We were two flights up before I realized I’d never opened the white loot box I received from that first goblin. I almost stopped and did so right there in the hallway, but ultimately decided to leave it. The odds of the box containing anything besides worn and broken equipment were low, and besides, I was eager to get this whole attack business over with.
Even though I’d agreed for Prometheus’s sake, I still wasn’t happy about this. Nor had I come to terms yet with the changes the system appeared to have made to me. All the strange knowledge flooding my mind was a constant reminder of this fact.
So instead, I focused on what lay ahead and above us. This apartment complex was six stories, but Prometheus explained that there was another stairwell on the top floor that led to the roof. That was our destination.
I padded along, thinking about to how best accomplish what Prometheus wanted. Though he couldn’t provide an exact count of the remaining goblins, the word ‘horde’ implied a lot.
Perhaps it would be best to focus on smaller goals first. I still had the quest that had led me here. I pulled up my list.
-Quests-
The Grand Adventure — Part 1
Goblin Raiders
Vengeance (Shared)
Huh. There was one I’d never seen before. Ignoring my original reason for coming here, I pulled up the details for this new quest.
Vengeance (Shared)
Warning: This is a shared quest that has already begun. Details are hidden except for the user(s) that originally received it.
Task: Avenge user (Prometheus)’s fallen party members
Time limit: None
Reward: 1,000 XP
[Uh, Prometheus? I’ve got a quest that says it’s shared?]
[Yes, yes. I have two of those as well, thanks to you.]
I dismissed the menu and glanced back at the rat. [Are my two missing their detail information?]
[Just a moment.] I saw the rat’s eyes glaze over. A second later he was back. [Quite strange. I wonder what the reason for that is?]
[Beats me. Anything I need to know about your quest?]
[That’s...] Prometheus trailed off. [What about your goblin quest? What sort of animal are we recovering?]
[It’s actually not. Well, not an animal anymore. It was a rack of ribs, I think. Some big chunk of meat.]
My mouth started watering at the thought. It hadn’t been that many hours since the goblin made off with my prize. Might be it was still good, assuming I could find it before the meat made its way into some monster’s stomach...
[A chunk of meat. Quite strange.] Prometheus seemed to lapse into thought.
Recalling my original purpose, I pulled up the description of the quest and went over it again.
Goblin Raiders
Those pesky goblins are at it again, raiding the peasant’s village and stealing from the local farmers. This time they’ve made off with a prize-winning lamb. Sally forth after them and reclaim the animal in the name of the village!
Task: Retrieve stolen animal
Time limit: 20 hours
Reward: 1,000 XP, Yellow Quality Loot Box
Wait, only twenty hours left? Had I seriously spent the last four sorting through equipment with Prometheus? Then again, it did take a while to tail the goblin here in the first place, plus, who knows how long I was unconscious from my fall...
Not that it mattered. I intended to claim that prize—and my meat!—well before the timer expired.
We reached the top of the stairwell. From there, Prometheus led us down a deteriorating hallway to another stairwell separate from the first. At one point we had to leap over a sizeable hole in the floor, but it was nothing I hadn’t handled before. Beyond that lay a partially open door leading to the path up.
I paused in the process of nosing the door wider. [Is this the only path onto the roof?]
[Yep.] the little rat nodded. [I suppose you could try to jump to the nearby buildings if you got a running start, but there’s no other way to get up here that I know of.]
[Hmm.] I sat on my haunches and thought for a moment.
[Something wrong?] Prometheus asked.
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[The description of these goblins said they were clever. If that’s the case, I would expect them to leave a guard posted by their only path in or out. If not here, then certainly by the door above.]
[Ooh, good point.] Prometheus hopped down and scurried through the crack. [Let me do some scouting. I’ll be right back.]
He was only gone a moment before he came scurrying back. [You were right! Goblins, two of them standing on either side of the door above. They seem kind of distracted though, so we might be able to sneak closer before they notice us.]
[Then that’s what we’ll do.] Once the rat was back between my ears, I carefully nosed the door open, tensing for it to creak loudly and give away our position. Luckily, it swung open on silent hinges, and then I was through, body low to the ground, creeping with as much care as a dog my size possessed.
My paws padded silently up the steps, which came to a small landing before switching direction and continuing up again. If this was anything like the previous stairwell, the next door should be waiting there for us.
I peered carefully around the edge of the landing and up. Sure enough, two goblins stood near the top of the stairs, leaning heavily on wooden spears. One of them was in the middle of an enormous yawn, the other idly picking his nose. I quickly withdrew my head.
[Alright, I’m going to attempt to stun them.]
[Okay,] Prometheus said, tightening his grip on my fur. I braced, then launched myself around the corner and up the stairs.
The goblin picking his nose saw me and let out a startled warble. Before it could even finish, my stun beam hit it in the forehead and it toppled over backwards, finger still pointing towards its brain. The other followed suit a moment later.
I leapt the remaining steps and landed on the platform. The door to the roof was still closed. We were safe for the moment.
Turning, a Claw Slash finished off one of the goblins, while Prometheus’s blade ended the second. A few notifications later, and I was two cores and two hundred experience richer.
[Should we do anything about the bodies?] My companion asked as he joined me. I glanced about at the blood pooling on the stairway landing and splattered against the doors and walls.
[If these two are discovered, we’re already in trouble. Now, let’s take a look outside.]
I immediately encountered a problem: the door had a handle that required pressing down a small square while simultaneously pulling on a lever. With my teeth I could manage the latter, but there didn’t seem to be any way to accomplish both at once.
Luckily, Prometheus was on hand to help. He simply clung to the square, pulling it down with his own bodyweight, while I pulled the door open.
The moment it was more than a crack wide, I released the handle and slipped my nose in to keep it from closing again. Prometheus dropped onto my head, and together we peeked out.
Soon as I did, my vision was assaulted by notifications. I was so startled I almost let the door close.
Goblins (Basic)
Level 4
Goblins (Basic)
Level 2
Goblins (Basic)
Level 2
Goblins (Basic)
Level 3...
After some concentrating, I managed to dismiss all the messages en mass and finally get a view of the outside world.
The apartment roof looked as if it had once been a place for residents to eat and relax. Tables were placed at regular intervals, though most of these were now broken and graffitied beyond recognition. Several had small groups of goblins sitting around them, eating, laughing, and playing what appeared to be some sort of card game.
Altogether, there were about fifty of the creatures. And those were just the ones I could see.
In between the tables were several crude tents, made from the remains of bedsheets, towels, and whatever else the monsters must have been able to salvage from below. A few bore some sort of company logo on them that I thought might belong to a hotel that I passed on the way here, but I couldn’t be certain.
Lucky for us, none of the goblins seemed to be paying attention to the door, though several warbled and shrieked at each other not five feet from where we were standing.
[Hmm.] Prometheus leaned forward, almost tumbling from his perch. [I think... Yes! There it is! Your missing ‘animal’ as it were.]
He pointed to a long table some twenty feet away, which was heaped with random piles of food so mixed together I could hardly tell what was what. I squinted at it.
[You certain?]
[Of course, I—] He paused. [Right. You can’t see the marker. One of my racial skills is called Pathfinder. It shows me where certain quest objectives are.]
[Huh. Okay.] I still couldn’t make out my rack of meat from here, but if Prometheus said it was on the table, I was willing to trust him. [What about your own quest? Where is the objective for that?]
[See the goblin all the way over there?] He pointed to the far side of the roof. Seated away from the others on an elevated platform was an older-looking goblin, skin wrinkled and hair a bedraggled gray. [That’s the goblin chief.]
[And if we kill him, you get your vengeance?]
[Maybe.] The rat paused, staring at the chief. [It’ll complete the quest, anyway. For my vengeance, all the other goblins need to die, too.]
[Fair enough.] I pulled my nose back and the door closed with a soft shnck.
[So, what’s the plan?]
[I’m still thinking about one.] I considered our options, but most weren’t great. That was a lot of goblins. More than the two of us could take in a straight fight. We needed to try and lure them down the hallway below, where I fight them one or two at a time.
[Tell me about your equipment,] I said, retracing my steps to scout out a good location. [What are our assets?]
[I have my knife, of course. And my cloak also provides a slight illusion charm that helps with evasion...] The rat thought for a moment. [There’s my wand of teleport, my three scrolls of healing, my—]
[Wait, what was that last one?]
[My wand?] He held up a small stick, no more than an inch long. I leaned in and examined it.
Wand of Teleport
Level 7 (+4)
You ever find a rat on a high shelf and wonder to yourself, ‘how the heck did they get up there?’ Well, this little baby is your answer. Capable of teleporting its user to anywhere within visual range, no murin mage is complete without the good ol’ magical escape rope in their back pocket.
Allows user to teleport X number of times equal to their Mind divided by five (currently = 4) to a maximum of 6, after which the wand requires a fifteen-minute cooldown.
[It was a thirty-minute cooldown before I leveled it,] Prometheus noted. [Also, it’s currently fully charged.]
[Can it carry more than just you?] I asked.
[Hmm. Maybe. I’ve never tried!]
[Let’s test it, then.] I pointed my nose towards the end of the hallway. [Teleport us down there.]
I felt Prometheus shift above me. Then a purple light infused us, and when it cleared, I found myself at the end of the hallway!
It was amazing. I’d seen what my own wands could do to my enemies, and how my bracelet could create a convincing illusion, but this was the first time I’d experienced something that felt like true magic. Even the healing power of the cores didn’t compare to this.
[It appears to work!] the rat said excitedly. [Should we use this to teleport into the goblin’s midst? We could sow a bit of destruction, maybe even kill the chief before they realize we’re there.]
[That sounds good for a start,] I said, my tail slowly starting to wag. [But I’ve got something even bigger in mind.]
[Oh? What’s that?]
[Tell me, Prometheus. Exactly how attached are you to this building?]