Chapter 39 – The End

Echoes of sprinting feet reach me as my underlings and I wait for the incoming trio of undead bearing down on us. My Cutpurse scouted ahead and found a cluster of two zombies and a ghoul, and I’m feeling confident that we can bring them down.

The Cutpurse finally turns around the bend in the tunnel, sprinting towards us as fast as he can. Before he reaches my line of Hoodlums however, he dives forward, aiming for the gap between the two half-orcs.

“Here they come!” Cobra says with glee, raising his shortsword threateningly.

As if on cue, the first monster turns around the corner. The feral ghoul is sprinting on all four, its razor-sharp teeth dripping saliva.

“Woah, you’re one ugly motherfucker!” Cobra shouts, taking a step forward.

The ghoul bellows a high-pitched shriek as it succumbs to his taunt. It throws itself forward with reckless abandon, closing the distance between us rapidly. In its blood-crazed fury, the ghoul misses a single wire at ankle height, stretching from one side of the tunnel to the other. As the wire is cut, a wooden flail launches from the roof, impacting the ghoul head-on. The ghoul shrieks in pain as the flail smashes into its face, the pale grey skin shearing off while a single spike pierces its eye.

Ouch. That looks painful. Between the quick pace of the ghoul and the hard impact of the flail, it must have been a critical hit because the ghoul is knocked off balance, slamming into the ground in front of us. Not one to lose out on such an opportunity, Cobra throws himself at the ghoul, sword first.

“Cheap Shot! Fight Dirty!” I shout as I activate my two offensive abilities. My underlings’ weapons glow with power as they charge forwards, meeting the two zombies who just turned the corner head-on. My dwarven Hoodlum takes on the first zombie with the help of my two Cutpurses, while the half-orc twins keep the second zombie occupied. My two Spotters attack all three enemies as soon as they find an opening.

I stand back, carefully eyeing the battle, trying to keep an eye on my underlings’ health bars. The most important contribution I can do is making sure none of their health points fall into critical levels. It’s rough for a moment when one of the half-orcs takes a nasty stab to the neck, but I quickly move forwards and force a health potion down his throat.

The battle is a stalemate for close to half a minute, neither of the sides giving up any ground. Both sides get a few good hits in on the other, but it soon becomes clear that we have the strength in numbers. The zombie fighting my dwarven Hoodlum and the two Cutpurses falls first, the high amount of damage too much for the walking corpse to take. The second zombie dies soon after, the combined attack from nearly all of my underlings overwhelming it.

When only the ghoul is left alive, Cobra shouts a warning.

“Stand back! This little fucker is mine!” He grins while dodging a sideways swipe from the ghoul’s single remaining claw. I nod for my underlings to heed his word and signal for them to circle the ghoul. Normally, I would order them to just pile onto the ghoul to save time and energy by killing it quickly, but I’ve come to know my Lieutenant these past few days, and single combat seems to lift his morale, making it far easier for me to deal with him. I can respect his sentiment, but I’ll make damn sure he won’t die though. Resurrecting him takes a lot of time and money.

I inspect the fighting pair.

[Human Elite Hoodlum - Cobra(9). HP 210/420.]

[Feral Ghoul(13). HP: 130/480.]

Cobra is winning the battle, but his advantage may have faded now that my two active skills have run their course. It doesn’t stop him from grinning from ear to ear though.

The ghoul, panicking from being surrounded, shrieks once more before he lunges at Cobra, desperately trying to take my Lieutenant with him in death. Grinning, Cobra side steps, causing the ghoul to stumble past. He swings his sword from the side and nicks the ghoul’s shoulder. Crying in pain, the ghoul swings on its heel and throws itself once more at Cobra. The sound of metal striking claw echoes through the tunnel as Cobra parries its blow. The ghoul keeps up its frenzy, reckless swinging at its opponent. Cobra jumps deftly from side to side, dodging a few blows while parrying the rest. He takes another gash to his forearm, but he manages to strike the ghoul three times in return.

The pair continues their dance for a little longer until Cobra starts to grow tired. Being up against an undead ghoul who has an endless amount of Stamina, the elite Hoodlum grows slower as his muscles can’t keep up with his actions. Seeing this, the ghoul lunges once more at Cobra, hitting him straight in the chest. Being too tired to react, Cobra takes the blow head-on and the pair slams into the ground. Cobra rolls over, pinning the claw to the ground beneath him, but he can’t do anything to block the ghoul’s teeth which sinks deep into his shoulder.

“Gah! You little bugger!” He shouts in pain, lifting his sword. He points the tip at the ghoul’s head, forcing it forwards until the tip pierces gray flesh. With a wet squelching sound, the blade slides deeper as the ghoul goes stiff. The ghoul’s life fades from its eyes as it finally dies.

Groaning in pain, Cobra pushes the corpse off him, breathing raggedly.

“Hnng… That little fucker was tougher than he looked.” He chuckles with a pained grimace. “Not tough enough though!” He guffaws, coughing twice as he groans in pain.

Shaking my head, I chuckle at his antics. It got close for a moment there, but he still has more than fifty health points left. If he had gone any lower, then I might have intervened. It was a good fight, and the result is even better. I grin.

[Congratulations! You have reached level 10!]

[You have gained 3 free Attribute Points and 1 Skill Point!]

[Cheap Shot has leveled up to Novice 7.]

[Fight Dirty has leveled up to Novice 4.]

Finally! I smile. It’s been three intense days of grinding, but I finally managed to reach this milestone. I’ve hardly had time to rest, but it was all worth it.

My schedule these last three days have been pretty intense. I already know I’m far too underpowered to do anything at the moment, and I need to do whatever I can to catch up to the main player base. Luckily for me, the process is much quicker this time around. Unlike when I played as a Necromancer, I don’t have to carefully select my hunting grounds anymore as these sewers are still a secret to anyone but the Dark Pegasus guild. The best thing is probably that I don’t need to worry too much about running into stray players. The only real threat comes from those two doofus’ Greg and Kevin, but at the speed I’m going, they will hardly catch up.

I know I’ve been fooling around a bit too much. I’ve been constantly blowing off several requests to socialize with Anna just so that I could dedicate all my time to grinding without any interruptions. I’ve been grinding for sixteen hours per day, followed by six hours of crafting while my underlings ran a few easy jobs. I’ve also added in two hours to my schedule to take care of all the necessities like eating, exercise and going to the bathroom. My body is aching all over, but no good results have ever come without pain.

The gains have been pretty good so far. Not only have I gained several skill levels in all of my skills, but I’ve also gained a fair stockpile of gold, common weapons, and alchemy ingredients. I picked up the offensive Fight Dirty skill at level nine, and my experimenting with the use of traps has come a long way. And now, it’s time to get another one. I quickly open up the available thief lord skills I’m able to get.

Available Class Skills

Fight Smart – Increases Evasion by 0,2 Luck + 0,2 * Skill level for 1 minute + 1 second per Skill level. Cooldown: 20 minutes - 5 seconds per Skill level.

Gang Up - Gain increased damage when fighting 3 to 1 by 0,5 Luck + 0,5 * Skill level.

Bail – All troops escape and evade. Evasion increases by 1% * Skill level, Movement speed moving away from enemies increases by 2% * Skill level. Duration 30 seconds + 0,5 seconds per Skill level. Cooldown: 60 min - 15 seconds per Skill level.

Rush – Increases movement speed by 0,2 Luck + 0,2 * Skill level percent for 30 seconds + 0,5 seconds per Skill level.

Cooldown: 20 minutes - 5 seconds per Skill level.

Disarm – Makes Underlings disarm an opponent. Chance of success: 0,5 Luck + 0,2 * Skill level per Underling. Stackable.

Bountiful – Increases yield of successful jobs by 0,5 Luck + 0,5 * Skill level percent.

Incite Crowd – Causes NPC’s to actively distract and obstruct enemies for 0,1 Charisma seconds + 0,1 seconds per Skill level.

Cooldown: 60 minutes - 15 seconds per Skill level.

Cheat Death – Upon taking fatal damage, clear all status effects and turn invulnerable for 0,1 seconds per 0,5 Luck and instantly heal for Luck + 5 * Skill level.

Cooldown: 24 hours - 5 minutes per Skill level.

I’ve already managed to pick up a fair amount of the class skills so far, and the remaining options all look like great additions to my repertoire. I’m particularly eyeing ‘Fight Smart’, ‘Gang Up’, ‘Disarm’, and ‘Cheat Death’ at the moment. The three first ones because they will improve my combat ability by leaps and bounds, and the last because it will be an invaluable ace up my sleeve for the day I bite off more than I can chew. Regardless, I’ve been playing along on my dumb luck so far, and I definitely need to up my participation rating during combat.

I’ve been putting off selecting Cheat Death for too long already, but I have to keep postponing it a little longer. It’s a vital skill for survival, but at level one, it just isn’t that powerful. So far, I’ve hardly faced any enemies in combat that has been in a position to instantly kill me. While surviving a fatal blow is invaluable, it won’t help if the level one skill will leave me too weak to survive a second blow. A blow that would be inevitable if someone managed to attack me to begin with. A second and a half of invisibility won’t save me. I need the skill to level up before I can make full use of it. Grinding it by myself is both pointless and risky, so I need to get hold of a Luck skill book before the skill starts to pay dividends. I really want the skill, but first of all, I need to be able to end a fight before I’m put in danger. Therefore, the smartest thing I can do is to choose the ability that will scale the best in the long run. I select Fight Smart.

Satisfied with my choice, I decide to bring up my acquired class skill list, checking up on the fruits of my hard labour.

Class Skills:

Mentor – Increases Underling experience gains by 5% * Skill level.

Current skill level: Novice 8.

Doppelganger – Instantaneously switch position with an Underling. Range: 1 meter + 0,2 * Skill level. Cooldown: 20 minutes - 5 seconds per Skill level.

Current skill level: Novice 7.

Cheap Shot – Gives Underlings a damage bonus to their first attack in a fight equal to Luck + Skill level for 5 minutes + 5 seconds per Skill level or until the first attack has been made. Cooldown 20 minutes - 5 seconds per Skill level.

Current skill level: Novice 7.

Fight Dirty – Gain attack damage equal to Luck + 0,5 * Skill level for 1 minute + 1 second per Skill level. Cooldown: 20 minutes - 5 seconds per Skill level.

Current skill level: Novice 4.

Fight Smart – Increases Evasion by 0,2 Luck + 0,2 * Skill level for 1 minute + 1 second per Skill level. Cooldown 20 minutes - 5 seconds per Skill level.

Current skill level: Novice 1.

It’s not a bad collection, and I’m turning into quite the powerhouse. The majority of my skills are great for scaling into the late game, but training skills take a long time. That’s the downside of farming monsters far above my level for three days straight. My personal level may shoot up, but it hardly matters if my skill levels can’t catch up. A character is only as good as its skills after all, and if I neglect training my skills, then sooner or later I will hit a wall when doing combat. Being what is basically a one-man army, I need every advantage I can get.

This is also why I’ve been chucking every available attribute point into Luck. Since most of these skills scale off Luck, this is the best way for me to compensate for my lack of levels.

Hunting in the sewers has been fruitful, and I should keep striking while the iron is hot. I need to take a break though. Grinding for three days straight has exhausted me, both mentally and in terms of resources. I’ve pretty much spent every single crafting reagent I bought from Odin, and I’ve already out leveled my own gear. I don’t think I’m quite ready to go on another spending spree quite yet, but I at least have to restock on some materials. Maybe run a job or two. It would be nice to have a change of pace from these blasted tunnels.

Before all that though, I need to look over the latest development among my underlings. Level ten is a milestone for any character, more so for a Thief Lord. This is where the most dramatic changes occur. First and foremost, this is when my underlings graduate from being measly tier-one scrubs into becoming their much more powerful tier two brethren. Yup, it’s underling promotion time!

I open up my full underling tab.

[Human Elite Thug - Cobra(10). Underling. Lieutenant. Fighter. HP 450/450. Infamy Tier 1.]

[Human Cutthroat(10) - T2 Underling. Rogue. HP: 200/200. Infamy Tier 1.]

[Wood Elf Prowler(10) - T2 Underling. Ranged. HP: 160/160. Infamy Tier 1.]

[Dwarf Swindler(10) - T2 Underling. Agent. HP: 160/160. Infamy Tier 0.]

[Dwarf Thug(10) - T2 Underling. Fighter. HP: 300/300. Infamy Tier 1.]

[Dark Elf Poisoner - Underling. Specialist. HP: 160/160. Infamy Tier 1.]

[Halfling Prowler(10) - T2 Underling. Ranged. HP: 160/160. Infamy Tier 1.]

[Half Orc Hoodlum(9) - T1 Underling. Fighter. HP: 280/280. Infamy Tier 1.]

[Half Orc Hoodlum(9) - T1 Underling. Fighter. HP: 280/280. Infamy Tier 1.]

[Gnome Cutpurse(9) - T1 Underling. Rogue. HP: 185/185. Infamy Tier 1.]

[Human Beggar(9) - T1 Underling. Agent. HP: 150/150. Infamy Tier 0.]

Excellent. Almost all of my underlings who reached level ten alongside me have already been promoted. I thank whatever game deity is watching over me that the developers decided to add in the ‘Mentor’ skill because training all these underlings would have been a pain otherwise. It won’t be long until my four remaining underlings will catch up either.

All my underlings will follow a set path of evolution as soon as I reach new milestones. At level ten, my Hoodlums will be promoted into Thugs, the Cutpurses will turn into Cutthroats, my Spotters into Prowlers, and my Beggars into Swindlers. The next milestone I reach will be at level thirty, so I guess I’ll have to get used to their new titles for a while.

Anyway, with the promotion to level two comes a lot of benefits. Not only have they gained fancy new classes, but they have also gained a bunch of new abilities. All my combat-related underlings get a couple of new combat abilities, but the Thugs and Prowlers gain the biggest bonus. They both gain a lesser stealth version, making sneaking around and ambushing our prey a little easier. The ability may not be powerful, and most characters can see through the stealth if they are close enough, but it makes a huge impact nonetheless. I can’t stress enough how much I’ve craved this ability for a while, and now I finally have it. It adds a lot of flexibility to my tactics.

The changes to my Beggars are a little more comprehensive though. On the outside, not much has changed. Even though the new title is a Swindler, the underling gets an ability similar to my Incognito skill. While this weakens their ability to stay completely hidden from prying eyes, it doesn’t come without certain advantages. While they may have a new title and more powerful abilities, most players with a low Perception score will still not see through their ruse. The Swindler will no longer have to be locked into the role as a Beggar, but can now also masquerade as a wandering merchant, a bard, or a craftsman. This will not only make it harder for the Swindlers to be targeted particularly, but their information gathering skills are more powerful, granting me more information on uncovered jobs.

The bonus from my underlings are all powerful, but I can’t help but worry about the road going forward. Level ten is not only a positive milestone for a Thief Lord. While my strength just grew, so does the consequences. Earlier, losing my underlings didn’t cost me anything but losing all the items in their inventory. It’s painful, yes, but as long as the death was to monsters and not players, the loss wouldn’t be too hard to swallow. The items could always be recovered somehow.

Going forward, they will lose far more if they die. After reaching level ten, my underlings will also lose the same amount of levels I do when they die. I can see how me losing five levels would suck, but when my underlings who fight on the frontline also lose five levels if they die? The consequences could be huge! The only upside is that they are unable to drop past level ten, but the loss of levels can easily set me weeks behind. Months at higher levels. This demerit is so severe, it can easily make me cower away from making any rash decisions. Every death will sting, every loss of an underling a setback.

This is the milestone that broke most other Villains. It would have broken more if it wasn’t because the Mentor skill helps save some time if your underlings die. Regardless, this is where the game for a Villain truly begins.

It marks the end of the tutorial.