Jay was the first one to see the enemies. A small horde of goblins exploded from the surrounding tree line. He saw their levels—between five and eight—but quickly lost track of their numbers as more and more streamed out of the darkness and into the dim light of the moon. The goblin horde seemed well-equipped, at least for what Jay expected from goblins. Each game monster was wearing leather armor and carrying assorted weapons but there were at least two Jay could see wearing metal armor. They all included the same designation on their nameplate: Goblin Raider.
Jay didn’t have time to prepare anything fancy. He keenly felt the loss of his crossbow after the fiasco with the Big Bad Boar when his hand reached back and gripped only empty air. But the goblins didn’t take long to take note of him, so he drew his dagger in preparation for a fight.
He thought at least five were making their way toward him, although the lighting situation was not on his side. One such goblin was wearing metal armor, so he activated his Analyze ability to try to glean more information.
System Message: Analyze successful. An individual goblin raider poses little threat to prepared adventurers. The goblins have learned to balance the scales with sheer numbers. Goblins have a particular distaste for lightning magic, for reasons scholars debate to this day. Though they often possess a wide variety of scavenged equipment, many goblin raiders are not skilled in using the gear.
Jay didn’t possess any lightning magic, so the knowledge wouldn’t help him any. It sounded like the goblins wouldn’t be particularly skilled with their weapons, at least. Lack of skill could be taken advantage of. Since the message seemed to indicate each raider was a poor threat on their own, he decided his priority would be to thin the herd on unarmored targets.
As he planned his attack, he noted one of the goblins carrying a bow. The bow would be a little small for him but he thought he could make it work. Taking a steadying breath, he focused on what he knew: he could survive a couple of goblins.
Jay clashed with the first goblin to reach him, one of the armored guards. He blocked the strike easily, slipping to the side to charge a goblin on the edge of the group.
The goblin screeched; whether in terror or battle rage, there was no chance Jay could tell the difference. After trying to blow his eardrums, it attacked him with a small hatchet, better suited to attacking trees than humans. He struck the goblin a decisive blow across the back with his longer reach and grabbed the hatchet from its hand as the first opponent fell. He used the momentum to throw the hatchet at the next nearest goblin, catching it in the shoulder.
In response, the goblin growled. This one carried two small swords, warily approaching him with both swords raised above the head. The goblin was several feet shorter than Jay, although it was nearly as tall if the swords were included. Jay stalked forward to dip below the goblin’s guard but was punished by another goblin holding a club smashing him on the head.
Since his game equipment was designed to be highly immersive, he felt his head spin, vision bleary from the blow. He could feel the dirt and dry grass of the clearing beneath him. He could even hear his enemies as they shifted to finish him off. His enemies.
Jay reacted with instinct, springing from the ground to punch the club-wielding goblin square in the nose with his free fist. The goblin staggered backward and fell over, dazed. For now.
Jay then slipped below the guard of the dual swords, using the goblin’s confusion at the turn of events to his advantage, striking a mortal hit to its chest with his dagger. The remaining two standing goblins employed a real strategy in the face of Jay’s threat. The first part of that strategy was stalling with negotiation.
“You come back to camp,” shouted the goblin in heavy armor. It needed to yell to be heard through the metal helmet which was visibly too large. The second goblin carried the prized bow. At that moment, the archer goblin scared Jay the most, on account of the arrow pointed right at Jay’s heart. This goblin seemed familiar with its equipment.
The strangest part was the speaking monsters. He wondered, despite the timing, if each of these goblins was a proper NPC or if this was part of general Goblin Raider programming. Understanding how the game worked was always an advantage. The goblin Jay had punched out dusted himself off and rejoined its two companions in the fray. That went a long way toward reminding Jay of the situation he was in. The goblins now surrounded him.
“Not interested,” Jay said, using the time to size up his opponents and formulate a plan.
“You talk to boss. She like you,” the armored goblin insisted. “Boss back at camp.”
Jay stole a glance around, looking for the rest of his friends. He wasn’t surprised to catch no sight of them. There had been a lot more than five goblins in the raiding party. On edge, he turned his attention back to the immediate problem. “Like I said, not interested,” he said, drawing out the words to distract them as he simultaneously threw his dagger at the archer. He used the carry-through motion to reach for one of the swords his previous enemy had wielded.
As he surged upwards, he saw the dagger had flown true but the blade impacted the archer’s stomach. The wound was not immediately fatal, so he continued forward to finish what he started. Jay sliced the archer across the shoulders, this time dealing enough damage to kill it.
But in his haste, he had made a mistake. Jay was struck hard in the side by the armored goblin’s sword. He was more prepared for the move the second time, shifting to reduce the damage. He watched with concern as his health took a plunge. He spent a brief moment thanking his stars for his survival. He dove backward, rolling out of the way of another vicious club attack.
He charged his Wild Strike, dodging the armored goblin, and slamming the sword against the goblin’s club. The weapons clashed and locked in place for a moment, neither side wanting to give an inch.
Finally, the goblin club broke and the sword broke through, striking the second-to-last goblin in the side. Jay immediately followed up with another brutal backhanded slice to the monster's back, bringing his surviving enemies to one.
The goblin in the armor snarled. “You regret this.”
It leaped at him in a fury, the blade swings were fast and brutal. The armored goblin used a two-handed sword, larger than many human weapons. Jay could only imagine the kind of knight the goblin fought for such a weapon. It was a symbol of the monster’s raw strength. Jay could only defend himself from the attacks. Their blades clanged together, the force ringing through his joints. He dodged, he ducked, and he blocked but felt constantly like he was on the back foot.
The battle drew on as Jay looked for an opening. There was little skill involved on the goblin’s part. The powerful monster was simply stronger than him, even with Jay’s upgraded Strength statistic. Even still, Jay's advantage was being much faster. The skills that atrophied during his year-long gaming lapse were starting to return, too. After each teeth-rattling blow, his muscles groaned for a break, but he wasn’t having any problem keeping up the pace. On the contrary, the fight seemed to be making him faster.
As the fight wore on, Jay finally noticed something. He had thought for a moment the battle was increasing his speed. He was getting faster and faster. But that wasn’t it. His opponent was getting slower. The heavy weaponry and armor were slowing the goblin down as the fighting wore on. Jay found the opening he needed; even the most powerful attack was pointless if your opponent wasn’t there.
As the goblin recovered from a vicious slash, Jay ducked into its guard, getting into a position too close for the goblin to mount a proper follow-up attack. He seized the opportunity to use his sword, not to strike the goblin directly, but to ring its helmet with the pommel. The goblin stumbled.
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Jay took advantage of this to pull the goblin’s helmet off and punch it directly in the face. He was successful, so he struck again. As he pulled his fist back for a final strike, considering whether or not to charge another Wild Strike, the goblin fell unconscious. Given the realism, he felt a little weird finishing off a helpless enemy. But he also still knew he was a human player and the monster lived in a server farm. With zero enemies remaining, he turned his attention to the bow.
System Message: Goblin Bow. This weapon is not sized appropriately for you, but you are capable of shooting it. All damage dealt with the bow will be reduced by 25%. Damage: 40-60.
Jay decided the bow would do for now. He picked up his rare dagger, sheathing it in his belt, and activated Catalog on one of the fallen raiders. With the assumption that his Bestiary was updated—wherever it was—Jay searched the field for further enemies. Seeing none, he stalked to the window, peering inside.
He found Jenny and Taylor Lynn battling one final goblin, the ground littered with fallen foes. He pulled back his new goblin bow, activated an Aimed Shot, and blasted the remaining goblin in the center of the chest. The poor goblin didn’t see it coming, ending the final threat in a single blow.
“Saved you,” Jay said proudly through the broken glass. The proclamation earned him a pair of eye rolls. As he crawled through the window dramatically, gaining him nothing but a few scrapes, there was a faint sound from upstairs of boots thudding against wood. The stride ended abruptly. Jay turned towards the stairs, waiting for more enemies to appear.
“Did anyone sneak past you?” Jay asked the others without looking away. “What happened here?” Jay noticed the room was half destroyed. There were singe and burn marks all over the room. The decorative rug in the living room was still smoking, completely eviscerated.
“We were pretty absorbed in the fighting,” Jenny admitted. “Taylor blasted so many of them with her new lightning spell. It was amazing.”
“It’s Taylor Lynn,” she muttered. "Not Taylee. Not Taylor." She quickly forgot all about it. Her thoughts raced as she examined the room for loot or clues as to what would come next.
Jenny looked at her apologetically, but Jay broke through the moment: “Where’s Ken?”
***
Jenny and Taylor Lynn were searching the cabin's living room when they heard the battle cries. They immediately shot each other looks. They were the kind of looks that say oh great without a word. The journey to the cabin had been fun for her, including a few strange herbs, but their current quest didn’t feel like an investigation quest anymore.
“Did that sound like goblins to you?” she asked her friend.
“Generally speaking?” Taylor Lynn asked rhetorically. “Yes. But I have no idea what they sound like in Tumultua.” Lightning crackled between her fingertips as she considered whether or not to try out her new spell.
“Like that,” Jenny said, nodding seriously, but unable to shake the smile on her face. She was at least excited to see what Taylor Lynn’s new spell could do. She loved the crackling sound of the lightning on her fingertips. It reminded Jenny of sitting in a small alcove at home, reading a book during the storms.
Instead of using the door like people, the goblins started erupting into the room by jumping through windows like in an action movie. Jenny was struck by a mixture of suspense and excitement at the leaping goblins. They were called Goblin Raiders. She was wondering how the small creatures could jump so well when Taylor Lynn started to blast the enemies.
She continually muttered words of power under her breath as lightning started to blanket the room. She was careful not to strike Jenny, which the other woman appreciated but left little regard for anything else. As the lightning struck the enemies throughout, it arced and jumped, singeing the wood, furniture, and even the decorative fur rug.
Jenny shook off her amazement at the destructive power of the lightning. Her abilities mostly focused on bolstering her allies, which was pretty cool, but she hoped for something deadly later on. The lightning seemed like tons of fun. Pulling the tags from thin air with a few muttered words, she drew on runes with her magical power. The runes leaped across the tag and she threw the tag onto Taylor Lynn. She repeated the process with another. The tags did their work recovering the Evoker’s health and bolstering her physical prowess.
Perfect! Jenny was happy with her supporting role but knew she needed to find a better weapon than her slingshot. She couldn’t use blasts from her staff right now, because it looked like the enemies would be continuing to come for a while. She needed to conserve mp. Taylor Lynn had already blasted ten of them but more were springing through the windows. Either way, she needed to contribute, so she started pinging goblins in the head with her slingshot wherever she could.
Taylor Lynn chugged back an mp potion. She was casting furiously but the horde of goblins kept coming. The lightning seemed effective so she utilized the new spell exclusively. A goblin sprung out of nowhere, leaping over the couch and landing on the decorative rug. Taylor Lynn focused her lightning on it, blasting it to smithereens as the rug was destroyed.
Jenny said, “Nice work.” She left it there as a goblin archer caught Taylor Lynn in the knee with an arrow. The silly monster was hiding outside the window and using it for cover. Jenny restarted her tag spells, adding a fresh healing tag to Taylor Lynn. When the archer reappeared, it felt the power of the storm, which was super metal. The archer never returned.
Taylor Lynn faced down two more goblins, which seemed to be the end of the tide. She blasted the first goblin with another lightning spell. Her mp bottomed out and she didn’t have enough time to drink her other potion. She raised her staff to block. She never needed to defend against the blow because the goblin slumped to the ground with an arrow in the chest.
“Saved you,” Jay said through a freshly broken window. Jenny thought everyone was being very unfair to the poor cabin.
***
Ken was alone in one of the upstairs cabin bedrooms when he heard the cacophony of goblin battle calls. The subject of his house-wide search rested at his fingertips but meant nothing. The updated quest still hung in the air as he went to head downstairs and help the others.
System Message: My Friend’s Hut quest updated! The enigmatic old lady, Bertha Longshadow, has lost her wedding ring at her friend's hut in the woods outside Ilra. Make your way to the hut and find her ring. Wedding Ring Returned: 0/1. Ambush Survived: 0/1.
Before he could get out the door, he felt his skin crawl when a knock sounded near the window. He whirled to face it, worried some goblins might be trying to sneak up behind the party. There was no way he could allow that to happen. His eyes darted around the room as if a raider could have already broken in.
When he cautiously edged closer to peer out the window, he saw a few people on the ground outside. One of them carried a ladder, while another was closing the door to a cellar. It wasn’t helping his nerves.
He needed to warn the others. He walked backward from the window, with no idea how long it would take them to set the ladder, but convinced it would be best not to find out. He was trying to move as quietly as possible without giving up his line of sight, but he nearly stumbled as he bumped into something, well before he should have reached the wall.
It took him a moment to realize why it was so unsettling, but when Ken opened his mouth to curse, although his mouth was moving, no sound came out. He realized with a start that he hadn’t heard himself collide into anything, either.
He turned around slowly like he was in a horror movie, convinced that whatever was behind him would be worse than the goblins on the other side of the window. He found himself face-to-face with a man in silver robes. He could tell at a glance that the man carried no weapons, which only increased the terror Ken felt.
The only thing Ken could see underneath the hood was the glint of teeth from a cruel smile. He tried to yell again, wondering if his voice had been taken or if it were his hearing. A flash of silver glinted from the darkness of the hood, where his eyes should be.
System Message: You are Mesmerized. The enemy is much higher level than you, so the effect has been increased. You have been stunned for 30 seconds.
Ken felt his body lock up, unresponsive to his desperate pleas to run or fight. While he was unable to move, he could only watch in horror as the man put a finger to his lips, in a shushing motion, and then made a visible laughing motion. Neither gesture was accompanied by a sound. Then Ken’s sword was pulled from his belt, and he felt hands as he was quickly searched for other weapons. Finding his extra dagger, the man tossed that to the side as well.
As the stun effect dissipated, Ken felt a painful mental assault. White noise was playing in his thoughts, drowning out his other senses. Given the equipment he used to connect to the game, it really hurt. The man in the silver robes didn’t even move as the pain settled in, apparently not needing to speak to cast his magic.
Ken screamed but wasn’t able to make the sound. He fell to his knees as his hands tightly gripped his head, trying to make the static noise stop. The combination of the stun, the silence, and the static was seriously uncomfortable. It left him feeling disoriented and confused. The experience wasn’t torturous because the damage overcame him so quickly.
His health bottomed out three seconds after the attack started. The other player was much, much worse than goblins. He woke up in a pool under the quixotic statue of Gereg, unbothered by mental static, cursing the stranger.