image [https://i.imgur.com/2mu4avN.jpg]
Using the pillars and stalagmites as blockers saved my life. The mole monster knocked over the mushrooms easily enough, but it needed to go around the mineral formations jutting from the cave floor.
Cutting through over 5,000 health myself wasn’t possible, especially since I’d lost my Aggression double-damage bonus. My failure to notice the cavern’s name counted for yet another mistake. The interface dubbed it The Glow-Worm Vault, and it fell outside the kobold settlement.
Running through the clearing of harvested mushroom stumps gave me an unobstructed view of the cave wall, and my search for wall openings finally paid off. A rock overhang stood high enough to duck into but too low for the mole to reach inside. The kobolds used it for their harvesting camp, and their lanterns gave me a bead on which direction to flee.
As I neared the overhang, I spotted two long rats with dozens of legs tethered to an iron ring anchored in the wall. They stood as tall hogs, but their rodent bodies stretched much longer. They must have weighed 1,000 pounds apiece.
Name
Ratipede
Level
16
Difficulty
Easy (green)
Health
520/520
The ratipedes hissed when they saw me coming and pulled at the harnesses. The fearsome creatures presented no danger at the moment, so I mentally removed them from the list of things to worry about in my immediate future.
Beside the ratipedes, dozens of kobolds rested. At first, I thought them dead. The workers lay recumbent after a hard shift of reaping mushrooms and made no hostile reactions when they saw me coming.
I made no threatening gestures during my approach, even bowing to acknowledge I stood on their turf. Their whiskers twitched as they regarded me and one another with furtive, questioning glances. A Cuff of Obedience encircled each of their ankles.
Though I knew they couldn’t understand me, I spoke soothingly to de-escalate the standoff. “That’s right, comrades—I’m here to liberate you. If revolutionary workers need a champion in their struggle against the bourgeoisie, I’m available.”
Even small by kobold standards, I gestured to the closest harvester, saying I meant no harm.
Name
Dikki, Graytooth Food Bearer
Level
3
Difficulty
Easy (green)
Health
30/30
Dikki’s rodent features changed from surprise to hostility after a fat kobold blew a whistle, squeaked, and pointed at me. The kobolds stood up, reached for falchions lining a wall, and pointed them at me. The oversized machetes might be suitable for chopping mushrooms, but they looked too massive to be effective weapons.
Facing forty kobolds at once presented a challenge, but the rats lifted their bulky blades slowly and with effort, and their attacks amounted to little more than clumsy chops.
Falchions worked terribly for anyone who valued defense and looked downright ridiculous in the paws of kobolds.
The problem with falchions involved their hefty damage. As unwieldy as they must be, they cut through wood easier than an axe. If I could dodge the ungainly implements, I should survive, but the high variance in damage reduced predictability. This might not be an easy fight.
But not every factor stood against me. Though I faced many enemies, they weren’t warriors. And farmers weren’t likely to be combat-trained.
The scent of crushed mushrooms filled the air, and the titan mole trumpeted its challenge.
I didn’t have time to exploit the kobolds’ presumed lack of combat skills. The overhang provided the shelter I needed, and I didn’t have time for introductions before inviting myself inside.
Angling my spear away from them, I put my hands in the air, palms open. I gestured toward the charging level 48 mole. These guys weren’t part of the military, so they might sympathize with a shared fear of the trundling mushroom god behind me.
The kobolds chittered in amusement and nudged one another, nodding. The unequivocal and disheartening response deflated me. They raised their falchions and half-encircled me to expose my flank to the charging titan mole. Their position ensured I couldn’t find a safe harbor under the overhang.
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Their amusement gave me the moral high ground to deliver a thumping. Having given them a chance, I steeled my resolve to exterminate them. It kept the narrative simple. The rules of engagement with the ratfolk reverted to mother nature’s default interaction—a fight to the finish.
I surveyed the area beneath the overhang. A fire pit blazed, and its brightness made me mentally scratch off the idea that Presence could blind anyone. Skids and giant baskets stacked haphazardly in the middle of the room. The dwarves might have balked at the careless workspace, but I could use the obstructions to divide them.
Both sides of the standoff had plans for the mole’s arrival, and we delayed combat until it did. I counted the kobolds and came up with 41 enemies, not counting the ratipedes. While we waited, I cast Scorch on the weakest, rounding them down to 40.
The waist-high harvesting crew held their line, keeping me at bay, clarifying that they preferred the mole to do their fighting for them. The kobolds pressed closer to ensure I remained outside the cave’s mouth when the monster arrived. They attacked in concert, and their coordination impressed me.
Before the mole slammed into the overhang, I cast Compression Sphere at their heels, catapulting nearly a quarter of them into its battering claws. A chorus of high-pitched shrieks filled the air as they sailed, making it officially zero days since the last workplace incident.
Resisting the air blast, I charged through the gap in the line made by the shockwave. The repositioning nestled me safely beneath the overhang. Now their backs faced the mole.
A tunnel opened deeper into the overhang. I could have run for it, but I had more tricks to play. I positioned myself to make the best use of my Wall of Wind. Once an hour, the shield pushed medium-sized targets back 5 feet, so I assumed smaller enemies would go further. I guessed correctly. A second shockwave sent a dozen more kobolds outside the mouth of the cave.
Death messages scrolled my combat log. Unfortunately, some kobolds scrambled back into the overhang before the mole’s digging paws pulverized them. So far, the death count totaled to 16—over a third of my enemies.
A single Fireball might have dispersed them, but the two push mechanics counted for my only area-of-effect attacks, and I’d used them both. Without Fabulosa’s arsenal, I needed to take them out piecemeal.
Dropping my shield, I aimed and shot my new Light Crossbow. It let me launch a 33-point magic missile for free—enough to one-shot a kobold. The instant attack fired only once every 30 seconds, so I equipped my spear, Creeper. This maneuver took so long that three falchions found their mark, causing 90 points of damage, almost a third of my health. I decided not to switch weapons in melee again. I cast Rejuvenate to heal 60 points over the next ten seconds.
Meanwhile, the mole’s claws reached as far as possible into the overhang, gouging into the rock and pulverizing the overhang. The ground rumbled as if an earthquake machine besieged us. The scars the creature inflicted on the stone demarcated the field of play. Despite the dust hanging in the air, everyone could see the line of death.
While the kobolds regrouped, I cast the six-second Scorch to kill another. Shocking Reach proved enough to take out one beside it.
Their health doubled that of the kobolds assaulting us on our first trip to Hawkhurst, but these 30-point falchion attacks unsettled me more. I got off another fatal Scorch before they rushed as a group.
While my spear badly wounded one attacker, my counterattacks didn’t deter their stampede. Though the falchions moved slowly, so many attacked at once that six scored hits, dropping my health by a whopping 183 points. The wave of damage left me with less than a hundred health. I tried to use my Charm of Rescue, the trinket that allowed me to flip a Restore into an instant, but I’d used it during my fight against Winterbyte and hadn’t reset its cooldown. Instead, I fell back and spent six seconds casting, Restoring 80 health, only to be hit four more times with falchions.
Their natural coordination astonished me—mainly since my assailants consisted of farmers.
I had only 56 health, and 22 kobolds surrounded me—of which 20 stood unscathed. Only forty seconds had passed since I’d launched a Compression Sphere, and I had over a four-minute wait before I could use it again. Did I want to burn my Slipstream to run away from farmer kobolds? Shaking off the thought, I resolved to finish the fight on my terms.
I opened the Slipstream interface and assayed the field of battle while time stood still. The kobolds pinned me against a wall. Fleeing looked attractive, but running from room to room incurred more risks than it avoided. Besides, I haven’t quaffed a potion and could use the crowded environment to my advantage, especially after repositioning myself.
Instead, I maneuvered around their ranks, placing myself between the door and the body of workers. They’d have to get past me if they wanted to duck into the tunnels and raise the alarm.
I lunged my spear into the nearest enemy. It exposed me to counterattacks, but I Slipstreamed through them before they could bring down their heavy blades.
Crouching behind a stack of skids and baskets, I peered through the junk to observe their reaction. They hadn’t seen where I’d gone. Their noses sniffed the air, and while they looked about, I Scorched one. A few glanced toward the cavern, where the mole still clawed its way to us. I popped a Rejuvenate while they searched, and the spell’s golden ribbons of sparkles caught their attention.
It wasn’t the most tactical use of Slipstream, but avoiding getting cornered had to have planted doubts in their minds.
They hesitated to attack without the rest of their group, making it easier to stay out of reach. I cast Shocking Reach, Scorch, and shot another with my arcane crossbow while they regrouped. They realized they needed to attack soon, or I’d pick them off at range. With only a few near me, I attacked without fear of multiple counters, dropping three more with my spear as they reached my hiding spot.
While they reformed, I cast another Restore, regaining over half my health. Moments before they orchestrated another charge, I Magnetized a falchion toward a kobold. They wore no armor, so the hit mortally wounded it.
The wielder’s companions squeaked sharply, and the distraction bought me enough time to swing the falchion threateningly toward its compatriots. The kobold whose weapon I Magnetized fought against me so I couldn’t redirect another attack. Quicker than I’d guessed, one of his companions brought their blade into him in a fatal rebuke. Frontier justice might be undeserved, but it was always swift.
With their attention misdirected, I tried casting Move Object on another falchion, but the spell wouldn’t work on items in another’s possession.
Every second they argued amongst themselves brought me another second closer to my healing spell cooldowns.
The strength behind their attacks revolved around their coordination, but the more doubt I sowed in their ranks, the less effective they could be in battle.
After precious seconds, a fat kobold squeaked something and pointed at me.
Name
Rummy, Graytooth Server
Level
5
Difficulty
Easy (green)
Health
66/66
Rummy doubled their health and wore harness-like leather that provided a modicum of protection. What bothered me wasn’t his health or armor—it involved his ability to rally his cohorts.
I had to hand him credit. They’d lost two-thirds of their crew but renewed their attack after only a single reprimand. The discipline of simple food bearers surprised me.
Since the Light Crossbow’s Arcane Missiles cost nothing, and I used cantrips and low-mana spells like Scorch, I had more than half of my mana reserves. I splurged on Mana Shield to stave off the damage. Knowing I could withstand attacks let me concentrate on offense. It made for a costly yet effective strategy. Reducing their numbers depleted three-fourths of my mana pool.