Sir Lots-O-Lance the Dark Knight marched up to a group of players at the edge of the woods. His hand rested on the pommel of his sword, now sheathed at his hip. It was annoying how the sheath swung around, banged into stuff, and even got tangled between his legs sometimes, but by keeping a hand on it he had more control. He was getting used to moving around in his armor too, learning where it bent and where it didn’t. He was still a long way from graceful, but his movements weren’t nearly as stiff as they were before. Glancing at the player ID tags above everyone’s heads, he confirmed that this was the right place.
D3m0nKing wore black robes, held a thick leather-bound tome under one arm that looked like it was made from a Frankenstein-style patchwork of different skins, and he had an evil-looking serpentine knife sheathed on his belt. A couple of small humanoid creatures with pebbly skin the color of blood rode on his shoulders.
Flam3Qu33n was the flashiest of the bunch, wearing red robes that were slit along the sides and front so they flared out when she moved, revealing a whole lot of leg as she twirled her flaming staff in smooth unbroken arcs around her. She pirouetted in place, letting go of the staff so it could roll over an arm, a thigh, or her neck while dancing sinuously as D3m0nKing watched with a contented smile.
Healz4Hire stood off to the side in more modest white robes with a silver pendant shaped like a starburst resting on her ample chest, picking at the end of a gleaming scepter and ignoring the other two. She spotted Lance first and got King’s attention. Queen stopped dancing and the flames on each end of her staff guttered out. She scrunched up her face before turning to King.
“Really? You hired this guy?”
King shrugged.
“Yeah. He’s got some solid gaming experience and already unlocked a hidden archetype. We needed a tank, he’s got a passive AOE debuff, and he can capture slaves for me to sacrifice.”
“Well I’m not calling him that.”
Sir Lots-O-Lance lifted his helmet visor and smiled, extending a hand and suppressing his annoyance.
“It was supposed to be a play on Lancelot, but I guess it was a little immature. You can call me Lance.”
Queen ignored the offered hand but King took it and gave it a shake. A party invite popped up in front of Lance and he accepted it right away.
“Welcome to the team Lance. Glad to have you with us. You’ve already met Queen, our beautiful Firebrand and dedicated damage dealer. This is Healz, the other mercenary in our little band of ne'er do wells. She’s our healer, obviously, and she’s also going to be our strategist so unless I say otherwise, do whatever she tells you to.”
Queen’s expression got a bit more sour at the mention of the healer. Lance nodded to Healz and got a nod in return, then he looked at the party window out of the corner of his eye, noticing that there were five names listed there.
“Where’s Gh0stH0und?”
“Ghost is close by. He should be back soon and then we can get going. Here.”
King handed over a belt with a few small loops holding finger-sized glass vials filled with bright red or yellow liquid and stoppered with corks.
Small Potion Belt
Durability: 25/25
Capacity: 5
Contains:
Minor Healing Potion x3
Consuming this potion will restore 50 HP over 5 seconds Minor Stamina Potion x2
Consuming this potion will restore 50 SP over 5 seconds
Special Effect: Potions stored in this belt can be accessed during combat
“Try not to use these unless you have to. Potions are rare this early after release and we’re not going to be able to restock agan for a while.”
“Thanks,” Lance said, buckling the belt around his waist.
“Don’t mention it. You can’t keep us alive if you die after all.”
A scout chose that moment to emerge from the woods, holding a struggling rabbit by the scruff of its neck.
“Success!” Gh0stH0und shouted, walking up to King with the rabbit. “I bring another soul for the king of demons! Our ascent shall be swift. The Empress will rue the day she chased us from our ancestral homeland.”
Queen sneered again.
“Ugh, could your little brother be any more lame?”
“But of course, my Queen,” Ghost said without missing a beat. “Simply command it and I shall see your will executed like all those who stand betwixt thee and thy throne!”
King chuckled before playing along with his brother.
“Well done my loyal servant! Lay the captive on the sacrificial stone and we shall summon another minion for our army.”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Ghost held the rabbit down on a wide rock that didn’t seem special while King drew his evil looking dagger.
“You’re over here,” Healz pointed beside her. “Get ready for a fight.”
Lance stepped into position and drew his sword. Queen stayed beside King but reignited her staff, spinning it lazily while passing it from one hand to the other and back. King commanded his two imps down to the ground, arranging his party in a circle around the rabbit. When they were ready, the warlock stabbed the struggling animal with his sacrificial dagger.
A chorus of ghostly wails echoing as if they came from the end of a long tunnel burst from the rabbit along with eerie black flames. Ghost jumped back, taking up his position on the other side of Healz and drew his twin daggers. For five seconds, the rabbit thrashed, sinking into the ground while a black puddle oozed out around it. After the rabbit disappeared entirely, a pair of skeletally thin, blood-red hands tipped with long black claws reached up through the portal, grabbed the dirt, and pulled the rest of its hunched, emaciated form from the burning ground.
Lv3 Demon
(???/??? HP)
“Hell yeah!” King shouted. “That’s a ghoul!”
The demon snapped its head up, milky eyes fixing on the warlock that just summoned it.
“Do you have control?” Healz asked.
King's face fell as he stared into thin air, clearly reading his notifications and not liking what they told him.
“Lance, you’re up!’ Healz said.
Golden light flowed from Healz’s scepter, enveloping Lance, and making him feel all warm and fuzzy.
Healz4Hire blesses you with Armor of Light Lv2
+6% damage and magic resistance for 1 minute and 30 seconds
+6% effectiveness of healing from all sources for 1 minute and 30 seconds
Lance shouted, stepping into a thrust that hit the demon in the side. It hissed and turned on the knight, lashing out with a gangly arm that was longer than he expected. Its claws screeched against his armor like fingernails on a chalkboard, but Lance pulled his sword back, got his shield in place, and came in for another swing that hit the ghoul in the shoulder. It screamed and attacked again grabbing the edge of Lance’s shield and pulling it out of the way before going for his face with its other hand.
Lance flinched but his helmet visor kept him from getting his eyes gouged out. He roared and started laying into the Ghoul, trading blow for blow with the unnaturally strong creature. He definitely couldn’t be called graceful, but he just needed to show King that he had the guts to stand and take a beating. Healz waited until he was down to half of his health before pouring healing magic into him, each spell restoring 22 health points instantly. Even if it was just the two of them, they would have had a pretty good chance of winning, but they weren’t alone. Their strategist was just waiting for the right moment.
“Alright,” Healz announced loudly. “He’s got enough aggro. Burn it down!”
Ghost leapt forward, leading with his daggers. “Have at you fiend!” He shouted, stabbing the demon in the back. It was too preoccupied with lance to turn and deal with this new threat though. Queen followed suit, the lazy dancelike twirling of her staff suddenly accelerating to a speed that left an afterimage like a flame-wheel hanging in the air before she brought her staff down on the back of the demon’s head.
A small explosion burst from the point of impact with a bang and flames clung to the demon, causing more damage over time. She instantly reversed the spin and struck with the other flaming end of her staff before stepping back and taking a few seconds to reignite her weapon. King just stood there with a sour look on his face, but he did send his imps into the fray. They climbed up onto the ghoul's legs, gnawing and scratching, but only doing about as much damage as a couple of kittens.
Lance kept hacking at the demon and managed to keep its attention locked on him, letting Queen work her fiery magic without interruption, putting up some seriously impressive damage numbers. As arrogant as she was, at least she could back up that attitude with her skills. It wasn’t long before the monster collapsed.
You have helped to slay a Lv3 Demon
(0/250 HP)
+5 experience
(180/300 exp to level 3)
“Five experience? How the hell is something like that worth so little?” Lance complained before remembering that he was trying to make a good impression.
“Party members share exp,” Healz explained. “It doesn’t go as far when you split it five ways, but when you consider how much faster and safer it is to fight as a group, it evens out.”
“Demons are real bastards too,” King said. “No fun to fight, but lots of fun to control. Just think of how badass it would be if we had that thing on our side.”
“Indeed,” Ghost chimed in. “That wretch should have known better than to defy its king.”
Queen huffed.
“Are we done here? I’m tired of this starter zone. Let’s get a move on already.”
“Sounds good to me,” King agreed. “Healz can patch up Lance while we’re on the move. So, where to big guy?”
Lance took a moment to realize that King was asking him for directions. When it became obvious he shrugged.
“What are you asking me for? I thought I was just the hired muscle.”
“Don’t you have some kind of tracking ability?”
“Yeah, but it just shows me the way to one guy.”
“One woodsman,” King corrected. “I’m betting that he’s miles into this forest by now, scouting out the perfect place to set up camp. We’re gonna double-time it through these woods, track him down, and take his settlement before he can get established. Then we can take our time building up a demon army before most of the other players can catch up to us. If we start raiding their settlements before they get their feet under them, we can snowball out of control while the guilds duke it out among themselves for the prime real estate closer to the Harbor.”
Lance looked at Healz.
“It’s a solid plan,” she said.
“Uh, I gotta warn you. This guy’s kinda badass.”
Queen snorted.
“I don’t care how good he is. No solo player can take on a full party with demons backing them up. Let’s go steamroll this fucker and start building our evil empire. I can’t wait to have a palace full of servants to step on.”
“I love it when you talk like that.” King murmured, pulling her close and making her smile.
Ghost broke character long enough to gag. Lance shared another glance with Healz who just shrugged. A crazy client was still a client. Who cared if they abused NPC’s? So long as they paid him on time and picked plenty of fights that would boost his experience and infamy, that was all he cared about.