Necromancer

A Royal Road Fan Fiction

By: Halosty

Chapter 34

The location with the goblin boss was very disadvantageous for players. There was a flat area for players to stand, with a drop on one side and cliffs going up the other. This made it so that players could be shot at by goblin archers who arrived as reinforcements, as well as be knocked off the edge by the boss or other goblins if they weren’t careful. Still, the strategy of the boss was well known, so the fight was winnable.

First the boss, a tall goblin known as the Goblin Lord, would come out with a spear and shield. He would attack players and try to knock them off the edge if the opportunity presented itself. After taking a certain amount of damage, he would escape either up or down, climbing on the sheer cliffs. If any players wandered over the edge to attack him when he was down on the cliffside, they got pulled over. He was momentarily open when climbing to higher ground, but it was hard to take advantage of because reinforcements arrived at this point, smaller spearmen and some archers.

Eventually, the Goblin Lord would come back out with throwing daggers, and attack from the top of the cliff or near the edge of the area where players could stand. After a certain amount of time, he alternated to his spear-wielding form again, and also summoned more reinforcements. This continued until his defeat. It was important for players to conserve mana if they could.

After hearing the explanation and preparing a strategy, Quietus and the party moved in. Angelo moved in first to draw the attention of the Goblin Lord, while Ruby and Maratis provided buffs. Nilrem conserved his enemy for when he would be needed. Quietus moved around behind the boss who was stabbing at Angelo. He quickly used Snakebite to apply his most potent poison. There was no better time to use it than on a boss.

Angelo did a good job of keeping to boss focused, so it wasn’t long before the boss moved on to the next stage. Nilrem fired lightning at the goblin archers who had just arrived. Angelo turned to fight the new goblin spearmen who swarmed in. They weren’t very strong, but Angelo couldn’t fight all of them at once. One of them moved towards Ruby, and Quietus was going to go help, but then she kicked it in the face. It appeared the bard could take care of herself… at least against one goblin. Quietus moved towards the goblins attacking Angelo, and started whittling down their health. He found it significantly helped his mana regeneration if he got bleeding or poison effects on as many different monsters as he could. Then he helped finish the goblins off one at a time.

About this time, the Goblin Lord showed up with throwing daggers. Angelo easily blocked, and Ruby and surprisingly Maratis managed to dodge. Unfortunately, Nilrem wasn’t quite quick enough. Quietus also got hit, but it was just a scratch.

You have been poisoned!

Health will slowly decrease

A poisonous scratch, apparently. It wasn’t a strong one though. The effect was almost negligible after applying the effect of his Poison Resistance skill. Nilrem’s health was decreasing steadily, so Maratis healed him and purified him of poison. Nilrem managed to get his bearings, and started firing some powerful bolts of lightning at the boss. After a few more volleys of daggers, it retreated.

Soon it came back with a spear and shield again, and jumped down from above. The party all managed to avoid the attack by jumping away in various directions, but Quietus ended up at the edge of the precipice. The Goblin Lord saw this and charged towards him. However, Quietus didn’t move to dodge. The party saw a spear stab towards him, through him… but the Goblin Lord didn’t stop. Instead, he continued over the edge.

With their new perspective, the rest of the party could see that Quietus hadn’t actually been stabbed. He’d crouched down and allowed the spear to go overhead. They could see his arms outstretched, having just pulled on the Goblin Lord’s spear to send him over the edge.

“Well, that wasn’t so bad,” Quietus said. “Say, did you know there are actually two Goblin Lords?”

“What?”

“Watch up there.” Quietus pointed to the top of the cliff. Up at the top stood the Goblin Lord, armed with his throwing knives.

The rest of the party was still shocked at what had happened, and wasn’t ready for the next attacks, most of which were aimed at Maratis. The loss of the healer would be a huge blow to the party. However, Maratis didn’t get hit.

“You should really pay attention,” Quietus said from in front of Maratis. “That could kill you.” Quietus had no less than five throwing daggers sticking out of his front, and was glowing red. “That goblin is really in an inconvenient position… Spectral Hand!”

Quietus used his Spectral Hand ability with both hands, and tugged at the ankles of the Goblin Lord. Apparently, it hadn’t watched his previous battles. It tumbled down the cliff to within easy striking distance of Angelo and the rest of the party.

“Listen, guys. I’m gonna have to ask you to save me some loot. Don’t forget the stuff that fell down the cliff.”

It turned out that the poison was much more significant with five fully applied doses, along with the damage from the daggers themselves.

You have died!

You are forbidden to log in for 21 hours and 30 minutes (85 hours in Royal Road)

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This time, the miner was more terrified than any of the others. He had more to lose than the others, with a wife and children outside the mine. They barely had enough money to survive, and without him they would be in trouble.

Even while dreaming, Mortimer felt uneasy. He could understand fear of death, but he didn’t really understand what this miner was feeling. He was the first one who had feared not for himself, but for others who weren’t even in danger. It just didn’t make sense.

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After he woke up, he thought about the dreams. He would really have to get around to doing something about them. Well, it could wait until he logged back in.

Mortimer got out of the capsule and stretched. He would have to thank Master Valarao for teaching him that excellent throw. Of course, it was much more useful next to a giant cliff, but it would likely be useful in other situations too. It definitely helped him in combat to have some basic techniques down. Master Valarao wouldn’t allow himself to get hit, but the training program also had dummies that could be programmed to follow specific movement patterns, allowing for proper practice of some abilities that couldn’t be safely practiced outside of virtual reality.

Mortimer decided it would be a good time for a snack. He’d rushed through dinner to get on Royal Road sooner, and he was hungry. He’d been eating a lot more lately, with all the exercise he’d been getting. After he was almost finished, Angela came into the room where he was eating.

“Too bad you died, huh, Mortimer?”

“It doesn’t really matter. I leveled up some skills, so it worked out. Get anything good?”

“I got a shield, and we found some boots for you. After we left the dungeon and walked to where the first Goblin Lord fell. How did you know there were two?”

“The dagger throwing one wasn’t bleeding or poisoned. His health only went down when Nilrem was hitting him. Of course, I wasn’t sure then. I only really knew when I saw him after throwing the other one over the edge.”

“Yeah, I’m surprised you didn’t die from that.”

“Well, most people probably don’t try it. They’re worried about losing experience if they mess up.”

“Or maybe they’re just not stupid.”

“Hah! Maybe.”

“What was that you pulled the other one down with?”

“Spectral Hand. I use it to disarm traps at range, if I need to.”

“Man, that’s the weirdest rogue skill ever.”

“Well, I got it from a special quest.”

“Oh yeah? Get any other tricks?”

“Some, but they’re all classified.” Mortimer smiled.

“Pfft, fine. Be secretive. Will you join us for dungeons again some other time?”

“Well, if it’s convenient. It’s really different from playing solo. I don’t know if I like being around people that much.”

“You could use the socialization though. Maybe you’ll make some friends once the semester starts up.”

“Maybe.” Mortimer didn’t particularly care. He was fine without friends. It made it easier to do whatever you felt like when no one else was around to restrict you.

End Chapter 34

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