Chapter 5: The Blame Game

Our badass aura when we left the restaurant quickly went away as we found the remains of the victims but it was strange that there were no monsters to be found near the restaurant. Melissa, Eric and Dianne vomited at the sight of hundreds of bodies and guts lying around the street. Claire and I didn’t even flinch. When the rest of them asked us why we weren’t disturbed by the scene, Claire and I just shrugged.

“This is what will happen to us if we’re weak.” I figured that I should say something to encourage them. Even though I didn’t want to fight monsters myself, at least they should fight monsters for me.

“These monsters.... They don’t deserve mercy. It’s kill or be killed. They only exist for loot and exp.”

My speech was bad I know. However, if I couldn’t motivate them enough to sacrifice their life for me, I should at least appeal to their greed.

After they recover, I instructed Dianne to go ahead of us to scout the area. The four of us crouched and went to the side of the road; we checked every corner before we move as Dianne informs us of what’s in our way.

[Clear!] –Dianne

“Alright, let’s go!” I said.

After doing some sneaking, a blue screen appeared in front of me.

*DING*

You have gained a new skill!

Muffled Steps [Passive] Lvl 1

Effect: Your footsteps would become silent. Each level will decrease noise by 1%. Will not work if wearing [Heavy armor].

Current Bonus: 50% less noise when walking and 10% when running.

I thought my unique skill [Quick Learner] isn’t working properly. I wondered why I didn’t get [Sneak] like Dianne. Is there a special condition to get that skill? And why did I get [Heal] as my default skill instead of fire ball or magic bolt?

“What is it?” Eric asked.

“Nothing…”

The streets were strangely empty and silent as we tread. As soon as Dianne gave us the signal that the road ahead was clear, the rest of us move as quickly and silent as we can. After a few minutes, Dianne finally found something.

[Hold up! I think I saw a monster just up ahead.] –Dianne

[What is it?] –Miguel

[Goblin Scout Lvl. 4 and it has a bow but it’s alone] –Dianne

“Do you think we can beat that? I mean, it’s level 4 and we’re all level 1 except you.” Eric asked me.

“There are five of us and if we work together, we have a great chance.” I said and they nodded.

[Dianne, can you tell us where?]- Miguel

[Yes, the goblin scout is at your 9 o’clock just a block from your position. Wait for my signal then move so it won’t see you coming.] – Dianne.

I didn’t expect Dianne to be this reliable. I didn’t know how she’s doing it but looks like I needed to reassess my thinking about her.

[Good job, Dianne! Stay there and keep an eye for that goblin.]- Miguel

[You got it!] -Dianne.

[Alright guys, here’s what we’re going to do. We move as silent as possible as we approach the goblin scout. On my signal, Melissa, you will use your [Aimed Shot] and try your best to hit it on the head. Claire, after Melissa’s attack you will use your [Charm] then Eric will do the rest.]- Miguel

The four of us hid behind a vendor’s stall and waited for Dianne’s signal to move.

[It is facing the opposite direction. Go!] – Dianne

As soon as we heard the signal, the four of us came out from our hiding place and moved. When we were close enough, I gave them the go signal.

Goblin Scout Lvl. 4

Melissa, as per my instruction, fired her sling shot. Her hand and the slingshot glowed with yellow light as she used [Aimed Shot]. The stone projectile she fired flew fast and hit the head of the unaware goblin scout.

-48 HP Critical Hit!

It was the first time I saw a critical hit. I must say that Melissa’s damage was impressive. The highest damage I’ve ever dealt was 31 when I used [Bash] on the goblin’s head. I wondered why it didn’t crit. The goblin scout was dazed from the sudden attack and faced our direction.

Claire’s eyes glowed pink when she used [Charm] on the goblin scout. We knew it worked when the goblin scout’s facial expression changed from aggressive into passive. I told Claire to continue channelling it when Eric closed the gap.

Target is Charmed!

Eric rushed to the goblin scout while his improvised spear glowed with yellow light. He lunged forward to the goblin with [Power Attack]. The goblin scout made a bloody gurgling sound as Eric’s spear pierced its neck.

-55 HP Critical Hit!

Target Died

What the fuck is this? Two critical hits in a row? All of a sudden I felt like I was most useless person in our party. At least my plan went like clockwork and I gained a level.

*DING*

Level up!

[Guys, I levelled up!] - Eric

[Me too!] – Dianne

[Awesome!] - Melissa

[I think I'm getting the hang of this] - Claire

[Alright guys, let’s loot the goblin and move on...] – Miguel

It looks like my terrible speech worked. Greed is the best motivation after all. They were like children in a candy store as we looted the goblin scout. We used [Observe] on the items it dropped.

*DING*

Goblin’s Short Bow

Attack Damage [Physical] 6-9

Durability: 13/15

Requirements: 10 DEX

A poor quality short bow made by goblins

Iron Arrow X 4

Copper Coin X 21

Silver Coin X 1

Small Mana Stone X 1

Dirty Loin Cloth X 1

Skill level of [Observe] increased by 1

Hmmm. Not bad. Although the short bow was of poor quality, the damage was much higher than the dagger we got earlier. It’s a shame that only 4 arrows dropped. I still didn’t know what a mana stone was but we decided to keep it in case we found its use. The dirty loin cloth smelled horrible and I argued that we shouldn’t keep it because it has no use. Alas, Melissa and Eric insisted that we keep it. We put all the loot inside a bag including the coins and stored it in inventory. We decided that the loot will be distributed later.

“Good job guys. Now, let’s move on...” I said.

The group’s morale was at all time high and they’re all fired up as we killed the first monster as a group. They were too excited to find another monster to kill. After a few minutes, their wish was granted. We found another Goblin Scout.

Goblin Scout Lvl. 4

[Same tactics, same formation... Are you ready guys? On my signal...] - Miguel

This time the Goblin Scout was in a tight space between the two buildings. We waited for the goblin to come out before we strike.

[Go!]

Before the goblin scout noticed us, Melissa fired her sling shot with her skill [Aimed Shot]. Her attack missed the head but it hit the goblin on its back.

-29 HP

The goblin scout flinched and turned to us. It readied its bow but before it could release the arrow, Claire already channeled her [Charm].

Target is Charmed!

Using this as an opportunity, Eric lunged his spear using [Power Attack] to the goblin scout. The spear pierced its torso as Eric took the spear downwards to pin the goblin down.

-27 HP

Claire charged and plunged her spear towards the pinned goblin. She and Eric continued to stab the pinned goblin until it died.

-18 HP

-20 HP

-21 HP

Target Died

After the goblin scout died, we proceeded to loot its corpse. We found almost the same drop except that it didn't drop a Silver Coin and a small mana stone.

Our party moved on to the next goblin and repeated the same tactic and formation. For hours, we killed 12 more goblins. The last goblin scout we killed hit Eric with its arrow. Eric tried to catch the arrow with his improvised shield like he did on the other goblins but the arrow landed on his stomach. We managed to kill it before it could launch another arrow.

After we removed the arrow from Eric, I used [Heal] to recover his HP. He cried in pain for a moment but he calmed down as I sealed the wound. I told Dianne to regroup and we decided to take a break for a few minutes to recover our MP and SP. We also levelled up three more times and all of us were one level higher than a Goblin Scout except for me. I’m already level 6 going to level 7.

“Are you okay, Eric?” Melissa asked.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Eric panted. “Good thing we have Miguel as our healer. Thanks man...”

“You’re welcome.” I said.

“I think we should try to kill that group of goblin we saw.”

“That’s a bad idea, Claire. We could barely manage to kill one. We should wait until I got an offensive AOE Skills.”

“AOE?” Claire asked.

“It means area of effect. Any skill that can hit multiple enemies at once.” I replied.

“I agree with Claire. We can do it even without AOE skills. Besides, we have you as a healer and I can take hits. Nothing can go wrong.” Eric said as he unintentionally planted a flag.

“No... Anything that can go wrong. Just one mistake and it could mean our death.” My death in particular. Shit. I planted my own death flag.

“Come on. Eric is right. We can do this!”

As a leader, your skills are measured on how well you manage your followers and when your followers started to second guess every decision you make, you already failed as a leader.

“I said no...”

“...”

They were silent and I could see defiance in their eyes. Stupidity is a gift from god but one mustn’t misuse it. Sometimes, one can be stupid and arrogant at the same time. Shit. I’m really going to die.

“Come on, let’s go!” Eric said.

As we walked through the streets, Dianne informed us that there were 3 goblins at 10 o’clock just 3 blocks ahead of us. We took a peek as we hid in a corner.

Goblin Archer Lvl. 5

Goblin Archer Lvl. 5

Goblin Spearman Lvl. 6

Oh shit!

[They’re too strong! We can’t do this.] –Miguel

[We can do this! You and Melissa will attack the goblin archer while Dianne would sneak attack the other. Claire and I will take care of the spearman.] – Eric

[Bad idea, Eric...]- Miguel

Before I could protest, Dianne gave us the signal and all of them stood up and recklessly charged at the goblins. I could only shake my head and sigh at their stupidity. I had no choice but to go in to join their recklessness.

Melissa used her [Aimed Shot] at the goblin archer as per Eric’s idiotic plan. The stone hit the goblin archer in its head. The impact was so strong that the goblin tumbled with its face planted on the ground.

-57 HP Critical Hit!

I rushed towards the downed goblin archer and activated my skill [Bash]. I aimed at its head and crushed the goblin archer in one blow.

-48 HP Critical Hit!

Target Died

I didn’t notice that the other goblin archer was already aiming at me. It launched its arrow and the arrow pierced my neck.

-101 HP Critical Hit!

As the pain registered from the attack I sustained, my vision blurred and I lost my footing. At that time when I saw the goblin nocking another arrow to finish me off, I thought that was it. I was going to die. I was stupid enough to join their recklessness and I was going to pay dearly with my life.

Before the arrow was launched, the goblin archer was hit by a stone in its head.

-55 HP Critical Hit!

Suddenly, a dagger slashed the throat of the dazed goblin archer. I didn’t see where it came from but the moment the dagger sliced its neck, the shadow revealed itself. It was Dianne.

-244 HP Critical Hit! Sneak Attack!

Target Died

Meanwhile, as I dropped to the ground. I watched Eric and Claire having a hard time fighting the goblin spearman. The goblin spearman proved to be a strong opponent. Claire’s [Charm] didn’t seem to work pretty well. Eric lunged forward with his spear to attack.

-0 HP Attack Missed!

-0 HP Attack Missed!

Eric’s attack missed as the goblin spearman dodged to its right. Claire also tried to attack but she also missed. The goblin used the moment to counter attack. The spear glowed yellow and the goblin pierced Eric’s torso.

-52 HP

Eric cried in pain as the goblin retracted the spear to launch another strike. Melissa drew her sling shot and used [Aimed Shot]. The shot made the goblin fall on its knee.

-48 HP Critical Attack!

Claire tried to attack and again it missed. The goblin rolled to the side and got up. They faced each other anticipating every movement they make. Dianne used her [Sneak] and stabbed the goblin spearman in its back repeatedly before it could make a move.

-120 HP Sneak Attack!

-30 HP

-31 HP

Target Died!

As the battle ended, Eric and I were wounded but I was at a critical condition. I was trying my best to maintain consciousness. I pulled out the arrow that was stuck in my neck. As much as I wanted to scream in agony, all the sound I made was muffled by a gush of blood.

-30 HP

Debuff: Severe Bleeding

-10 HP

Claire lifted my head in order to prevent me from choking from my own blood. Dianne also rushed to my side and panicked. I focused my mind and with the last ounce of my consciousness, I activated [Heal] on myself. I took me a while to completely heal.

+141 HP

Without saying a word, I got up and went to Eric. Melissa pressed her hand on top of Eric’s chest to prevent bleeding. I took off her hand and used [Heal] on Eric.

+62 HP

“Oh god… Oh shit…” Eric panted.

I wanted to punch them in the face for being reckless. I was furious that I nearly died but now wasn’t the time nor the place to play a blame game. When we thought that everything was over, we heard a loud roar.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWRRRRRR!!!”

“W-what is that?!” Dianne screamed in fear.

All of us were frozen in fear; the sound of the unknown monster’s footsteps became louder and louder as it approached close. A gigantic figure appeared in front of us. Its skin was yellowish in color and small muscles bulged in its body. Although it was thin for its height of about 8 feet tall, it has a menacing look that can make a grown man pee his pants. I know because I almost peed on mine.

Ogre Youngling Lvl. 18

Just as I feared, it was an ogre from Eric’s story. The creature looked at us and charged. We quickly got up and dodged. Dianne was sent flying by the charge attack of the ogre and she landed on her back unconscious.

-122 HP

“Dianne!!!!” Claire shouted as tears gushed on her face.

After the ogre recovered, the ogre charged straight to us and we barely managed to dodge. Its head crashed on the wall and was stunned momentarily.

-21 HP

All of us were panicking at the sight of a fallen comrade and a ferocious monster. I breathed out deeply as I calmed my mind. I tried my best to analyse the situation and came up with a plan.

I remembered the time when Eric and I were playing MMOs. There was this thing in monster’s AI, we call aggro. Aggro is slang for aggression. If you get close enough to a monster, it will attack you. We gamers called this as ‘pulling aggro’. Sometimes, monsters change target whenever someone deals high damage. That’s why in every party, a tanker is a must to manage a monster’s aggro in a form of skill that pulls aggro.

There were times when Eric and I couldn’t find a tanker in our party so we resort to another technique of killing strong monsters without a tanker. Kiting is basically a hit and run technique and it only works on monsters who attack in melee. Eric would attack a monster to pull its aggro and run then I will attack the monster so it will change its attention to me. After that, I would run and Eric would pull its aggro. Rinse and repeat. It was time consuming but effective nonetheless.

“Guys get up! Get up! We can do this!” I shouted. The truth was I didn’t really know if we can but it was definitely worth trying than die not doing anything.

The others hesitated but I forced them to get up.

“I’ll grab its attention and make it charge. Melissa, on my signal, you will use your [Aimed Shot] and try to aim for its head. Claire, before the ogre charge to Melissa, you will use [Charm] and if you must spend all your MP, spend it all and Eric use your [Power attack] on my signal. Try to aim for its eyes. After that, unleash hell.”

They nodded as their eyes filled with renewed courage. I ran to towards the stunned ogre and used [Bash] and aimed for its knee. I planned to break its knee so kiting would be easier.

-29 HP

Obviously, its knee didn’t break and the ogre screamed in rage and charged towards me. I ran as fast as I could and let the ogre chase me past the others. As I nearly reached the wall, I could hear the ogre’s loud steps coming towards me. I jumped to my left and the ogre crashed his head on the wall. Thankfully, the ogre couldn’t stop its inertia in time.

-21 HP

Again, I used [Bash] on its knee. The stunned ogre budged a little from my attack as it swiped its arm. It hit me squarely on my chest and sent me flying.

-30 HP

-40 HP

“Now, Melissa!” I shouted as I coughed blood.

Melissa fired off her sling shot and the stone hit the ogre in its head. The ogre flinched on the impact but it didn’t do enough damage to pull off its attention.

-52 HP Critical Hit!

“Again!”

Melissa fired off another shot and now, the ogre’s attention was completely focused to her.

-51 HP Critical Hit!

“Claire! Do it now!”

Before the ogre could charge, Claire used [Charm] to the ogre. Her eyes glowed bright pink as she spent all her MP to her skill. The ogre, on the other hand, was mesmerized by her and stopped from moving.

Target is Charmed!

“Eric! Do it!”

“YAHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Eric charged fiercely and plunged his spear to the creature’s eye.

-56 HP Critical Hit!

Target is Blinded!

The creature roared fiercely in agony as it covered its eye with its hands. I took this perfect opportunity and used [Bash] on its knee. A loud crack can be heard as my steel pipe broke its knee. The ogre fell to the ground as it thrashed desperately.

-28 HP

Target is Crippled!

“All of you! Attack!” I shouted.

Melissa fired off one more [Aimed Shot] on its head while Eric, Claire and I attacked the downed ogre repeatedly until it died.

-58 HP Critical Hit!

-35 HP

-32 HP

Target is Bleeding!

-34 HP

-2 HP

-42 HP Critical Hit!

Target Died!

*DING*

For successfully killing a monster more than 10 levels above your level, the SYSTEM rewarded the ‘Boston Tea Party’ with the following:

Reward(s):

+2 all attributes

+5 Gold Coins (For each party member)

Level up!

Level up!

Level up!

Level up!

Attribute(s) Gained:

+1 STR

+1 AGI

+5 HP

“We did it…” Eric said.

“Oh my god…” Melissa bursts into tears.

I stood up and went to Dianne’s unconscious body. Claire was beside her as I checked Dianne’s pulse and placed my ear near her chest. I wasn’t sure if she was still alive as I couldn’t hear her breathing nor her heart beat. I opened the Party Screen to check everyone’s status.

Boston Tea PartyEXP Sharing:Equal SharingParty Members:Status:Health points, Stamina points, Mana points:Miguel Arevalo Lvl. 10 (Leader)Tired -10% EXP gainHP: 115/180 SP: 22/90 MP: 275/405Eric Reyes Lvl. 8NormalHP: 190/190 SP: 71/190 MP: 170/170Claire Roque Lvl. 8Tired -10% EXP gainHP: 140/140 SP: 102/170 MP: 41/240Dianne Duria Lvl. 8Injured (Unconscious)HP: 28/150 SP:51/340 MP: 115/115Melissa Panis Lvl. 8NormalHP: 140/140 SP: 21/200 MP: 165/165

I immediately used [Heal] to Dianne and cracking sound could be heard as the broken bones formed and realigned.

+122 HP

As soon as her HP recovered to full health, I checked her status and it was back to normal. I also used [Heal] to myself to heal my injuries.

+65 HP

Skill Level of [Heal] increased by 1

As Dianne began to gain consciousness, Claire immediately embraced her. Dianne returned her embrace tightly as they cried. [Heal] was really amazing. One minute you’re at death’s door and a minute later, you’re as healthy as a troll. I wonder if there are trolls. I hope we won’t encounter one. Shit. I shouldn’t have planted that flag.

“The sun’s already setting.” It was me who broke the silence.

“We need to secure that place before it gets dark.” I pointed at the building across the road.

It was a hardware store and I wanted to see if we can get something useful from it. I know that I nearly died earlier and I should tell you that I was as disturbed as them. Probably more but I try to keep my cool and think carefully of our next move.

Before we entered the building, Dianne and I made sure to loot all the monsters we’ve slain including the ogre. Meanwhile, Eric, Melissa and Claire looked for monsters inside the building and found none.

We entered the building and the interiors were bigger than I expected. We found a treasure trove of tools, building materials and other things that we can definitely put to good use. Using the hammer and nails from the toolbox, Eric and I barricaded the door with planks of wood we found. You’ll never know who’ll be knocking at your door. Paranoia’s a bitch.

Melissa took out the super kalan and her cooking utensils. She looked grim as she reheated the pasta we ate last night.

No one was in the mood to do anything. We all stared silently at the fire as we waited for our food. I figured that I should say something as a ‘leader’ because the last thing I need is traumatized companions. This was a good chance to solidify my position in our group plus if they get reckless again, I can use what happened as an argument: ‘Remember when we fought the ogre?’ and that will shut them up.

“I’m sorry guys… I was reckless…” Eric said before I could make my speech. “If I listened to Miguel, this wouldn’t happen to us…”

Oh Eric, I’m flattered. I was going to blame you for everything but I guess there’s no need. I should follow up his speech by ‘I was reckless too blah blah blah so it’s my fault too or something’. That should increase my standing in our merry band.

“Eric, we were reckless too… I was reckless.” I said to them. “We got careless because we became too confident. We forgot the fact that we’re still in the real world. Sure, the rules have changed similar to a game but the fact that we can die is very real. The danger is real.”

Their eyes looked at me with guilt. They didn’t say anything and turned their heads down. At least they knew that it was really their fault.

“We shouldn’t blame each other now. All we can do now is to move on… as a team.” I emphasized on the word ‘team’ so they would listen to me the next time they would do something stupid. Their heads began to look up as I gave them a little push further.

“I want you to forgive yourselves. Let it serve as a lesson for all of us. What happened earlier was inevitable. Whether we’re careful or not that shit will still happen. All we can do is to prepare for it and do our best as a team.”

As soon as I said that, they looked at me and their eyes were filled with determination. At least that’s what I think. Time to make the clichéd ‘are you with me’ line.

“Are you with me?” I said as I stretched my hand in front of them. I wanted to do a ‘fight team fight’ cliché like in the sports drama movies.

They put their hands on top of my hand. They looked more determined than ever.

“Go! Boston Tea Party!” I said.

“Boston Tea Party!” We shouted.

Author's Note:

Let me know what you think. I need suggestions for skill names. its effect and how to get them by doing it. Not a too OP skill I hope. The truth is I'm running out of ideas. It's harder than I thought.