Angry Kobolds and Other Problems

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<Achievement Unlocked!>
Getting Your Feet Wet
You created your first Barrier. Or are you mortals still calling them Protected Spaces? I lose track sometimes. Whatever.
+1 Stat Point
+1 Leather Cuirass
+$50
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John dismissed the achievement window with a huff. It did solve one of his problems, sort of, but he was in no mood to be congratulating himself after making such a rookie mistake. He’d already tried to use Exit Instance, but the parameters he set were preventing him from leaving.

“How am I possibly this stupid?” John groaned.

Feeling the slowly building urge to panic, John ran to the nearest outcropping of rock and crouched within its shadow. It wasn’t much, but at least he had something of a hiding spot while he worked things out.

First things first, he equipped the new armor in his inventory. It replaced his school blazer in an instant. He still had his long sleeved shirt on underneath, which felt ridiculous to him, but otherwise found the armor was a comfortably snug fit. It didn’t seem to restrict his maneuverability at all.

After that, the Achievement reminded him that he had stat points to spend from leveling up. Knowing that he could get instantly stronger took some of the edge off his predicament. He only had six, but then again that would give him double the Strength he started the morning with if he dumped them all at once.

Instead, John pulled up his character sheet and immediately added three points to Agility. If he was going to be running away from things as much as he thought he would be, he’d need it. He did add one point to Strength as well, because without a manual, tutorial, or wiki to reference, he had no idea how damage was calculated. He was less certain about the remaining two.

Libido was right out, and without any spells to cast John didn’t see any point in increasing Intellect or Wisdom. Adding points to Endurance could help keep him alive, at least so he reasoned, but there was also nothing wrong with being a little faster or stronger.

And then there was Charisma.

Entertaining the thought was stupid; he was in the middle of an instance without proper equipment and he had no idea how to fight. He needed every advantage he could find. And yet the allure of being even slightly more charismatic, just a bit more like his father, of actually having a shot at being mildly popular was strong. He always felt gangly and awkward, but now he had a chance to fix that with the press of a button.

Be reasonable, dumbass. You can gain more levels and raise Charisma after you survive this. It’s not like you’re going to charm the Kobolds into submission, focus on combat stats. You can be less of a loser another day.

And so John added two points to his Charisma.

“I really am an idiot,” he sighed.

Reckless self-indulgence set aside, John had nothing left to distract him from trying to survive. If he was going to get out of the barrier with his skin intact, he’d probably have to clear it of enemies, or at least defeat some kind of boss monster. Right on cue, a pop-up appeared to confirm his assumptions.

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<Instance Quest>
Rockscale Rumble

Complete either Objective:
Objective A- Defeat the Black Claw Chieftain
Objective B- Eradicate the Greensmoke Tribe

+300 EXP
1 Uncommon Weapon

Objective A Reward: TakTak Charm
Objective B Reward: Control Collar
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I have no idea what a TakTak charm is, but I’m pretty sure I can guess what the Control Collar does. Either way, I get nothing if I’m dead, so my best bet is to ignore the rewards and aim for the easier quest. So what’s harder, a boss or a whole tribe?

Without any context to work with, it was hard for John to decide. If he could just get a few uses of Observe in, at least he’d be able to make an informed decision.

With that in mind, John stepped out of his hiding place and walked towards what he assumed was an encampment. He’d feel a lot better once he was in the shaded valley, but for the time being he hugged the cliffside wall and approached slowly. Something in his mind flipped, and he became aware that Stealth was active, for all it was worth when this exposed.

It took about 15 minutes before John could creep his way close enough to distinguish distinct body shapes milling about between hide tents and clay hovels. Criss-crossing wooden stakes ran between the walls on either side, providing at least some kind of defense against outsiders. Within, a single bonfire denoted the center of the camp, bathing the entire area in a warm flickering light that cast long shadows up the valley walls. The smoke that rose from it had a subtle green tinge to it, leaving few guesses as to which group of Kobolds he was now watching. Just to be certain, he Observed one of a pair of Kobolds standing guard between an opening in the barricade.

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Greensmoke Guard
Level 2 Kobold Warrior

<Skill Level Up!>
Observe lv. 7
Target summary unlocked
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They’re so weak! I might not be as screwed as I thought I was!

John grinned from his current hiding place. He was crouched behind a rock just past the edge of the valley’s shadow. The Kobolds were half his level, which, granted, was still only two levels below him, but it was a big deal. He might be able to hold off two, maybe even three of them at once if he could find himself a weapon. He could only count several dozen of them as well. If he played his cards right, he could be finished within an hour.

John’s train of thought was interrupted by the warbling blare of a horn and a rush of activity within the camp. Adrenaline shot through him as he assumed he’d been spotted, but continuing to watch showed the Kobolds’ attention was pointed elsewhere. The smaller and unarmed among them rushed into their tents and huts while others poured out, wielding crude spears and bone knives. They ran snarling towards the eastern gateway, where John could now see the cause for alarm.

A hooting, chattering, and screaming company of black scaled Kobolds charged the camp, stirring up a cloud of red dust in their wake. Rather than spears and knives, they brandished hooked sickles and stone hatchets with wild abandon. The gang of marauders fell upon the camp within seconds, plowing through the first two guards as if they hadn’t been there at all.

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Black Claw Raider
Level 3 Kobold Barbarian
A warrior from the Black Claw clan of Kobolds. Known for their aggression and greed in equal parts.
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John watched in fascinated horror as the raiding party poured through the gap and engaged with the Greensmoke defenses. To their credit, the weaker side put up a decent fight, but they were caught by surprise and outmatched. It was all they could do to prevent an all out slaughter. John could not tear his eyes away as one sickle-wielding raider lifted the head of a fallen foe and pulled their weapon brutally through its neck, decapitating him in one motion.

John retched. He ducked behind his rock and tried to tune out the noise of the fighting beyond as he focused on not vomiting. He was well aware that none of this was actually real, and he’d seen plenty of over-the-top gore in games, but witnessing it personally was something else. He had always been in control then, detached, on the other side of a screen. Now he was fully present, and no special effect or game rendering had ever matched the real sight of flesh tearing apart and blood spraying like he’d just witnessed. Worst of all was the fact that, despite this barrier not being real, the threat of exactly that happening to him very much was.

He remained huddled for a short while longer until the cacophony behind him began to die down. When he did finally peek back out, he saw the ground littered with bodies from both sides and soaked in blood. He could see the forms of the withdrawing raiders disappearing to the east, still hollering as they carried the spoils of war home in large sacks. Within the camp a few stragglers continued to fight against the remains of the Greensmoke defenses, one receiving a spear through the gullet as it exited a tent with its haul in tow. It slumped to the ground and revealed to John what exactly its haul was.

The defending warrior knelt to open the wriggling sack that the Black Claw had been dragging, and out burst another Kobold gasping for fresh air. It took only a moment to do so before scrambling back into the clay hut from which it had nearly been taken.

“Son of a bitch…”

John’s anger had only just begun to rise when he noticed a lone raider who had snuck past the Greensmoke barricade, dragging a bound and gagged victim behind him by the tail. Its prey kicked, wiggled, and let out muffled screams as it was pulled across the rocky ground, doing everything it could to give its captor a hard time. The Black Claw barked and snapped in response. It switched from trying to haul its victim behind it with one hand to using both and pulling backwards. Now no longer in the Kobold’s line of sight, John had an opportunity.

He found the nearest, heaviest rock he could lift and struggled his way over to the Kobolds. It was no heroic charge or sneaking approach, more of a frenzied waddle as he fought against the weight in his arms, but John made it undetected all the same. He heaved the rock over his head and nearly lost his balance in doing so, but at that moment he caught the panicked eye of the bound Kobold. Swinging one leg back to steady himself, John screamed and brought the stone crashing down on the black scaled Kobold’s skull.

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<Skill Level Up!>
Stealth Lv. 2
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<New Skill!>
Sneak Attack - Lv. 1
Melee
Attack a target while it is unaware of the user, increasing damage by 50%.
This skill may only be used once per target per encounter.
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Sneak Attack!
20 damage, crushing
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The stone shattered over his enemy’s crown as John watched the damage numbers fly out of him. He was breathing heavily, veins full of adrenaline, but awash with relief and satisfaction that his plan had worked. The Black Claw lay motionless on the ground beneath him, blood slowly seeping from its head. John gathered his wits and knelt down to help the Greensmoke out from its bindings.

You know, I would have thought I’d get an achievement for my first kill.

Had he a moment longer to process that thought, John might have realized its implications before he felt a sharp pain dig into the back of his neck. A bundle of snarling claws and fangs latched on to him from behind, scraping against his leather armor as much as it did his exposed skin.

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-4 hp
-3 hp
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The numbers flew in front of his face along with shooting stars of pain. John had grown used to receiving a pummeling at school which, while still painful, was a sort of pain that he was accustomed to. He was not at all familiar with the piercing, tearing pain ravaging his back. It was hot, stinging, and made eyes well with tears. He shouted and instinctively reached behind himself to pull the thing off, to stop it from hurting him more. The effort was futile. Without leverage he was instead rewarded with the loss of another
4 hp as the Kobold’s fangs sunk into his hand. He grit his teeth and prepared for his only other idea, then leapt backwards and landed on his spine, hard.

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6 damage, crushing
-4 hp
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The Kobold yowled in pain but refused to stay down. While John tried to recover the wind that had been knocked out of his lungs, it pulled itself free from under him and clambered onto his stomach. He was barely able to react quickly enough to catch the thing’s neck before it could sink its jaws into his exposed throat. It responded with a frenzied clawing at John’s forearms, tearing his sleeves and flesh to shreds alike. He could not help but scream in pain as drops of hot, red blood fell on his face.

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-2 hp
-1 hp
-2 hp
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John watched his HP slowly ticking down and, somewhere behind the pain, knew that he would have to end this sooner rather than later. He could try to **** the thing out, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do so before it tore the tendons in his arm apart. Its claws were wickedly sharp and he had no idea if Gamer’s Body would prevent that sort of thing. Without any other options, he grunted with effort and flung the bundle of clawing fury overhead, behind him.

He didn’t receive any sort of damage notification, but the thud of the Kobold’s impact was followed immediately by a horrific screeching. John rolled onto his stomach to see what had happened and discovered he had tossed the lizard across the threshold of shadow and into the light. Small trails of smoke began to rise from its body as it writhed in pain, frantically clawing closer to the shadows.

“You don’t like the sun, huh?” John asked the creature as he **** himself onto his feet. It responded only with more hissing and screaming.

Thoroughly pissed, John punted the Kobold several feet further into the light. He took some dark satisfaction in watching 6 more HP tick off it as it tumbled to a stop. John took his time stepping over to it, scanning the ground for a new weapon to use. He found it and again lifted a weighty stone over his head. He almost pitied the pathetic form convulsing below him, but not enough to prevent him from bringing the stone down upon it with a sickening crunch.

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**** Foe! Critical Hit!
27 damage, crushing

+30 exp
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<Achievement Unlocked>
Baby’s First Steps
Kill your first Barrier opponent. Maybe try using a weapon next time.

+1 STR
+100 exp
+$100
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“Not in the mood for sass right now, Goddess!”