Portal Grinding Volume 3 Part 2

John paced patiently behind the sand dune that currently hid their presence from the Lizardman fort. Fort? It was rather small for a fort. More likely one of the outposts. He couldn’t be certain which of the two it was without snooping around some form of higher command’s quarters or a similar administrative space. Elora’s pixies were circling back from their fly by as he gathered his thoughts. Back and forth he paced, each time he passed near Omorfia his grasp on his train of thought slipping further and further. For her part, she was just casually splayed in the sand, hands ever so slowly caressing her curves.

I’m going to bust so many loads in her later. I can’t take this.

“Ready to report at your command, Chief!” Elora saved him from falling into a horny daydream stupor.

“Right. Right… Go ahead, then.” He cleared his throat nonchalantly. Very smooth.

“Closer inspection of the walls has revealed that the bricks used are not at all flush with each other. Furthermore, there are hooks and hoops installed near the highest points of the towers.”

“Perfect, this sounds… Suspiciously easy, honestly. I mean I guess it’s a level two dungeon and I’m level ten, but still. The level one quests were pretty deadly. Getting in will be easy, at least… Who’s to say how difficult it will be to clear. Ugh, I’m just ranting and worrying.”

John looked to Ignis, Calista, and Omorfia.

“You three will be my cavalry. If things go to shit, you’ll hear it. At the sound of any sort of commotion, I’m going to need you to rush in and make a bigger one, understood?”

All three nodded, determination burning in their eyes.

“Great,” he continued. “Elora, you and your pixies will be coming with me. I want you specifically to keep an eye on the orbital situation and relay anything you deem important.”

“Sir!” Elora saluted.

“Aerial Squad Beta will stay in the skies, but I need Aerial Squad Alpha to carry Infantry Squad Alpha close behind me as we infiltrate, only until we get inside.”

“Sir!” The squads in question saluted and began to form up.

“I will carry Infantry Squad Beta on my shoulders along with Elora.”

“Sir!” Infantry Squad Beta lined up behind their general as John knelt and began to help them up.

“I think the ideal infiltration point would be the top of the tallest tower. If we can time it right with the guard rotation, we’ll have a vantage point for the infantry squads to fire from once we subdue the guard stationed there. Hopefully they won’t have to fire, if I can manage to pick off all of the guards silently without the rest of them noticing. That’s the plan I’m running with for now, but you know what they say… no plan survives contact with the enemy.”

The pixies giggled a bit, for the first time with him rather than at him. A welcome development. In less than a minute, the pixies were all in their positions.

I should totally buy cargo pants. And like, those shirts with pockets not only on the breast but on the bicep half of the sleeve. Maximum pixie carrying capacity.

John inhaled deeply, then released the breath slowly as he faced the fort.

“Fuck it, we ball.”

He rushed out from behind the dune that hid the rest of his summons and ducked behind a smaller, closer sand dune. And then rushed out from behind that one and ducked behind an even closer one. He crept closer to the fort, one sand dune at a time, prompted forwards by Elora’s watch of the guard rotation.

This isn’t anywhere near as cool as I was hoping. I totally didn’t realize how far we were, distance is so difficult to judge out in a desert.

After a few minutes of scurrying from dune to dune like a desert rabbit, John made it to the foot of the walls.

They won’t be looking over the edge, only far out into the landscape. I should be good here.

He activated Parkour with a flick of his thought, and the perfect path to the top highlighted itself in his vision. The skill took over and soon he was well over twenty feet off the ground, swinging from handhold to handhold. He hung from a gap in the crenellations at the top of the tower as the guard rotated to face in his direction.

Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Don’t notice my fingers right next to your feet. Don’t notice a whole fucking human dangling from your tower. Don’t notice pixies landing on the windowsill below you. Just keep moving. Just. Keep. Moving.

A tiny pull on John’s earlobe signaled that the Lizardman on guard rotated without incident, and John leapt into action. The infantry units on his shoulders performed tactical rolls as he crested the battlement, landing in readied kneeling positions with their rifles pointed at the Lizardman. Electricity crackled in John’s palm as he readied a Bolt, sprinting the three steps between the guard and where he had just been standing mere seconds ago. He transitioned smoothly into a one handed spring, and readied another Bolt in his other hand as the handspring propelled him upwards to the Lizardman’s head, whereupon he grappled his foe round their neck with his legs and brought the twin spells to bear on each side of their head.

[****!] 200 dmg

The momentum of the entire maneuver brought John and the newly rendered corpse of a Lizardman tumbling to the ground with a solid thump. He disentangled himself from the body and settled into an alert crouch, waiting for Elora to report.

“All clear, Chief, none the wiser,” she whispered.

Okay, that was pretty epic. Parkour is super fucking useful. Thank you, Developer, for letting me have this.

A soft ding! signaled the Developer had something to say as a window popped up in front of John’s face.

Good boy.
+1 pat.

I sure hope that doesn’t awaken anything in me.

John chuckled quietly to himself before refocusing on the task at hand.

“Okay,” he began in a hushed tone, “one tower secure. Infantry squad, cover me as I secure the rest of the towers and walls. If any of my assassinations fail, immediately open fire, understood?”

The infantry squad saluted silently, then took up positions in the gaps of the crenellations overlooking the walls.

“Aerial squad,” he continued, “follow me downstairs. Same deal but in close quarters as we clear the interior of the towers.”

Another silent salute.

Perfect.

John crept towards the trap door that led into the lower levels of the tower. He swung it open as carefully as possible. It slid on silent hinges, revealing a sparse space with a single cushion in the corner where a Lizardman slept. The infantry squad on the windowsill had their sights trained on the creature as they advanced toward the ladder leading up to the roof. John walked on silent feet to the defenseless Lizardman, his hands crackling with electricity.

[****!] 200 dmg

The Lizardman slipped into a permanent slumber.

I’m tapped on mana already… I still have my dagger but I lost my spear and my cloak in the last dungeon run. Speaking of which, I haven’t had the chance to properly think about it but I totally just summoned my dagger out of and back into my inventory with my thoughts in that battle.

As if to prove to himself that it was possible, he did it again. He willed the dagger into his hand, and with a glow of orange mana it manifested.

Okay, cool, great, but this dagger isn’t going to kill a Lizardman in one hit. It might not even get through their scales all that efficiently. I could go for the eyes? Eyes are soft and, uh… close to the brain.

“Elora,” John began, “what are my chances of one-shotting them with a dagger through the eyes, do you think?”

“Slim, Chief.”

“Fuck.”

If I wait here long enough for my mana to recharge, one of the wall patrols could stumble on me or the bodies. That’s a gamble. Frankly, it’s a gamble I’ll have to take. There’s nothing in the quest description that says I have to do this stealthily, it’s just something I thought would be cool. If I get discovered and things go to shit, the rest of my summons are only a few minutes away.

“Watch the orbital,” he decided, “I have to recoup mana. Warn me of movement towards us.”

“You got it, Chief.”

John Meditated until his mana was full again without incident. He stood from his kneeling position and made his way to the door he assumed led to a staircase down deeper into the tower. It was the only door in the room, after all. The door swung open silently, and John gave silent thanks to whoever kept the hinges in such spectacular shape against all sandy gritty odds. He descended slowly and carefully, with the aerial pixies hovering close behind. The stairs continued uninterrupted along the outer edges of the tower all the way down to wall level, where another silent door gave John access to the ramparts.

Elora tugged hard on John’s ear and hissed “Left, two guards, less than a minute away.”

John activated Parkour in a panic, and scrambled up into the rafters.

I have to time this perfectly. I don’t think I’ve tried to chain spells super close to each other yet, but I’ll have to cast four Bolts in quick succession if I want to pack the same amount of lightning into their skulls as it’s been taking to kill them so far.

The Lizardmen ambled into the room as John finished his train of thought, chittering to each other amicably. Electricity crackled to life in his palms yet again as they passed under him. One of them hesitated at the sound, stopping in their tracks and ceasing their conversation.

Shit fuck balls damn fuck fuck fuck NOW, John thought as he dropped from the rafters, arms extended just enough to slap both Lizardmen on the head with his prepared spells. As soon as he felt the impact of their scales on his palm, he tried to cast another pair of Bolts, but the electricity manifested and immediately fizzled with a soft system ding!

20 dmg(L1)
20 dmg(L2)
Insufficient mana! Dual cast failed.

No no no no no no no no! he thought as he sailed past head height on his way to the ground. His feet hit the ground and he immediately activated Sparkbody. Time slowed and he was just barely able to make out the aerial pixies swooping in to attack one of the stunned Lizardmen. He willed his dagger into his hand as he gracefully clambered onto the back of the other Lizardman, and shoved the blade hilt deep into an eye.

[****!] 180 dmg (L1)
[Combo! 40 hits!] 80 dmg (L2)

John whipped the dagger out of his fallen opponent and spun to face the one who still lived. they were reaching for their sword, their maw opening wide to sound an alarm. John, wreathed in red sparks, lunged towards them with intent to stab their eyes out. The Lizardman couldn’t hope to match John’s buffed agility and his knife struck true, the guard’s cry for help reduced to a helpless gurgle before it could truly ring out.

[****!] 100 dmg (L2)

John deactivated Sparkbody as he landed on the ground with a slight stumble.

“Holy fuck, that was intense,” he couldn’t help but wheeze to himself. His heart pounded with adrenaline as he surveyed the two fresh Lizardman corpses he would definitely have to hide if he were to continue his stealth approach. He began to drag them towards the stairwell, his thoughts racing.

Okay, I completely forgot to account for my mana regen between my first two kills; I can only reliably kill one Lizardman with Bolt at a time, and two in not so quick succession. After two I’m tapped out of mana and have to Meditate for a bit to top off on mana again. I can sort of reliably finish off a Lizardman who I’ve already hit with a Bolt with my dagger, but it’s a bit of a gamble… Why did I make this so difficult for myself? I could probably blast them all away with Fireball and be done with this whole clearing business in no time.

John smiled grimly as he tucked the second body into the stairwell.

“Struggle makes success all the sweeter,” he mumbled to himself before clambering upwards and settling comfortably in the rafters to Meditate.