Karen stepped right on through while Alburet pulled out one of his last few golds, “Thanks again, Rolland.”
“Our pleasure sir, and our thanks. You have been the only one of late who has tipped us consistently and we appreciate that.” Rolland bowed slightly, “We look forward to your continued patronage.”
“See you soon, I’m sure,” Alburet replied with a smile before stepping onto the glyph.
In a blink he was standing in a fort half the size of the one near the goblin area, but with the same number of men stationed there. He glanced out the gate to see grass lands stretching away with small groups of Orcs with really ugly wolves patrolling the area.
“Orcs and wargs. So cliché, am I right?” Karen asked from beside him. “Shall we get going?”
Alburet called Tiny and Bob to him then reapplied his Demon Skin. “Okay, I’m ready to kick ass and chew bubble gum.”
“There is no bubble gum here,” Karen laughed, “so just ass kicking it will be.”
Tiny grumbled, “Can I just cut them in half instead?”
Bob laughed, “So simple it hurts.”
Rolling his eyes, Alburet replied, “It means we are going to kill lots of stuff, Tiny, and yes you can.”
The group set off with Karen in the lead as she knew the patrol points of the Goblin Messengers from her time in the beta. As they went they dispatched the few groups of roving orcs with wargs that they encountered. During the first combat Alburet learned something interesting when Tiny was tripped to the ground by a warg. Once combat was over Karen shrugged, “Sorry, forgot to tell you. If they land a bite on your leg they’ll try to pull you down so you’re more vulnerable to the Orcs.”
“Good to know,” Alburet said as Tiny healed up as combat was over. “So, new plan. Kill the wargs first so we don’t have to worry about it as much.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Karen said as they started moving again, “why do you play with immersion all the way up?”
“I would love to tell you but I can’t at this time,” Alburet apologized.
“Hmm, mysterious. I just find it weird that you wanted to have full pain during the sparring matches.”
“I live dangerously. I’ll find out in a few weeks what I can and can’t discuss. If you’re still around then, maybe you can find out.”
“Ha, baiting the trap to keep my attention, right?”
“I thought being able to use me as a training dummy was enough,” Alburet chuckled.
“Well, that is in your favor. Most guys either want to prove they’re better than me or they just leave. You’re not doing either, which speaks to your favor.” Karen said, then seemed to fade out as she stealthed.
Alburet blinked then noticed the group of orcs with a single warg coming towards them, “Ah, well spotted.” Turning to Tiny he pointed to the group while applying the normal buffs to his minion, “You’re up, Tiny.”
It took them a little over an hour of running and fighting to get the spot Karen wanted. When they sat down to rest for a moment Alburet noticed his mail icon blinking at him.
Message from Gerald:
Hey Alburet, we would be glad to meet up for whatever you have in mind. Rather than me and Mary both sending you messages I’m sending for both of us. Let me know where and we’ll be there as quickly as we can.
Alburet glanced at the time stamp which showed as two minutes ago before he sent back his reply with the info attached. “Karen, two will be joining us. A tank and healer pair. I told them where we were, so they should be along in an hour or so.”
“Sounds good,” Karen replied leaning back slightly as she sat on the grass.
“Orcs coming,” Tiny rumbled as he waited for his buffs.
“Thank you, Tiny,” Alburet said, buffing up his meat shield, “off you go.”
Tiny charged the group as soon as Alburet said he was ready. As a group they focused the warg down first before cleaning up the orcs. Alburet was very unimpressed by the orcs. Sure, they were two levels below him, but he was sure he would have been able to handle the packs of them even without Karen.
“You’re doing a very good job Tiny, you’re making it so easy,” Alburet said as the group healed up after the fight.
“Thank you, master,” Tiny rumbled as he looked around for the next group.
“So I’m what, chopped rat livers?” Bob groused.
Chuckling, Alburet shook his head, “No, thank you too, Bob. You have to admit though, things are easier with Tiny around to take the brunt of the attacks.”
“Yeah, but that’s all he’s good for.” Bob said snidely, “All he will ever be good for, in fact. When I improve I get more utility, like a ranged area of effect spell. He gets a group taunt, but so what, it’s not all that useful.”
Tiny snorted, “The weak always act so big.”
Bob started to puff out his chest, “Don’t make me teach you a lesson, you overgrown…”
“Enough!” Alburet snapped. He glared at Bob then at Tiny, “You are both valued minions to me. Each of you performs a role that is vital to my success, so stop this back and forth. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes master,” Tiny rumbled.
“But…” Bob began then shut up as Alburet glared at him, “Yes master.”
“Wow, just like a couple of kids, am I right?” Karen said with a shake of her head. “I had a pair of brothers in my last Judo class like that. I kicked them both out after the second class because they couldn’t behave.”
“I don’t deal with kids as a matter of course. The only one I had much contact with was my friend’s daughter, and she never behaved like that.” Alburet replied, his mind wandering back to Kaylee growing up.
“Something wrong?” Karen asked a touch of concern in her voice.
Shaking his head, Alburet banished his thoughts, “No just thinking of days gone by that won’t come again.”
“Next group coming,” Tiny rumbled, interrupting the conversation.
Alburet got to his feet, buffing Tiny again with the short term buffs. “I wonder if I get the option to extend the duration of the buffs later?” He wondered aloud as he finished buffing Tiny, “Good to go.”
Tiny roared and stepped out to meet the orc patrol. As the group died Alburet noted that even with all the bickering, Bob did his job and didn’t try to pull aggro. After they looted the mobs, he turned to Bob. “Bob, I do want to thank you as well. Even with the issue a moment ago you’re still doing everything right and not causing problems by trying to pull them off Tiny.”
“You would be unhappy if I did, which means I might be sent away for a time. I don’t want that. All I want to do is kill your enemies for you,” Bob said plainly with a shrug. “Thank you for the kindness though, master.”
Your standing with Bob has improved, you are now Respected by Bob.
Bob receives a 50% bonus stats and damage due to his happiness.
Alburet blinked then chuckled, “Bob, you really are awesome.” Karen looked puzzled so Alburet explained his chuckle to her. “Bob is now happy enough with me to view me with respect, which means he gets bonus stats and damage.”
“Ah, so that’s how minion happiness works,” Karen said. “I wondered about that. I grouped with a Summoner during the beta who was always complaining that his pet wasn’t doing as much as it should. I guess he probably had negative happiness with his minion.”
“Probably. Minion happiness is influenced by their loyalty. Bob and Tiny are the most loyal minions I could have chosen. The tradeoff was that they were the weakest stat wise. However, they gain happiness faster and lose happiness slower than the others would have. All in all, my minions are the best ones in the world.”
Your standing with Tiny has improved, you are now Respected by Tiny.
Tiny receives a 50% bonus to stats and health due to his happiness.