Rebirth: Rise of the Slave Master

Chapter Seventeen: First Blood

"Start with that one," Theo directed his spear at the unsuspecting monster, and the girl's eyes tracked the tip of the weapon with a single, careful motion.

Like a cat following a laser pointer, she pounced.

Because Theo had no way to cure her, he didn’t let Meatshield start off against the poisonous [Big Bee]. He didn’t think they dropped any food either. While the [Bristle Boar] would probably have the best tasting meat, there was no way to tell how much damage his slave would be able to do to it. Although she could probably rely on her [Blessing of the Stonekin] to beat any of the lower level monsters, it was an ability that could be used only once every 24 hours. It wasn’t worth wasting it. The best target was the agile yet thin-skinned [Sand Lizard].

“Well, it’s not like I have to worry about her dying…” Theo could only sigh as he finally used his [Appraise Humanoid] skill on Meatshield.

[Princess Anastasia Therasa Bolevolo XVII] Lv. 5 Human Elite

HP: 1350/1350

MP: 100/100

What a ridiculous number! 1350 HP was equivalent to a level 13 Player who put every last one of their attribute points into Constitution! It was more than most level 20 tank builds would have, and it wasn’t because of her Elite status either. It wouldn’t be fair if NPCs kept the huge pools of HP they had when they were combat challenges, so the HP was recalculated based on the slave’s attributes. Theo could only come up with one explanation.

Her base Constitution score was simply disgusting. It was no wonder she could take all of those hits back in the Goblin cave and still live. She really was a Meatshield.

Theo didn’t know the exact reason for this, but guessed that it was because of her unique status as a hostage with an HP timer. If the devs had only given her a massive HP attribute, without boosting her Constitution, she would have starved to death before any players managed to reach her.

As for why she ended up being a Princess? That was probably due to an abandoned quest line. A princess from a foreign land masquerading as a merchant’s daughter to escape political turmoil? That was a classic plot hook. He didn’t know why it had been changed, but it was clearly done in a hurry. The shoddy kill plane at the entrance of the Goblin cave was enough proof of that.

Theo actually had the idea to run the quest multiple times to collect a little army of Meatshields, but that would involve teaming up with another player who could still accept the quest. He couldn’t take it again on his own, and it would probably be patched soon, anyway. The devs weren’t slow to fix their bugs, and there was the fact that they were watching him now to consider.

Thankfully, they couldn’t take Meatshield away from him either. Their little forum post was a double-edged sword that condoned his luck and adventurous spirit. As long as it wasn’t anything game breaking, he could count on a little protection from the word of God.

He still had to admit his curiosity over her status as a Bolevolo princess. Theo had dealt with the Bolevolo Empire in his past life, and they were a strict and difficult royal family that ruled with an iron fist. Perhaps it was due to their unique bloodline as the descendents of Gargoyles, but they weren’t well disposed to anyone who wasn’t one of their own. They were notoriously hard to approach or gain favor with, and even Theo didn’t know much about them. He certainly wasn’t aware of any runaway princess they might have, but the Empire was far away and had few dealings with Oasis. They probably thought she was dead, anyway.

“Stupid humie!” Gobthnora shouted at her newest pupil, “Gobbo warrior never backs down! Fight tooth and nail! Kill at all costs!”

Theo decided to ignore the gross inaccuracy of that statement as he inspected Gobthnora’s stats again. The Goblin shaman was far less shocking, but still fairly impressive.

[Shaman Gobthnora] Lv. 9 Goblin Elite

HP: 210/210

MP: 760/760

Although she had lost a lot of her HP and become dangerously fragile in the transition to slavehood, she had a lot of MP and was already able to cast some spells. It meant her Willpower had actually been rather scary compared to his own, and Theo had dodged a bullet by talking her into willingly accepting the brand. If he had tried to force it, he would have most likely died on the spot.

Theo kept watch over the bizarre duo and tried to keep them away from any of the other players. [Sand Lizards] were still giving many of the new players trouble, and while Meatshield wouldn’t necessarily attract any real attention, it was difficult to do anything about Gobthnora’s status as a monster. If anyone tried to take liberties with his property, he wouldn’t have any qualms about sending them to an early grave.

He busied himself by using his [Perception] skill to review the slaves every time it came off cooldown. There wasn’t a reason to waste a minute resting when it could be used to grind up his skill proficiencies.

The princess was currently jumping after the agile reptilian monster, throwing the entire weight of her body behind every strike. Her apparent inability to care for her own wellbeing actually served her well with Gobthnora’s questionable tutelage. That lack of fear allowed her to literally grab on to the monster and begin striking it clumsily with her [Goblin Shortsword]. Although she was eating attack after attack, her HP barely fell at all. It took her nearly five minutes of grueling, awkward combat before she finally managed to get a lucky blow and pierce the beast in the neck.

With a woeful little cry, the [Sand Lizard] collapsed and Meatshield stood up from her first kill. Her appearance was a complete mess when she turned to Theo, as if to receive his opinion on her hunting skills.

He really had to figure out what was wrong with this girl!

“Shoddy. If it weren’t for your ridiculously sturdy body, you’d have died a long time ago,” he said.

Gobthnora nodded along with her master’s judgement, “Brain dead girl is shame to proud Goblin warriors.”

The princess turned and looked at the defeated monster, then back to the blade in her hand. For the second time since Theo met her, she seemed to be contemplating something. After a moment, she squatted down and began carving off awkwardly sized chunks from the [Sand Lizard].

Slave [Princess Anastasia Therasa Bolevolo XVII] has learned a new skill! [Beginner Monster Harvesting] has been added to the slave’s list of skills!

Although it was a pitiful attempt, the girl had actually gained a skill out of it. It might have been that she was close to learning it before Theo enslaved her, or it could have just been due to her overwhelming hunger. This would at least allow Theo to make a bit more money from the low level monsters.

After retrieving a large chunk of the [Sand Lizard]’s flesh, she quickly shoved her petite face into the meat and ravenously tore into it. Theo didn’t know whether to be impressed or horrified by the act, but with her ludicrous Constitution, she was at least unlikely to come down with a case of food poisoning. Like a starving piranha, Meatshield quickly consumed the rest of the corpse and left behind little more than a pile of skin and bones. Her master collected the essence and turned to the nearest monster.

“Again, and this time learn how to dodge its attacks or you won’t get to eat it,” he said.

Gobthnora chuckled eerily as she leaned on her staff, “At least she has the appetite of a proper Gobbo.”

Meatshield only nodded her head and unceremoniously walked up to the next lizard.

Theo didn’t concern himself too much with training the Goblin slave, as she was a spellcaster, which was outside his area of expertise. Although it wouldn’t hurt to teach her how to defend herself in close combat, he was apprehensive about any kind of physical proximity with the sycophantic little menace. It would probably be a necessity in the future, given her class, but he needed to build a sense of distance before that. What’s more, she was already level 9, and couldn’t level up any more until Theo did.

As a Shaman, Gobthnora was considered to be an all-rounder. Her attributes would most likely be distributed fairly evenly, if you ignored the innate penalties a Goblin had to their Strength and Constitution. Her spell list would be quite diverse, with elemental damage spells and healing spells alike, but where the Shaman really shined was its battlefield control. Shamans’ unique spells were mostly for buffing allies and weakening enemies. Theo didn’t know if Gobthnora’s [Goblin War Dance] would affect him or Meatshield, but there was only one way to find out.

“Gobthnora, use your war dance,” Theo issued the command with a stern look.

The Goblin jumped in surprise at the sudden order, her staff clinking loudly as she excitedly turned to stare at him. Her feet shifted uncomfortably, and she seemed to struggle to maintain eye contact for any length of time.

“M-master wishes to see Gobthnora’s dancing… keekeekee… to move her body for master’s pleasure is…”

[Inflict Pain]

-57

He struck her with the spear again.

“KWAK! A-as you wish master,” it only took her a few moments to pick herself up off the ground this time around.

She wasn’t building up a resistance to the skill, was she?

In short order, the Goblin lifted her staff in the air and began hopping up and down with an awkward gait. The chiming of the baubles seemed to ring in time with a rapidly beating heart, and Theo could feel a surge of energy rising through his body. It reminded him of the days spent raiding bosses with his Guild, when he would be under the effects of a dozen different buffs and blessings. He had missed this addictive surge of power.

Slave [Shaman Gobthnora] has used [Goblin War Dance]! All nearby Goblins receive +20% damage; Immunity to Fear. Non-Goblin allies within the area receive half the usual bonus.

Theo wore a thin smile on his face, “Not bad, half is still something,” he thought.

Seeing the smile, Gobthnora seemed to have strange thoughts running through her head and she picked up the pace. Meatshield, who also received the effects of the buff, actually had some noticeable changes. Her rate of attack increased and her movements became fiercer. She actually grabbed onto the [Sand Lizard] and started biting it. While he would have liked to see her using the weapon instead, it did cause Theo to realize something.

“So, she was afraid after all…”

It was understandable. Although she didn’t show it outwardly, or much of anything for that matter, she was still a young woman and a princess at that. Fear of death was a natural human instinct, and it slowed her reaction speed by a few degrees. Whether she was now totally immune to that fear, or just resistant to it, Theo had no way to know. Either way, it was another good thing.

Several hours of tedious grinding passed by in a flash, and Theo only had to chase away a group of thick-headed players one time. Two guys and girl, they were equipped like a warrior, mage, and archer respectively, though they didn’t have any classes yet. He didn’t even have to kill them, himself. After the first arrow struck Gobthnora, she started wailing in anger, before charging up and tossing a [Fireball] spell. It was instant death for the group of low-leveled players, who left behind nothing but a few random essences from their inventories. At least Theo gained a bit of information from the encounter.

He wouldn’t gain any Evil points if the slaves did the killing. Theo wanted to test this out and see if it held true when he was the one giving the order, but there weren’t any other players dumb enough to attack the Goblin after that little display. Gobthorna was already as gleefully Evil as one got, and Theo didn’t think her alignment could go any lower.

Just to be safe, he moved to a more secluded spot and had Meatshield go up against the level 5 monster in the area, the [Carrion Bird]. It was similar to the [Sand Lizard] in terms of agility, but because it could fly, the princess wouldn’t be able to rely on her patented grappling skills to tie it down.

It was better training for her in the long run, and she seemed to prefer the taste of bird meat over lizard. After getting a bite of it, she even seemed to be more enthusiastic about hunting them, though that could have been purely Theo’s imagination.

Gobthnora couldn’t keep up her [Goblin War Dance] all of the time, as it slowly drained her MP, but that was quickly remedied by her firemaking skills. It only took a few minutes of resting in order to completely refill the empty value, and she even showed off her ‘unique’ skills with Goblin cuisine.

“Eyeballs are squishiest part of bird head, for making best sauce. Gizzard chewy and make good on humie breadcrumbs!” she spoke, as Meatshield watched with what Theo could only assume was rapt attention.

With the recovery granted by the [Goblin Campfire] and a full stomach, Theo had the woman engage in one battle after another. He would occasionally critique her movements or reprimand her when she took a blow she should have dodged. It was nearly impossible to get a read on the girl’s emotions, but she would always nod mechanically when Theo asked her if she understood her punishment.

After only a single day of hunting, the slaves had built up something of a rapport. Meatshield would kill the monsters and harvest their meat, while Gobthnora would serve as a coach and portable chef. She seemed to enjoy watching the human woman getting beaten on by monsters, as well. When asked about it, she confirmed that all Goblins enjoyed watching the suffering of others, including other Goblins. It was one of their favorite past-times, and the larger clans even made a macabre play out of torturing friends and victims alike.

“Ahh… Gobthnora longs for the suffer-pits of her homeland!” she cooed nostalgically in her high, screechy voice.

Theo had no interest in asking the Goblin where her homelands were located, unless it was to go there and grind up his skill proficiencies. Somehow, he didn’t think the shaman would take any offense to the idea.

Meatshield successfully acquired both the [Beginner One-Handed Mastery] and the [Dodge] skills, as well as the unexpected [Beginner Unarmed Mastery] from her repeated attempts to bite and grab at the monsters. She could even successfully dodge one out of five attacks from the [Carrion Bird] now, which put her on par with some of the less coordinated players in the game.

Theo had more or less decided what he was going to do with her by now.

It wasn’t until he checked how his skills were coming along that he noticed a blinking light in the corner of his player menu. It was the messenger informing him of a new mail in the inbox. Theo had forgotten he silenced it before his dealings with Old Man Snake Eyes.

He thought maybe Bai was trying to get in touch with him, “That nerd better not be bothering me to brag about his date tomorrow,” Theo mumbled and opened the alert.

Tanya: Hello? :3

Tanya: Are you there?

Tanya: You’re not ignoring me are you? : 0

Tanya: You can’t just ignore me! >: (

Tanya: How dare you? You’re lucky I don’t report you for harassment! >.

Theo somehow felt no further desire to read the piled up messages. He had forgotten about the strange woman in his friends list, and was without a clue as to why she had tried to contact him. He was worried she might ask him to meet up for another beating.

Tanya: Fine!

Tanya: Be like that!

Tanya: I saw that post about you on the forums…

Tanya: First to reach level 10? That was you, right?

Tanya: It couldn’t be anyone else, with the damage you deal.

Tanya: Bullying weaker players… that’s really like you, you know that?

Tanya: You’re really mean!

Tanya: Be glad I don’t let everyone know how mean you are! : P

Was this a punishment for all of the bad karma Theo had acquired in his past life? That was a thing, right? Karma?

Tanya: Also, Slave Master? So you really were that type… scary…

Theo shut the window before he was forced to take his anger out on something. Although they were entirely ignorant of their master’s interactions with the interface, the slaves still noticed the sudden change in his attitude. Each was probably wondering what they must have done to put their master in such a foul mood. Gobthnora didn’t even offer to comfort him with her body, so he must have been giving off a truly menacing aura.

“If I ever see that girl again, she’ll have to rethink her definition of the word scary!” he growled silently.

Turning to his slaves, “Get up, we’re going hunting,” he snapped.

“As you wish, Master!” was Gobthnora’s response.

As usual, Meatshield nodded.