I took a few steps back and seated myself on the stairs behind me. I won the duel and my opponent lost not only the battle but his life. I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. I felt oddly disconnected from the fact he had died. Was I desensitised from all the other virtual violence up until now, the fact that I hadn’t killed him with my own body, the lack of a dead body on the floor, or something else entirely? I sat there for a while without coming to any conclusion. I did resign myself to the fact that this was the world I lived in now. With a knot in my stomach, I walked over to where the goblin had died. Whatever happened to him had cleared the entire space of any trace of him. Not even a drop of blood remained. I picked up his dropped backpack and deck box and retreated back into the kitchen.
Sitting there with the looted deck box in hand I realized there hadn’t been one of those victory screens. I checked my coins and experience and they hadn’t changed. Perhaps the deck box and backpack were the only prices for winning. In a way it made sense. Winning a deck box full of cards already seemed like a major boon if I’d also gain more coins and experience on top of it. I observed the deck box to see the effects it had.
Box of the horde
Effect 1: For every four Greenskins you play create an Enrage token.
Effect 2: You can use this token to enrage a creature you control.
The bonus was somewhat similar to my own since it granted one power to a creature compared to my one-power skeleton. The fact that it only required four plays instead of five dead skeletons gave it a slight leg up. But high attacks weren’t a guaranteed success as I had just proven. There was no guaranteed way to deal damage that damage so you could stack it to a hundred and still achieve nothing. It also solidified the fact I had chosen the correct path for the tomb guardian. The block and kill on the goblin brute was a vital point of my win, not to disregard the ring of stone’s effect to nullify a high-power attack like that. I had activated it the moment he only played one card in round three. I had used the second charge in round four. It wouldn’t change anything since every attack was blocked out but I wanted to see if I could activate it while the battles resolved and I was able to activate it on the third fight meaning I could use it to block a specific attack.
Since I shouldn´t ignore the opportunity, I opened up the deck box and pulled out all the cards. I was surprised to see if was only the basic deck of cards. The two enforcers and the brute were upgraded but the rest was just the basic commons. I picked out the brute and added it to my own deck since I currently lacked high-power cards. It was nice that I wouldn’t have to upgrade the cards myself. It also made it more likely that duels wouldn’t grand any experience or coins on a victory. Since I still had five open slots in my main deck, I also included the two upgrade enforcers. All the common cards I put into my own deck box’s storage section.
Doing a quick count, my deck had the zero-cost egg, eleven one-cost, seven two-cost, and two three-cost cards. That gave me a bit over a fifty per cent chance of drawing a one or two cost card. While it could mean a starting hand with no playable creatures I was still confident to draw a decent opening hand but I should keep an eye out on my distribution. In regular card games, you could get away with it since your life points would reset each game but here they retained their value after each fight. Taking a second look at the inside of the goblin’s deck box I was surprised to find another card stashed in the storage part.
Wolf’s fang
Equipment – Beast or Wolf
A creature equipped with this item gains +1 attack.
If that creature is a Wolf it also gains +1 health.
I wondered why the goblin hadn’t equipped it to one of his dire wolves. It wouldn’t have made a difference but leaving out a free upgrade was a bad choice. Not wanting to make the same mistake I eyed the dire wolf cards and thought about adding one to my deck before I realized I had a wolf card in my deck. Pulling out my own deck box, I flipped it open and sifted my deck to find my skeletal wolf. It lacked the Beast tag but it was tagged as a Wolf. There was no resistance as I pushed the cards together and the fang equipped itself to the skeleton turning it from a (1/1) into a (2/2). With all the card business done, I clipped my box back and pulled over the backpack.
The contents of the backpack, unsurprisingly, were an exact copy of my own. He had finished all his ration and had drained the waterskin. The second waterskin was the only positive find in the backpack. I got another pot of water boiling and tossed the new waterskin into it to hopefully boil away anything the goblin’s mouth had left behind. With double the amount of water, I could attempt a further expedition into the wild. I would first need to replenish my own food stores since my rabbit meat was almost gone. I slightly rationed the last of it for dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast. I added food to the top of my mental list of things to do. The only other item on the list was to hunt down those goblins who patrolled the forest. The rain was still going strong outside so I decided to just call it an early night. I packed up all my belongings and retreated back into the captain’s quarters before barricading the door and drifting off to sleep.
I found myself sitting on the wall of the keep looking at the sunrise. I had only slept for a few hours due to the dreams. While I thought I was fine yesterday, my subconscious said otherwise. Hopefully I would come to terms with my reality soon because this was just the first of more deaths to come. The goblin’s final words indicated he was here by choice compared to my forced participation. I took another sip of water as I contemplated my new reality. My self-wallowing was interrupted by the morning notification of a new day starting.
Welcome to a new day.
You recovered (15%) of your life points from a troubled rest.
A new quest has been created for all contestants.
Conquer a settlement.
Objective: Find and conquer a settlement.
Time limit: two days.
Rewards: A deck-themed uncommon card pack (does not replace the normal rewards).
Well, thank you notification for pointing out my troubled rest. A quick check of my life points showed them back at the full twenty despite it. The quest was an interesting addition to the message. It did make me wonder what exactly counted as a settlement which transitioned into how big a settlement could be. Which in turn made me wonder if a den of wolves counted as a settlement or if that was just a den. My rumbling stomach interrupted my musing and refocused me on the task at hand, food.
After breakfast, I and my trusted backpack set out back into the zone. Using my previous expanding pattern of circling the walls, it took me four rounds to find a target. It seemed I wasn’t the only one out hunting for breakfast as a brown wolf was feasting on some sort of large rodent creature in the distance. It wasn’t in range of me yet so I slowly crept closer to it. The wolf lifted its head from what it was eating and smacked its mouth while licking its snout as a clear sign that it finished eating. If I wanted to hunt the wolf down I’d have to be quick. Reluctantly, I decided to forgo the advantage bonus and dashed forward to initiate the duel. Luckily, the startled wolf didn’t dash and run but turned around and started growling. With a few paces, I was in range and the overlay came to life.
I always winced when the cards materialized in my hand. The first was of course the spider egg and the next three cards cost either two or three crystals. Luckily, the fifth card was one of my common human skeletons. I played the card and before ending my turn I instructed it to get a clean kill. This was going to be my food for at least the next two days and I did not want to carry a heavily bleeding and ripped apart corpse back to the keep. The skeleton took an open and waiting stance. Seeing the opportunity, the wolf dashed in and pounced on the skeleton. The rough impact shattered the spine as they tumbled to the ground. With its torso still intact, the skeleton whipped its free arm around the wolf’s neck and stabbed his sword into the ear to pierce the brain. I said a silent thank you to the skeleton as it vanished from the battlefield and the wolf's corpse was left behind. I hoisted it onto my shoulder in a fireman’s carry and made my way back to the keep.
I hung the wolf upside down and slit the throat to start draining the blood. Considering the size compared to the rabbits I had two extra containers nearby. While I wasn’t very squeamish, processing a few rabbits did not prepare me for processing an entire wolf. I was glad that I wouldn’t need to use the pelt for anything because that was thoroughly ruined. Also, there was a bigger volume of innards than I had anticipated. Luckily, I had only made a small cut before I realized it and was able to pinch the cut closed before more of it came spilling out. Using the ruined pelt as a makeshift tarp, I used it to catch all the organs in. It was already near midday by the time I was roasting and smoking the meat.
With the very disgusting pelt tarp in hand, I made my way out into the forest. After ten minutes of walking, it tossed the pelt on the floor for some other creatures to eat and started to head deeper into the forest to find those goblin patrols. I spotted a goblin patrol of two maybe thirty minutes later. I got directly into their path and prepared an ambush. I quickly checked my compass to see which direction they came from so I could track their origin afterwards. With the element of surprise, I easily dispatched both of them without taking damage. Backtracking their path through the forest I quickly ran into another three goblin patrol fifteen minutes later. Using the battlefield positioning trick I learned on the first day, this patrol was also easily killed with no damage by forcing the third goblin to enter as a reinforcement.
I was definitely on the right path as I quickly encountered another patrol thirty minutes later. Compared to all the patrols I had seen and faced earlier there was a stark difference with this patrol. While two of them were the standard goblins, the third had a sort of feathered headdress and a walking stick topped by a skull. My gamer brain immediately classed it as an undermined caster type. It could be any type of elemental mage, warlock, priest, or shaman. I tried to angle myself for a reinforcement battle but the two goblins stayed too close to the caster. With not really any other choice but to face them all at once, I initiated the duel.
Duel initiated with Goblin Witchdoctor(rare).
Combat initiated with advantage (all opponents unaware).
You’ll receive one bonus crystal for the first round of combat.
That was very much unexpected. Instead of a combat unit, the so-called witch doctor was a deckholder. What I thought to have been a quick fight had turned into a proper duel. A duel in the wide open world also had me concerned about possible reinforcement joining the fray. We were on the route numerous patrols had taken after all. The battlefield snapped into place and the two goblins with the witch doctor stood proudly on the battlefield ready for a fight. Unlike all the other goblins they had shields and axes. I threw them a quick inspection to see what I was dealing with.
Goblin bodyguard
Greenskin – Goblin
Defender
Bodyguard: Will intercept any creature that directly attacks the duellist.
Attack 1 Health 3
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While the bodyguard ability was somewhat annoying, the defender ability made them less of an issue to deal with since they could only fight creatures and not attack me directly. They also took up two slots giving the witchdoctor less vanguard slots. As soon as the thought entered my mind I cursed. These guys would also block me from dealing with any rearguard units. The mind games were on and I needed to come up with a solution quickly. The best option was to get out two skeletons and try to block whatever he summoned or play a two-cost card and hope to blow up either of those bodyguards.
With somewhat of a plan in mind I drew my opening hand with a (1/1) skeleton, the (2/2) horse, and both (3/2) enforcers. Without a second thought, I instantly played the spider egg card and then mulled over which plan to follow up on. I was distracted by the witch doctor doing a little dance. It took me a moment to process that it was most likely the way it played cards each round. It had also thoroughly distracted me from trying to see where it played the card. Taking the second turn into consideration, I decided to play one of the enforcers. It would survive the initial fight and hopefully take out the other bodyguard in round two. This would give me the option to play both of my one-cost cards next round and hopefully counter his plays. With the bodyguards taking up lanes two and four, I played my enforcer into lane four.
A common goblin emerged in the first lane and charged me with a wooden club knowing that it wouldn’t hurt a lot, I turned around and it hit me in the back with the power of a normal punch. With the first bodyguard standing by idle due to the defender tag, my enforcer charged the other one. The bodyguard lashed out with its axe and managed to nick the enforcer on the arm and It went into melee range. It grabbed the shield with its right hand and pulled it to the ground just enough for a haymaker from its left fist to hit the bodyguard right in the face. Blood spurted from the goblin’s nose as the forceful impact had broken it. Disorientated from the blow it lost focus and was immediately overpowered by the enforcer. I ripped away the shield and another punch knocked it to the ground. Not skipping a beat the enforcer mounted the fallen bodyguard and started raining blows to its face. The heavy gauntlets took only a few strikes before all that was left of the bodyguard’s face was a bloody mess.
All the fighters reset to their lanes and I drew my card for turn. The witch doctor looked at its own hand of cards and I saw one of the cards vanish as it started the dance routine again. Unable to determine which lane my opponent had played to I quickly decided on my own plan. With a new skeletal knight in hand, I still played my one costs skeletons. If the witch doctor blocked my enforcer that was fine, if he didn’t it would take out the other bodyguard. My skeleton went into lane one to fight the goblin and the horse went into lane five. The play to lane four was, in hindsight, the wrong play. It locked me out of lanes two and three since those would go before my enforcer in lane four.
The goblin ducked under my skeleton’s horizontal swing and shattered its knees with the club which caused the skeleton to fall down. The goblin quickly stood up again to land an overhead swing on the skeleton’s skull. A second before the blow would connect the skeleton stabbed the goblin with its sword. The club still landed due to momentum and shattered the skull. The goblin pulled the sword out and blood spurted everywhere and it quickly fell over and died. The enforcer charged forward but as it stepped in the opposing slot something blurred into sight and a dagger was sticking out of the enforcer’s abdomen. A goblin with a dark cloak flashed an evil grin as it twisted the knife. The grin was quickly beaten off its face as two gauntleted fists hit it in rapid succession. I quickly identified it before it died and vanished.
Goblin Shanker
Greenskin – Goblin
Venomous (1)
Attack 1 Health 3
High health and venomous was a nasty combo and I was glad to see it die. While I didn’t know what the witch doctor had in hand, I wouldn’t have taken that trade. My skeletal horse reared up before it charged ahead. The goblin bodyguard dashed in front of the witch doctor and intercepted the rapidly descending hooves with the shield. With a sickening crunch, the goblin took the hit before lashing out with the axe and cracking a few bones in return.
Turn three came around and a cracking sound heralded the arrival of a spider as it descended into lane one from the trees overhead on a string of spider silk. I barely saw the witch doctor play two cards and was kind of relieved since I drew a (1/1) myself. The most logical option was that I blocked both the spider and the horse. An open lane was also an option since the bodyguard was guaranteed to block the horse anyway. Wanting to block off any assault, I played the skeleton in lane three and the enforcer in lane four. If lane three was open the skeleton would end the bodyguard giving my Enforcer and horse free rain. I chose to play the enforcer over the knight since it would most likely kill another two-cost card. I made a mental note to upgrade both of my knights after this fight.
The spider skittered forward and again the air shimmered and a shanker appeared. It ducked low and stabbed the spider in the thorax. In its death throw it landed a lucky piercing attack with one of its legs before dying. My skeleton stepped forward and the bodyguard in lane two stepped into its path. Since it had dropped the shield when the horse broke its arm it lashed out with the axe but didn’t connect before it got stabbed by a spear. With no other obstacles, the enforcer rushed forward and landed two quick hits on the witch doctor. A lowly goblin smashed its club against the horse’s knee making it fall over. It was crushed as the skeleton crashed into it.
The deck dilution was starting to show its head. While I liked the power the two enforcers brought to the table they prevented me from quickly deploying a token skeletal archer. The fact that I drew another (1/1) didn’t really help either. The witch doctor’s dancing suddenly became very enthusiastic which could only be bad news for me. With no other options, I emptied my hand playing the knight in lane one to kill the shanker and my skeleton went into lane two.
While the goblins were very tall standing between four and a half and five and a half feet tall the Green skin in lane four looked to be seven feet tall. Compared to the normal figures of the goblin this thing was packing a ton of muscle and armour. A chainmail coif and open-faced helmet protected the head, neck, and upper chest. Heavy iron gauntlets, grieves, and a chest plate protected the rest of the body. That thing was going to be trouble really fast.
Orc Charger
Greenskin – Orc
Armoured (1): Reduce all incoming attack damage by (1).
Attack 3 Health 5
My eyes almost dropped from their sockets. Not only was it a four-cost card it was also classified as a rare card. The armoured ability looked to be the non-degrading version of glass armour and was probably where the rare rarity came from. It still looks like a manageable opponent but I’d have to hit a good top card soon.
The shanker managed to scratch the knight’s bones in a quick exchange but was easily dispatched. My lizardman skeleton got a free club attack on the witch doctor bringing it down to six life points. My enforcer bravely charged the orc who took a defensive stance. While the gauntleted punches managed to land some shallow cuts the goblin was clearly outmatched by the orc and went down in a flurry of counter punches. Having pummelled the goblin into the ground, the orc let out a mighty victory roar.
I might have to start believing in the heart of the cards as I drew my bloated zombie. It was the perfect counter for the orc. Either the commander or the brute would have also been equally effective. The witch doctor played two cards and since I was top decking that might become an issue. The zombie went into lane four and the fight was on again. I was relieved to see that the first played card was only a bodyguard but it made short work of my skeleton. Vile thick clouds of sickly green escaped from the zombie as the orc pummelled it. Mostly unphased the zombie just stood there taking the beating. Another green light enveloped the orc and it stood just a bit straighter. Behind the orc stood an exact copy of the witch doctor.
Goblin Witchdoctor
Greenskin – Goblin
Restore (1): Will restore (1) health for the vanguard unit.
Atack 0 Health 3
Yet another rare card made its appearance. That combination of an armoured vanguard combine with a healing rearguard made for a powerful combination. While not unbeatable, I was glad they weren’t upgraded or equipped with items. If they had two armour and two restores it would be a total nightmare.
The witch doctor played its last two cards as I looked at my own card for the turn. I had my (2/2) mole card in hand together with my skeletal token. Blocking the bodyguard would happen anyway so that lane didn’t need to be filled. Since the witch doctor played two cards I decided to play the mole in lane one and the token as a vanguard in lane two. Drums started beating as a goblin behind a big drum appeared in the lane three rearguard.
Goblin Drummer
Greenskin – Goblin
Inspire (1): Will increase the vanguard unit’s attack by (1).
Atack 0 Health 3
Remembering that creatures with Defender could not gain attack power I inspected the bodyguard again. While I couldn´t be sure it seems that this was an upgraded version without the Defender ability. It was probably similar to my bloated zombie where defenders had better defensive upgrades to outweigh any viable attack options. I could see the combo with the bodyguard upgraded in this way. As long as it survived the bodyguard would have a nice little attack boost and most likely kill more creatures than it would otherwise and if it didn´t have to guard the deckholder for a round it could attack.
The mole scurried forward and the bodyguard rushed over to block it and in a quick exchange, they both died with the bodyguard’s boosted attack. In lane two the token skeleton faced off against another common goblin and traded as well. Green light enveloped the charger again and its health ticket up to five again but quickly dropped back to three as the poison took effect. With somewhat unsteady legs it still charged forward and started to pummel the zombie again. One punch went straight through the zombie and in a display of gore it plunged in its other hand and ripped the zombie apart bathing the charger in another massive putrid green cloud.
Turn six was a quick affair. I drew and played my skeletal wolf in lane one. The drummer had no attack power so I could avoid it. The charger would die from its four poison stacks despite the heal thus leaving another non-attacker open to ignore. Seeing an opening I played the wolf into lane one. Right after the move, I realized my mistake. While the rearguard could be ignored I forgot to take the vanguard into consideration that was now open.
I let out a small sigh of relief when a goblin bodyguard appeared in lane four. The wolf dashed forward and the bodyguard intercepted. Using a stutter step the wolf dodged the incoming axe swing and used the over-extended position of the goblin to jump forward and go for the jugular. Despite the wolf hanging from its throat, the goblin managed to bring the axe around and cut the wolf apart. The green glow enveloped the goblin and it was restored to two health points.
Turn seven saw me draw my tomb guardian. I was hoping for either the commander or the brute but this was the next best option. Having learned from my mistake on the last turn, I played the guardian in lane three. A common goblin appeared in the expected lane and was buffed to two attack points. The enhanced attack rebounded on the guardian’s giant shield and lightning fast the spear shot out and killed the goblin.
Going into turn eight the witch doctor screamed out and its life points dropped to three. Another piece of the puzzle was revealed about what would happen if you ran out of cards to draw. My card for turn was another common skeleton and I kept it in hand. It would fight the bodyguard which would then get healed up again by the witch doctor. My tomb guardian advanced on the cowering drummer. With a shield bash, it knocked away the drum and stabbed the goblin through the chest. The witch doctor healed the bodyguard back to full health.
Another scream dropped the witchdoctor to only two health points and my card for turn was the goblin archer. Since either lane three or five would end the fight I played it behind my tomb guardian. The bodyguard chopped won with the axe but only left a shallow groove in the guardian’s shield. In return, the spear flashed out and went straight through the bodyguard’s shield and his torso. With nothing left to block the archer, it fired its bow and the arrow lodged itself into the witchdoctor’s neck. With his hand pressed against the wound it fell to the ground and the trumpets played their tune as it bled out.