Dorri had not only looked at but seriously studied her character sheet before, of course. She had the various numbers and abilities already memorized.
But it never hurts to refresh your memory at the start of a fight. Just in case.
Dorri Level 2 [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1163627398881886250/1173691798334472232/Char_Sheet_Dorri_lvl_2_Ch_17.png?ex=6564e0aa&is=65526baa&hm=b64dccb1ac4e7b4cbbfcbdacc088e929369a339b29f5472ddf67df794ffad7ed&]
She still wasn’t thrilled with her initial Stat rolls, but they weren’t terrible, either. The negative Intellect modifier bugged her, because somehow that always got translated as “stupid,” whereas she understood it to be more about book learning than general cleverness. But as a ranger type of class, she could rely mostly on AGI and WIT and not worry too much about the rest, however nice they might’ve been to have. Her Defense Rating wasn’t spectacular, but that was OK.
I just won’t let anything get close enough to hit me.
Dorri shifted her attention to her mini-map, and it grew both larger and less transparent. The view ahead of Dorri translated onto an overhead view of the road and surrounding area, struck through with gridlines. Everyone in her party and the enemies ahead stood in a map square, although all she could see of them were the tops of their heads. She and Karon and Nildeyr were hidden by the foliage overhead, but shadowed forms marked their locations.
While she looked at the tactical map, a square inset had appeared at the edge of her vision showing her normal straight-ahead view. Dorri shifted back to that, now. Tentatively, she attempted to move and found that she was paralyzed, but only sort of. She could move her eyes, turn her head a little, shift her hands and feet. She couldn’t make any big, sudden movements, but she found that as she planned to take a shot at the caster when it was her turn, her bow slowly began to track in that direction.
Dorri stayed with her normal view but glanced at the inset tactical view. A red outline flashed around the square where the enemy in the pond stood, letting her know that was who she should be watching. He remained standing in the water, arms lifted before him. His hands curved into a gesture that undoubtedly meant bad news. Dirty, brackish light gathered along the backs of his arms.
And then nothing. He just stood there, magic glowing around his hands but scowling toward where Booth and Arra were both in mid-stride headed down the hill.
They’re out of range. He’s holding a spell.
The red flash on the tactical map switched to the two axe-wielding enemies—fighters of some variety, Dorri assumed.
The axe-wielding man lowered his head, leaned forward, and charged up the hill to meet Booth. There was something unnatural about the speed with which he moved.
Special trait of some kind. I hope Booth really is a paladin and not just acting like one.
Booth’s shield arm went up, but the man and his axe never slowed. The axe’s blade crashed into Booth’s shield, driving its edge into Booth’s face and knocking him back a step. No wound seemed to appear, but crimson spatter spread across Booth’s shield and armor.
[Booth takes 7 damage.]
Dorri’s Defense was 14. Booth was wearing much heavier armor and had a shield, so his had to be in the vicinity of 18—not an easy number for the enemy to roll higher than unless they had some good attack modifiers of their own.
Maybe it was just a lucky high roll.
Maybe, but given how fast the enemy had charged Booth, Dorri had a bad feeling. She had no way of knowing Booth’s total hit points, but she knew hers was only 18. Booth probably had more, but not much more, assuming they were of similar levels. Another hit or two like that one, and he’d be down.
Dead. People around me dying because I made the wrong choice.
Dorri had no idea how death worked in this game and under the Neuroconnect circumstances, she realized. When people died, did they stay dead?
The world slipped sideways. Dorri momentarily forgot about the tactical map and traits and classes and lost all sense of being behind an interface and watching things play out in a calm and strategic manner. Whatever game world she’d existed in mere moments before had suddenly been dashed away.
She swallowed down the sense of panic rising in her throat and concentrated on keeping her arms and hands steady. Unshaking.
Deep breaths. Count them.
A comforting sense of detached logic gradually returned.
Change in plans. The bow she’d begun to lift toward the man in the pond tracked instead toward the axe-wielder threatening Booth.
The tactical map’s indicator pulsed blue instead of red, this time on the square at the top of the hill where Lora still stood, several feet back from Booth’s clash with the enemy. A breeze stirred Lora’s scarf-like skirt and long black hair as she planted her feet together and lifted her hands toward the sky. Cerulean light so bright it was nearly silver flashed, first around Lora’s hands and then sparking against the backs of Booth’s and Arra’s heads.
Something bright and warm and carrying the sweet scent of rain touched the back of Dorri’s head, too. Light flickered at the edges of her vision.
[You have gained the Blessed condition.]
Lor’ariel is some kind of cleric.
Of course she was—she was a priestess from the Gardens, after all. As Dorri filed the understanding away, the blue outline shifted from Lora to Booth.
Booth’s flail swung out and around, and the spiked ball connected with the man’s exposed ribs. The attacker grunted and staggered a half step to one side.
[Enemy Fighter takes 9 damage.]
Not bad. Booth must have some hefty attack modifiers of his own. The enemy didn’t wear heavy armor, but Dorri was willing to bet both fighters had more health than Booth. The man in front of Booth slowly but inexorably dragged back his axe to lift it over his head for the next blow.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
One swipe of that axe past Booth’s shield, and it’s over.
Dorri’s fingers itched with wanting to nock an arrow and pull back the bow string. She’d only half-consciously begun shifting to the left to get a better angle for her shot. The world slid at a snail’s pace around her.
The blue outline lit up the square directly behind Dorri. Karon shuffled through the underbrush and looped around her, stopping again a few steps ahead.
“I may be able to add a little something to your arrow shot,” Karon murmured as he passed Dorri’s hiding spot.
In front of Dorri now, Karon crouched once more. He’d tucked away the book he’d been carrying and lifted his hands, much like the man standing down in the marsh. Dorri felt as much as heard Karon whispering, a sound with no words that made sense but that felt heavier than regular speech. A dull glow lit around Karon, murky gold like sodden autumn leaves.
The air around Dorri grew both warmer and drier. A breath later, something crystalline and white formed on the face of Booth’s attacker, frosting his brows and beard and spreading down his body.
Ice.
The man’s motion faltered. His axe swing hesitated, and he stood there in a wide open stance.
[Enemy Fighter takes 1 damage. Enemy Fighter has gained the Frozen condition.]
The tactical map’s blue outline moved to Dorri’s square. The heaviness of the air lifted, and breath seemed to return to her lungs. The Movement, Action, and Secondary Action indicators lit at the bottom of her vision.
With a smooth motion that felt true, like a dancer who doesn’t have to think of the steps anymore, Dorri lifted her nocked bow, lined up the crosshair indicator, and let fly.
[You use Ranged Attack on Enemy Fighter.]
[Attack Roll: 14 (1d20 Advantage - Frozen) + 3 (AGI) + 2 (Proficiency) + 2 (Archery Specialist) + 1 (1d4 Blessed) = 22. Hit!]
[Damage Roll: 6 (1d8) + 3 (AGI) + 2 (Proficiency) = 11]
[You deal 11 damage to Enemy Fighter.]
Amazing rolls, all the way around, thanks to the assists from Lora and Karon. Dorri’s arrow followed the path Dorri had envisioned in her mind’s eye, rising and falling along an arc before piecing the thin coating of frost and fabric over the man’s throat. He went down like a felled deer, the axe’s upraised weight pulling him backward and into the mud at Booth’s feet.
[Enemy Fighter has died.]
A deep sense of satisfaction rolled through Dorri.
Yes! Nailed you, you son of a bitch.
Dorri slipped closer to the action, moving from tree to tree, and ended her turn.
As the weight of turn-based near-paralysis settled across her limbs, Dorri briefly shifted her attention to the top right edge of her vision. A more detailed combat log opened, one that included everyone’s turn and would show detailed calculations of their hits and misses and damage dealt if she fixed her gaze on the line long enough. The log also sported a gear icon, and that was what Dorri aimed at now.
Opening a settings menu for the combat messages, Dorri adjusted it to do away with the more detailed calculations of in-the-moment messages that floated up during combat. She knew her stats and modifiers and could back-calculate her actual rolls on the spot. She didn’t do away with the messages entirely. Seeing them provided a nearly physical gratification, akin to crunching ice or popping bubble wrap or rolling actual dice on a real tabletop.
Don’t need a whole wall of text, though.
As Dorri closed the settings window, Arra charged the woman with an axe who was still standing near the marsh. Arra didn’t swing, though—it must have taken all her movement and action to get there. As Dorri’s hand ticked slowly toward her quiver and a second arrow, the man in the pond transitioned his hand movements into something that looked like a wave toward Arra. A visual effect that resembled humidity rippled around her.
A split second later, an arrow sprouted from the shoulder of the caster in the pond. With a strangled cry, he clutched at it, doubled over, and dropped face first into the water.
[Enemy Caster takes 8 damage.]
Dorri wasted a precious few seconds being baffled. She was about to re-open the detailed combat log, the one that showed everyone’s turns, and then she realized.
Nildeyr. In addition to the rapier and daggers he so proudly wore, he also carried a shortbow around with him. Apparently, he could shoot well enough.
Down the hill in front of Dorri, the action continued. Combat messages flickered past, but she’d reached that point where they’d mostly become part of the scenery, information that went directly into her brain without needing to be read word for word.
Dorri also noticed how smoothly everyone’s actions flowed from one to the next. Despite the game featuring turn-based combat which stopped for every character to take however long they pleased to decide what actions they’d take—hours even, theoretically—nothing about the experience ever felt clunky or slow-moving from Dorri’s side. Maybe some kind of time compression was part of the process. The game had messed with Dorri’s sense of time before, after all. No reason to believe it couldn’t be ongoing.
Maybe they’re all NPCs following a pre-programmed tactics system, and the only person taking their time is me.
Whatever the case, the way combat flowed seamlessly and almost real-time was impressive.
Down the hill, the woman with the axe swung at Arra. The blade clearly connected with Arra’s unarmored midriff, but Arra merely set her stance and grinned ferally. Lora slipped and slid down the blood-muddied path, paused to touch Booth’s shoulder with a flare of silvery light, and then continued toward the pond. Booth lumbered after Lora. Somewhere behind Dorri, Karon whispered another spell. Icy light shimmered briefly around the axe-wielding woman, but no frost appeared this time.
She resisted Karon’s spell.
And then it was Dorri’s turn again. Arrow, nock, find a target.
Arra’s upraised greatsword twitched into a lowering arc. Dorri’s view of the enemy fighter was nearly blocked by Arra’s body.
Close, but not too close.
Draw, aim, release. All in one motion, all with only instinct making the final call.
[You use Ranged Attack on Enemy Fighter. 13 hits!]
[You deal 8 damage to Enemy Fighter.]
The arrow skimmed past Arra’s shoulder and sliced into the enemy’s neck. Again, Dorri did another inner celebratory fist pump.
On the road, Arra’s blade finished the job Dorri’s arrow had started. The sense of slowed time thinned back toward regular movement. Arra stood over the fallen, bleeding figure of the woman she’d been facing off with. Lora waded into the pond toward where the man Nildeyr had shot had fallen into the water. The man at Booth’s feet remained dead.
That was it. They were done.
Dorri lowered her bow. She released her breath and allowed the tension she’d forced from her body to flow back in. Out of habit, she glanced at her character sheet once more. This game, however, lacked the experience bar she was accustomed to seeing, and she closed the sheet again.
I’m early in levels yet. It’ll be filling up quickly.
She hoped so. While she understood that most games used leveling and xp meters in part as a dopamine fix, the more important thing at this point was getting more hit points and abilities in order to improve basic survivability. If she ever truly intended to break away from the group and set out on her own, that would matter. A lot.
Dorri had to wonder, though, if going solo was ever going to be a truly viable option. If the fighter who’d gone after Booth with that axe had gotten up in her face, she’d have been done. Could she have kited him? Probably. Would one of the other two enemies have taken her down while she was?
This isn’t just a game anymore. You don’t have the luxury of reloading or rezzing after you try a risky strategy that doesn’t work out.
Maybe that meant she ought to start resigning herself to sticking with this group longer than she’d originally planned.
Not far from Dorri, Karon sank back on his heels and leaned against the ragged bark of a half-naked maple. His chest rose and fell rapidly, and he closed his eyes. Whatever the magical aura around him had been, it was gone now.
Wizard? He has the book, after all.
Booth was either a fighter or a paladin, Lora a cleric. Arra was also obviously melee of some kind. Add to that Karon’s magic and her and Nildeyr’s dps, and Dorri had to admit the party composition was pretty damn good. She’d just have to figure out how to work around all the other angles that were less ideal.
I could stick around a while. Level up a couple of times and get stronger before I go solo.
Nildeyr stepped from the trees onto the road and grinned brilliantly in Dorri’s direction. In the interest of not encouraging him, Dorri strode down the hill to find out who exactly they’d just killed and hopefully why.