Laying Siege

After nearly getting back to full while they walked, John only had to Meditate a little more while they sat until his mana maxed out.

Amy raised an eyebrow at him as he got up and excitedly asked, “You ready?” She seemed to be eager to invade the village, and considering the growls coming from Ignis, she was growing impatient. She also eliminated the element of surprise.

It was more curious to him that they hadn’t gotten attacked outside of the walls. Why have walls at all if you’re not going to defend them? he thought as he summoned his baseball bat, having a much easier time doing it now than the first time. It was almost second nature. Maybe Agility helps muscle memory form faster… then again, maybe I’m just reading too deep into things.

Amy burst through the door on Ignis’ back, and John sprinted in after them. Breaking down the gate, they discovered a completely barren town. Trees surrounded the village on all sides, and a few were planted inside the walls, fruit at the bottom of the ones within the walls. Patchwork huts made from different kinds of wood littered the town, glassless windows their only decoration on the outside. The only significant building was a stone tower in the middle of town, at least ten stories tall. John guessed it was an abandoned tower of some sort, and they built their village around it, as it looked decrepit. Otherwise, there was nothing of note.

“Where do you think they all went?” John asked, looking all around them. He banished the bat and took out the crossbow, loading it as his eyes scanned the barren town.

“Prolly the tower,” Amy replied, but Ignis didn’t seem to think so. Ignis shifted her gaze around, tentatively sniffing the ground then the air to try to track their enemies.

John had a feeling they were being watched, and Ignis growled as her eyes travelled upwards. John felt eyes on him from every side, and it began to get to him.

Where are they? He began to get paranoid, and his nerves were building up. He bolted around and peered up, catching a goblin looking down at him from the trees surrounding the village.

Achievement Unlocked: The Sixth Sense
Have the awareness to notice that entities are looking at you without seeing them! Not as good as seeing dead people but still pretty handy.

• You now have a stealth indicator which tells you how many entities are currently looking at you (yourself excluded).

“They’re in the trees!” he shouted as the stealth counter appeared in his peripheral vision and displayed forty things looking at him.

“Cry ‘havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war!” a startlingly human voice called, and at once goblins leapt from the trees, a small army assembling themselves on roofs and canopies, firing upon John and Amy with crossbows and slingshots.
John created more cover using Mana Construct, and Amy hid behind Ignis, who immediately turned up the heat, setting her own fur ablaze.

Taking the horn from her belt, Amy blew into it twice, and an ape, more stone than flesh, crashed through the wall.
John marveled at the creature and used Spy on it.

Rocky
Rockback Gorilla, Level 16
Hybrid of a golem and a gorilla, this creature was abandoned by its master and taken in by Amy Tensung. Hates everything but her.
Relationship Score: -200

The creature went on a rampage, stones flying everywhere as shards exploded from its back. This broke John’s cover, and he dove behind Ignis to hide with Amy.

“You seriously named that thing Rocky? That’s so lame.” It should have been the lowest of their priorities, but he had to ask nonetheless.

“Hey, don’t be mean! It’s a triple pun! He’s a rock elemental animal, he’s got a rocky personality, and he’s strong like the boxer,” Amy retorted, though it took her great effort to do so. The focus of having two animals connect to her was clearly weighing on her.

“I’ll help, ugh Rocky, you focus here.” She giggled at his obvious disgust at the name, and he stood up, firing off the crossbow bolt into the head of a goblin, killing it.

Critical Hit!
30 dmg
+35 xp
+$8.23
+1 goblin crossbow
+2 goblin gold coins
+1 goblin copper coin

The crossbow he was using was looking more and more worn down every shot, so he was glad to get another. Just as he had that thought, it broke into pieces in his hand, and an achievement popped up.

Achievement Unlocked: Gear to the Grindstone
Have a piece of equipment break due to excessive usage.

• You may now see the durability of an item by using Observe (or its variants) on it.
• The repair option of Craft costs slightly less.

That was handy, and he used Spy on the second crossbow, learning that it had eighty nine durability out of ninety after shooting once.

Guess these things aren’t built to last. He shot twice more, hitting the same goblin once in the chest then the leg.

20 dmg
15 dmg
+45 xp
+$12.94! (Amulet of Avarice)
+1 goblin platinum coin
+45 goblin copper coins

In return, another goblin nailed him with a slingshot rock directly in the eye. He recoiled, more out of shock than anything else; though Gamer’s Body ensured his vision remained fine, it was a startling feeling. In retaliation, he charged up Mana Bolt for a few moments and shot it at the laughing, guilty goblin, who was reduced to dust.

40 dmg
+50 xp
+$5
+1 goblin slingshot
+3 iron pellets
+1 goblin silver coin

Realizing that standing still and letting the gorilla go berserk wasn’t the best strategy, he jumped up from behind Ignis, the stealth indicator reading eighteen, which meant that him and the gorilla together had significantly thinned the numbers.
The stealth indicator jumped to twenty-two as two goblins rode in on boars, and John charged a bolt in each hand, sidestepping the attack of one and slamming his open palm into the head of the rider, barely missing the other with the bolt.

4 damage
40 damage
+50 xp
+$9.21
+1 goblin shortbow
+3 shortbow arrows
+3 goblin silver coins
+1 goblin copper coin
+1 minor healing potion

“Less than half of them are left; you can probably send the gorilla back home,” John called out, refusing to call the creature by its ridiculous name.

“Already on it,” Amy replied as Rocky burst through the wall once more in a different spot and was gone.
Amy hopped back on Ignis’ back, but the fox whimpered. Amy leapt off, and intense focus crossed her face as the flames on Ignis’ fur dulled.

“Something is wrong with her! It’s like she got sick while we were here! I think she’s poisoned!” Amy said in a panic, moving up to Ignis’ face. Her mental connection to Ignis helped her realize that it was indeed poison that ailed Ignis, and Amy slapped herself for not sensing it sooner. Arrows and pellets continued to rain on them, and John used the rest of his mana to create a cover for Ignis.

“What are we going to do?!” Amy exclaimed, dismayed, as she considered banishing Ignis out of mercy. John instantly remembered the antidote he had gotten from the miniboss.
“I think I have the antidote,” John replied as he used Spy on Ignis.

Ignis
Fire Fox, Level 12
Distant relative of the Kitsune, this fox has all the power of a Kitsune’s hellfire, though none of the divinity. Currently delirious.

He used Spy on the Goblin Virile Poison Antidote, just to make sure that it wouldn’t do more harm than good if it were the wrong type of antidote.

Goblin Virile Poison Antidote
Uncommon Item. A grimy glass vial filled with a light green liquid and topped with a wooden stopper. Cures the delirium and ongoing damage taken from Goblin Virile Poison. Has no other effects and is tasteless.

Well, the worst that I can do is try. He pulled the antidote out of his inventory and got on his knees in front of the fox, who was whimpering and letting out small sparks of fire.

“What’re you waiting for? Go ahead!” Amy ordered. And in a much more hushed tone, stroking the top of Ignis head, she whispered, “you’ll be alright. If not, I’ll unsummon you and get the cure later.”

A small stream of fire from Ignis’ mouth burned John’s hand, but he unwaveringly tipped the antidote into the fox’s mouth nonetheless.

-1 hp!
Some of it evaporated upon contact with her flames, but enough of it went down her throat to get the job done. Ignis’ delirium ceased moments later, along with the coverage of the shelter he had built shattering. Apparently he was correct, as he unlocked an achievement.

Achievement Unlocked: The Sherlock of the Abyss
Deduce a specific status effect by (not so) vague clues given to you by me. You weren’t too dumb! Congrats.
You may now see the status effects of an ally by using Observe (or its variants).

Terrified out of his mind but steeling his resolve, John gave Amy one of the Minor Health Potions and saved one for himself, telling her, “Give this to Ignis when she’s ready to swallow something else.”

Bent Shield of Magic Absorption and Goblin Crossbow in hand, he stood in front of his hurt comrade.

The goblins mindlessly attacked him first, and he held the shield up in front of him, holding the crossbow against his torso and arm to reload it with one hand. Several projectiles grazed him, many hitting the shield which began to look worse and worse for wear.

-4 hp
-3 hp
-10 hp
-7 hp
-1 hp
-2 hp
-6 hp

The main issue seemed to be the second rider, who had a modified crossbow of some sort. It seemed to shoot automatically. He shot at the remaining rider, and this time, his aim rang true as the goblin fell off his boar, hands over his torso.

15 dmg

Wanting to take advantage of this opportunity while the rider was down, John used the small amount of mana he had regenerated to use Move and reload the crossbow. Ignoring the hail of pellets and arrows raining on him, he fired another bolt at the rider, and this time it pierced the goblin’s temple, killing it instantly.

Critical Hit!
30 dmg
+50 xp
+1 Auto-Loading Goblin Crossbow
+$14! (Amulet of Avarice)
+12 goblin gold coins
+42 goblin silver coins
+1 goblin minor healing potion
-5 hp
-2 hp
-15 hp

Following this, he heard a yip from behind him and saw that Ignis was back up, none the worse for wear. A stream of fire erupted from her mouth, killing three goblins in its merciless path.

That left thirteen goblins and two boars, according to John’s stealth indicator. For a moment, it jumped up to sixteen, and the same human voice as before called out, “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of **** but once.” Once the quote was finished, the counter dropped back down to fifteen.

Immediately, a pale white aura washed over the goblins, and their attacks renewed with increased vigor.

“I’ve got to go take care of that voice; it’s definitely buffing the goblins,” John called over to Amy, who nodded in reply, either knowing or guessing the meaning of ‘buff’.

In response, she jumped off Ignis’ back, and Ignis’ fur lit aflame once more. She roared, though all that came out was a louder version of a fox’ yip. How can something so badass still be so cute, John thought as he crouched low and moved behind a few of the houses.

His indicator dropped from fifteen, to six, to three, then none. He crouched low, Stealth helping him to blend in with the grass. Apparently, hiding from such a crowd gave it a massive boost.

Stealth Level 2!

He closed the popup and drank the minor health potion, noticing it restored him to full, but by increased regeneration not immediate health gain. That’s odd, it exponentially increases my regeneration for a moment instead of just giving me the health back.
He crept into the stone tower and noticed that the bottom floor was barren. His stealth indicator remained at zero, so he quietly climbed the stairs to the next level, the human voice declaring as he did so, “And if you wrong us, shall we not ****!?”

The voice was louder and sounded much closer. John briefly worried about Amy, but Ignis was a powerhouse, and he had to hope that, with the reduced numbers, she would be able to take care of them.

He reached the second floor, which was cavernous and lit by opaque blue crystals set into the wall with sconces. The stone bricks of the tower created a creepy ambience in the pale blue light. Looking around, he saw a chest near the entrance, a rope coiled next to it. John was more interested in the chest, which was open and overflowing with rolled up scrolls. Looking around the room, he saw a door which led to a balcony, slightly ajar.

His stealth indicator jumped to one, and he looked around panicked, spotting a small bird resting on a sconce that supported a crystal.

It seemed to have just noticed him and tilted its head curiously, though it made no move to fly or make noise. Not feeling threatened by such a creature, and not wanting to disturb it lest he reveal his position to his enemy, he slipped by it to the chest. He cast Spy on its contents.

Scroll of Amplified Sound
Uncommon item. This scroll has been inscribed with a spell that amplifies sound so that it may be heard for half a mile. Any magical effects that the sound carries are also amplified but have half the range of the amplified sound.

He pocketed all of them, noticing they stacked in his inventory to make twenty five.

He circled the balcony door and, upon getting an angle outside, saw a hooded figure, viewing the ongoing battle. He thought back to when he had first laid eyes on the tower and realized that there had been no balcony then. That meant it either was invisible or something else weird was going on.

Resolving to deal with a problem like that the old fashioned way, he took a crossbow in each hand and silently loaded them with Move.

Leveling each crossbow at the figure’s head, he shot both at once. The bolts sailed through the air… and passed through the man’s head.