Troll Hide Leggings
Common Item
Stats: Defense: +8
Special: None
Level to equip: 10
The pants were nothing to write home about but they were an upgrade. Sasha picked them up from under the troll and handed them to me. She was too low-level to equip them herself. It was strange to find them lying under the troll and even stranger that a troll would have armor made from its own hide.
“Do you want my old pants?” I asked, offering Sasha the Crude Leather Pants.
Changing clothes in-game was significantly less embarrassing than in real life. All I had to do was drop the leggings in the pants slot and they magically appeared on my person. The same went for the old pants that ended up in my inventory. While it was true that I could change manually, that was just as much work as it was in real life. I’d have to take off my shoes and everything.
“Sure,” Sasha replied, taking them and equipping them herself. I could tell she’d done it because her old pants vanished and were replaced by the ones I’d just given her. They looked different on her; more form-fitting.
She hesitated. “You go first this time.”
I nodded. “Stay a bit behind me. I don’t want to get you killed again if I cause another cave-in.”
“That only happens when you use the shovel,” she replied, already a good ten yards behind me.
“It’s worse with the pickaxe,” I replied.
We crept up the stairs while on the lookout for more trolls. The collapsed mountain had repaired itself but a large portion of the peak was still missing. Because of that, I climbed several levels and could see Sasha lurking below. I was just about to the top when I got another system message.
Sasha has died!
“Damnit!” I roared, clutching my pickaxe as I looked down to where she had been.
Three mountain trolls roared back, one of them raising a massive club it had just used to flatten Sasha. Deciding to try a skill I hadn’t used in a while, I threw myself over the edge and yelled. “Cannonball!”
On the way down, I couldn’t help but focus all my stamina on another Break Stuff.
You have combined two skills to create a new one: Cannonball+Break Stuff = Wrecking Ball
My immense weight combined with the stamina-infused skill caused me to plummet right through the waiting trolls and into the mountain like a meteor. I didn’t stop there, cascading through tons of rock deeper into the mountain than when I started. My ears rang when I finally came to rest under what felt like a ton of rubble.
You have slain a Mountain Troll!
You have slain a Mountain Troll!
You have slain a Mountain Troll!
You have slain a Mountain Troll!
You have slain a Mountain Troll!
You have slain a Mountain Troll!
You have slain a Mountain Troll!
You have slain a Mountain Troll!
You have slain a Dwarf!
You have slain a Dwarf!
You have slain a Dwarf!
You have slain a Dwarf!
You have slain a Dwarf!
You have slain a Dwarf!
You have slain a Dwarf!
You have slain a Dwarf!
You have slain a Dwarf!
You have slain a Dwarf!
Congratulations! You have reached level 13!
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Congratulations! You have reached level 14!
Congratulations! You have reached level 15!
Congratulations! You have reached level 16!
Congratulations! You have reached level 17!
Congratulations! You have reached level 18!
Congratulations! You have reached level 19!
Congratulations! You have reached level 20!
Congratulations, you now qualify for a secondary job. Please see any skill trainer for more information.
The problem was that I was buried under the entirety of the collapsed mountain, and the pressure was getting to me. It wasn’t that I took any damage or that I was suffocating. My brain told me I was trapped and claustrophobia kicked in.
I was forced to withdraw to semi-immersion mode when I started hyperventilating. Even then, I had to close my eyes to push the vision out of my head. It got so bad, I was about to unequal the hard hat just so it could be over. Then I heard voices in the distance.
“What in the bloody hell happened?” A gruff voice asked.
Another distinctly female one answered. “I think the mountain got hit by a falling star.”
“If that isn’t an omen, I don’t know what is,” another male voice added.
“Let’s find it,” the first voice said. “It’s probably valuable if it’s from outer space.”
“Get the others,” the third voice bellowed. “Tell them there’s digging to do.”
I decided to go about my morning routine while I waited for the voices to dig me out. I couldn’t help but chuckle at how much more efficient I was than Sasha. While she did her morning routine before logging in, I’d gotten extra sleep. Now, while I was incapacitated in-game, I scurried around doing all the necessary IRL bits. I was back in my chair, ready to game when the last rock was pulled off of me.
“This isn’t a meteor, it’s a body,” the female said as she nearly dropped the rock back on my head.
“He isn’t dead,” the first man cried out.
“He’s got one of those infernal hats on,” the third groaned. “He must be one of his disciples sent here to get revenge.”
The first tugged on the arm of the female. “I say we kill him! Send him back to where he came from.”
She shook her head, pulling her arm away and dropping the rock on the ground, thankfully far from my head. “Killing him is no good. He’s an adventurer. He will just respawn.”
I sat up shakily. “I’m sorry. I didn’t come here to kill you. I was attacked by trolls.”
The female pointed to a pile of dead trolls behind her right next to several bodies covered with tarps. “We know. You got ‘em too.”
“Sorry,” I said, realizing I’d likely killed her friends. She was a dwarf, after all. At least I thought she was.
She just sighed. “Why are you here?”
“We wanted to kill monsters,” I explained.
“We?” She asked.
“Yeah,” I replied. “The trolls killed my friend. I’m sure she’s looking for me.”
The dwarf rubbed her chin and looked up. “I see. I suppose we should go topside then.”
I looked up and started to say something when she cut me off. “There are other ways out of the mountain. Follow me.”
I followed in silence as the female led the way. The other dwarves followed at my side, escorting me like I was some kind of prisoner.”
“You’re one of his disciples, aren’t you?” The female asked without looking back.
“Do you mean Gromnald?” I asked.
The dwarves at my side stiffened. The female tried to hide but I noticed a twitch. “Yes, him. I could tell by your equipment but also by your bizarre mining method.”
“I wasn’t mining,” I replied. “I was trying to survive.”
She pointed up. I could see the sky through the wreckage of the mountain. “You’re very destructive.”
“Is that why you exiled him?” I asked. “Why you won’t let him be a dwarf?”
She spun on her heels. “My foolish brother decided all of that on his own. I didn’t ask him to leave, and he can say what he wants but he’s still a dwarf.”
“He’s your brother?” I asked.
“Unfortunately,” she muttered. “He went missing a few years ago and I was sent to find him. I know where he is now but he refuses to speak with me.”
“Maybe I can get him to talk to you,” I replied, wondering if my role as his apprentice could heal old wounds.
“I doubt that will help,” she replied. “But I’d appreciate it if you try.”
As we walked, more dwarves joined the procession. One rushed to the front and asked the female. “What happened?”
“Collapse,” she replied.
“Bloody human brought the whole mountain down on us,” the dwarf next to me grumbled.
“A human did that?” one of the newcomers asked. “Is he a Demolitionist?”
“Is that a class?” I asked.
The first dwarf replied. “No. He’s an Excavator.”
“I’m interested in the Demolitionist class,” I replied, refusing to let the new info go. “Where do I get that class?”
“Drunderhold,” the female replied, though she wouldn’t elaborate.
The conversation halted when we made it to the surface. We came up a ways away through a cave partially obscured by large boulders. In the distance, the collapsed mountain looked out of place in the otherwise pristine mountain range. The top had sunken in on itself, leaving a jagged shell behind. A pair of women stood beside the artificial cave I made. Nelly was back.
I raced to them, calling out when I was within earshot. The girls turned, at first in relief, and then in shock when they saw the army of dwarves struggling to keep up.
“What happened?” Sasha asked while I caught my breath; another sympathetic reaction.
“This one destroyed our mountain,” the dwarf I’d taken to calling Grumpy replied.
“Who are these dwarves?” Nelly asked. “And what have you been up to while I was gone? Sasha said you got her killed twice.”
“Actually, it was the trolls,” Sasha said in my defense. “And I don’t know who the dwarves are. They weren’t there when I died.”
“We were mining deep under the mountain,” the female dwarf replied. “My name is Gertrude but you can call me Gertie.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Nelly replied. “I’m Nelly, and this is Sasha. Oh, and this is…”
Grumpy interrupted the introductions. “What are you going to do about all our brothers and sisters you killed?”
“Why weren’t they wearing hard hats?” I asked, knocking on my trusty hat for effect.
There was some grumbling as the dwarves whispered to each other. Gertie answered. “Those are more valuable than you think. They are artifacts Grom took with him when he left.”
“Don’t all new Excavators get one?” I asked.
She shook her head, and the system explained.
Some classes allow a limited number of players to choose them. In the case of Excavator, that maximum is currently 1.
“Currently?” I asked. The system didn’t elaborate.
Neither did Gertie. She looked at me expectantly while the other dwarves huddled and spoke among themselves.
I turned my attention to Nelly and Sasha. “I sort of promised I’d take Gertie to see her brother.”
Sasha pulled me aside and whispered. “Hey, we only have a limited amount of time to get some experience. Nelly can’t play long and I haven’t got any yet. Is the quest time-sensitive, or can you do it later?”
I glance at Gertie. “Are there any more trolls in the dungeon, or any other pests we can deal with for you?”
She smiled. “We can certainly use the help of adventurers such as yourselves. One of the newer passages we discovered is infested with rodents. Would your lady friends mind accompanying Doldrick here while you come with me?”
“Do you mean Grumpy?” I asked, looking where she pointed.
Gertie laughed and I thought steam was going to come out of Doldrick’s ears. However, Nelly and Sasha took his hands and he turned beat red while they led him back toward the mountain along with the other dwarves.
Before they left, Sasha called over her shoulder. “Meet back here when you’re done.”