in the trail and quickly lost sight of the sunlit meadows behind them. The forest seemed to press in around them, blocking the sun and shrouding everything in a perpetual twilight. They travelled silently along for about a half an hour, feeling a gradually increasing sense of foreboding as they went, which was made worse by a striking absence of any noises other than the crunching of the leaves under their feet.

“Ok, this sucks goat balls!” Kristius exclaimed in a fierce whisper.

“Hey man, remember we have a young lady with us,” Niko admonished quietly.

“Oops, my bad. This sucks goat testicles,” the big man whispered back.

Niko was just about to make a sarcastic retort when he was startled by a sudden loud scream from the underbrush off the right side of the path, which was echoed by an answering scream from the left. Almost as one, mottled green bodies exploded from the brush on both sides of the trail and charged at Kristius with surprising speed. Both of them were green-skinned humanoids about four feet tall, with outsized misshapen heads and large, tattered, floppy ears which tapered to points at the top. They had short but muscular bowed legs which ended in broad, paddle-like feet, and they were wearing nothing more than ragged loincloths around their waists. Their bony arms were overly long for their stocky bodies, easily reaching to their ankles if they were hung down to their sides — although at this moment they were brandishing crude tree-limb clubs over the creatures’ heads. Their beady little eyes were squinted as if from too-bright light, and their noses were barely more than two slits in the middle of their faces. As they rushed at Kristius, howling, their mouths opened so wide it seemed like they nearly bisected their heads, and Niko could see several concentric rows of jagged and stained needle-like teeth.

The pair of them charged at Kristius with single-minded purpose, gibbering and screeching. The fighter brought up his weapon as he turned, and deftly deflected a wildly swung overhand blow with the top of his axe. He spun in place, knocking the first creature’s club harmlessly aside, and then he drove the axe handle sharply backwards into the second attacker’s chest with a loud crunch, sending it stumbling back.

Niko saw his chance, and activated Stone Fist as he ran at the beast Kristius had staggered. He leapt into the air, and as he came down he crooked his right arm and drove the elbow down on the creature’s bony shoulder, dropping it squalling to its hands and knees. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he pivoted on his left foot in a spinning back-kick, driving his right heel into the side of the creature’s head, and sending a spray of black blood and broken teeth spattering across the dirt. The thing dropped face-first to the ground, and he brought his foot up and stomped down hard on the beast’s neck with a sickening crack. He whirled around to help Kristius, but found the big man calmly wiping his axe with the rag from the creature he’d just killed. He turned back to check on Lucius and Arabella, only to discover them staring at him in wide-eyed wonder.

“What?” he asked uncomfortably.

“That was so awesome! You took that thing down with nothing but your hands and feet!” Arabella exclaimed excitedly. Lucius pointed at her and nodded his agreement.

“Hey! What about me? I nearly took this one’s head off in one shot!” Kristius said indignantly.

“Yes, yes, you’re awesome too,” Arabella replied placatingly, with a sarcastic roll of her eyes.

End of combat log:

You have gained 195 experience (150 base plus 30% bonus

Niko was surprised by another pop-up message.

Congratulations: You have gained one rank in Stone Fist

Congratulations: You have gained one rank in Basic Martial Arts

Smiling at the at the added bonuses, Niko looked down at the corpse at his feet and said ”Identify.”

Goblin Grunt

4th level

Special Abilities: Able to see in complete darkness

Special Weakness: Bright light

“Huh. I figured they were probably goblins, but these are the ugliest goblins I’ve ever seen in a game,” Niko said to the others as he reached down to loot the corpse. He received a scraggy ear and three tarnished copper coins. Kristius held up a hand showing the same, before stowing it away in his satchel. Niko nodded brusquely, ”Ok kiddos, line up, same as before.”

The four advanced cautiously along the gloomy dirt track, with the insistent feeling of oppression seeming worse the further they went. They encountered several more packs of goblins, in groups of two or three, all of which they had little trouble dispatching. Lucius finally joined the fight the first time that three of the creatures popped out at them. The mage wove his hands in a few intricate gestures while he intoned a few unintelligible phrases — in a surprisingly deep baritone — which caused a gout of fire to blast from his outspread hands and engulf one of the goblins in eerie flames that stuck to him like pitch. The damage wasn’t enough to kill the creature outright, but the pain caused the goblin to scream and writhe on the ground, forgetting completely about fighting as it frantically tried to douse the flames. Niko and Kristius finished off the other two attackers, and then put the third one out of his misery.

“That’s pretty effective,” Niko said as he gave Lucius an approving nod, “What other spells do you know?”

Lucius took on a downcast expression and shook his head sadly, raising a hand and rubbing his thumb and forefinger together to indicate that the cost of new spells was more than he could currently afford.

Niko clapped him on the shoulder encouragingly, “Stick with us, that’ll change soon enough.” Lucius cheered up immediately and favored him with a big toothy grin.

They gradually made their way deeper into the woods, making short work of the goblin patrols they ran into along the way. Arabella continued to fortify the group with magical blessings, and then healed any wounds the others received during the skirmishes — although there were few enough of those.

A few hours later they stopped for a short break in a small clearing — little more than a wider spot in the trail, really — where they knelt or squatted down to rest while remaining watchful for threats from the surrounding thicket. Niko shared out the last of the dried mutton with the others.

“Seems to me like this is all a little too easy, don’t you think?” Arabella commented as she took a bite of the meat. Her eyes went wide in surprise, ”Wow! This stuff is incredible! Can you get any more of it?”

“No,” Niko replied, eating his own share of the delicacy under discussion, ”But Kristius and I should be able to make some. We have the recipe.”

“Really? Oh please, can I have it?” she pleaded. Lucius, chewing enthusiastically, agreed with a vigorous nod of his head.

Kristius swallowed his last morsel and shook his head solemnly. “Sorry li’l missy, no can do. Top secret family recipe. Protect it with our very lives kinda stuff,” he said, pointing skyward with a look of reverence, ”Sworn to secrecy by powers greater than us.”

Arabella looked skeptical, “What, for a recipe?!?”

“Yeah,” Niko replied, ”although I think there’s more to that than we know. This batch was made without a couple of hard-to-get ingredients… I’m really curious to know what it’s like when it has everything in it.”

“Dude, how much better can it get? I mean, it’s already aw—!” Kristius’ response was abruptly cut off as a blocky green body exploded out of the brush and slammed into his back, knocking him face-first to the ground. Before Niko could move to help, another of the creatures leapt on him from behind, while at the same time yet another one attacked Arabella.

Niko found himself wrestling with a goblin similar to the others they’d been fighting, but somewhat more muscular and notably stronger. Following the impact of the initial attack, they rolled around on the ground, each scrabbling to get an advantage over the other. Niko wound up flat on his back, with the goblin straddling him and its rawboned hands wrapped firmly around his throat. His eyes bulged from the pressure the goblin was applying, he couldn’t breathe, and his health bar slowly began to drop. Niko reached his right hand up over the goblin’s left arm and under its right, getting a firm grip on its wrist, and then pushed up under the goblin’s jaw with his left hand. The monster snarled fiercely and squeezed all the harder, making starbursts erupt in Niko’s vision. He activated Focus Energy and pulled the goblin’s right hand hard to his right, ripping it away from his throat, while at the same time forcing its head up and to the left. Throwing his shoulder into it, Niko rolled the goblin over to the left, ending up on top with the goblin under him. He released its wrist and pressed his forearm down on its throat, while he fumbled desperately at his belt. He managed to free his dagger, and plunged it frantically into the goblin’s chest, over and over, until it finally shuddered and lay still.

He rolled off and quickly up to his feet, just in time to see Kristius, cradling the head of the goblin he’d been fighting between two brawny arms, give a powerful twist of his shoulders. There was a horrible cracking sound, and the monster dropped lifelessly to the ground. Both men turned as one to look at Arabella and Lucius, the pair of which stood wearily over a still-smoldering corpse. Arabella’s arm was mangled and bloody, hanging limply at her side. Lucius supported her with his hands on her shoulders, eyeing her with concern.

End of combat log:

You have gained 273 experience (210 base plus 30% bonus)

Niko heard a soft bell chime in his ears.

Congratulations! You have gained a level! You are now 8th level!

He looked at the bedraggled spellcasters. “You okay?” he asked.

Lucius nodded slowly, then looked pointedly at Arabella and shrugged with a worried expression. She moved her injured arm slightly and winced in pain. ”Yeah, I’ll be alright. That thing caught me by surprise and bit the bejeezus out of me! Lucius dragged it off me and cooked it alive. Regen is already kicking in, I’ll be good soon enough.” She sank uncomfortably to the ground, favoring the damaged arm.

Looking down at one of the corpses, Niko identified it.

Goblin Marauder

5th level

Special ability: Able to see in complete darkness

Special Weakness: Bright Light

“Hmm… bigger, badder brothers of the grunts we’ve been seeing up till now.” He looked musingly at the robes Arabella and Lucius were wearing, “We need to upgrade your armor. Maybe we can find you some chain.” He turned to peer along the path in the direction they’d been traveling, ”I sure hope we find that hut soon. Hoping even more that we didn’t already miss it.” He ran a hand across the top of his head, ”Alright, boys and girls, let’s move.”

They continued following the trail for nearly another hour, fending off packs of ambushing marauders several times along the way. Kristius, on point, would keep a pair of the attackers engaged while Niko and Lucius dealt with the third. Niko developed a leaping, spinning kick maneuver that would knock the goblin to the ground, and then he’d tumble clear so that Lucius could incinerate it with flame blasts. Arabella concentrated mainly on keeping Kristius healed and fighting until the others could get free to help, if needed. By the fifth set of marauders, Niko and Kristius had both heard the chime indicating they’d leveled up.

They kept moving forward, even though the trail eventually deteriorated to a seedy, overgrown lane that meandered between the trees. Niko was just about to suggest that they turn back when Kristius, in the lead, pointed ahead with his axe.

“What the hell is this?”

The rest of the party drew up next to the big man and saw what he was pointing at. The trail widened out into a weed-grown clearing before leading off into a denser and darker part of the woods. In the clearing stood crude wooden posts, one on either side of the trail — with a bloody and broken goblin impaled on each one. Niko felt a cold chill shiver along his spine when one of the goblins opened its eyes, painfully lifted its head, and piteously reached out an arm towards them. Its mouth worked noiselessly.

“Fuck me, they’re still alive,” Kristius said quietly, a look of horror on his face.