One [Heavy Thrust] later from the guard as it attempted to kill our tank with its last blow, and I was able to chop deeply into the neck of the goblin, cutting the entire length of the axe-head into its throat. Then with as strong of a pull as I could muster, ripped it out as its head flopped about.
As the goblin guard fell to his knees with his head loosely held on, I took my new hand-axe and hacked once more all the way through, severing it completely as it fell to the floor and rolled away. It was disgustingly gruesome, but it got the job done.
I wasn't about to die to a goblin a second fucking time.
There would be no letting down of my guard, before the fight was truly over.
I learned my lesson the first time and I would make sure a dead creature was truly dead from that point on. But, damn, I was getting mad again and I didn't really understand why. Maybe it had to do with the competition, the nature of the game, but I was getting angry during a lot of these fights.
Whatever, it was working for me, so I couldn't complain.
"That was easy," said the dwarf after we all had a moment to breathe.
"It actually was," chimed in the priest a little later. "I didn't have to heal you nearly as much since they all fell so fast. What changed? It was supposed to be harder."
"Less goblins," the dwarf replied casually. "I only saw three of 'em and the two smaller ones fell quick. I'm half tempted to try the fourth floor right now."
I was in agreeance, now that we had learned the mechanics of the fight and the group was in sync, we had a pretty good chance of clearing through the entire dungeon. I didn't want the group to end so long as the goal line was in sight, but before anything could be said to persuade the group, my hopes were crushed.
"Ah no can do guys, I've got work in five hours," interrupted the mage as he waved. "I'll see you guys later but I'm logging off, need some sleep, good run all."
"Eh, work," mumbled the dwarf, clearly disappointed.
"Let's sort the loot and be on our way then?" proposed the priest as he eyed the items on the floor. There wasn't a whole lot from this boss, just a [Crude Iron Dory] which was a decent quality, common grade spear that was slightly better than the [Old Dory]. Oh, and the hand-axe I picked up, a [Crude Iron Hand Axe] that was a decent quality item as well, and was surprisingly decent.
It was actually better than the two-handed axe I was using before and could easily double as a small woodworking axe or as my one-handed axe for my tanking set, paired with a shield. I started to laugh a little as my quest to become a full-fledged Viking was progressing smoothly. Now all I needed was my longship and a few warriors to run around with me… and maybe a pet dragon.
If we could have a pet dragon, that is.
"It is three in the mornin'," said the dwarf with a sigh. "Guess it ain't a bad time to call it quits, can hit it again tomorrow."
"I could kind of guess from the accents, but Aussies yeah?" I decided to ask, just for future reference. "It's only ten in the morning here, so figure you're on the other side."
"Yeh, it's a bit late 'ere," he replied. "We'll be back at it, I'll invite ye if yer around." At that moment, I received a friend invite from the dwarf and I readily accepted it, seeing as I had no reason not to. He was a good player, had his head on straight, and was a bit aggressive, all the things I valued in a party member. Now his name was visible in the drop-down menu that listed all of my two friends and I started to chuckle at how empty it truly was.
But hey, I was on the road to popularity now!
Ellieby was the first one, that trader I had met previously, and now, this dwarf tank known as Barik Grimsson was on my friend's list as well.
I wasn't expecting much from the Call to Arms so everything else was a bonus.
I was only really expecting to find some quests, random pick up groups, maybe some loot, and a bit of experience, but as it were, I was forging some early connections that could be quite useful down the stretch. It was always a good thing to have potential allies in a game that was so heavily focused on both the Player versus Player action along with the Player versus Environment aspect.
"Ey, mage isn't yer first role is it?" asked Barik with a grin.
"Nah, started with archery then worked my way into axes, picked up lightning just recently actually," I replied honestly. I had no reason not to be upfront anyways, no one knew anything about lightning magic in general, since it was an unpopular proficiency. There was little risk in him or anyone else finding out I was a bit special.
"Right, figured that was the case," said Barik plainly as he turned to walk away with a light wave. "Be seein' ya."
"Likewise, thanks for the group," I followed up as the party disbanded and everyone went their separate ways, not wanting to waste another minute.
It was always funny how abruptly groups disbanded and fell apart once the goal was reached. You could spend hours with some people, develop a short but ultimately temporary acquaintanceship and then when the task at hand was complete, in a matter of seconds everyone would bail as if they couldn't stand to be in the party a minute longer. Heck, the dungeon wasn't all that hospitable anyways, so I couldn't blame them.
But, online relations were certainly strange.
The funny part, was that it wasn't always like that.
In the past, people treated online communication as an extension of normal face-to-face communication, using proper manners and such as if it were required. Then somewhere down the line, as more kids gained access to the net perhaps, acronyms and slang became more prevalent. Now, it was almost weird to see interaction sometimes. Just like the archer in the group who didn't talk, that was considered normal behavior.
It was socially a bit strange, but not online.
Not here, in this game.
Well, we had been pushing hard for around two hours, so even I was feeling a little fatigued after the party disbanded. Not that I was exhausted but, it was just one of the game's strange features to prevent excessive grinding. It was a bit odd that it hit so quickly though. Maybe that had to do with the harsh environment of the dungeon, breathing in this smoke… an added effect for realism, perhaps.
Oh well, it was a good enough of a time to take a break.
Chapter 44: Perusing for Profit
(Saturday, May 29th Game Day / Friday, February 19th Real Day)
After finishing my breakfast and taking care of my, duties, I walked back into the cube and started to connect all of the required attachments. Most of them were sensors but the ones that attached to your head were used to send and receive electrical signals from the brain; those were the important ones. Sometimes, when strapping up, I would get that feeling of déjà vu, as if I had taken the red pill at some point.
If that was really the case, I'm not sure I would want to face the reality.
Well, my reality was what I wanted it to be anyways.
Once I initiated that log in sequence and the room starts to dim until it's pitch black and I can no longer see the hand in front of my face, it would only be a minute before the game state takes over and my consciousness fades to the other realm.
And, that's exactly what I did.
As if life were a dream, I found myself waking up from my nap underneath a tree as the cold night air sent a chill through my body. The silence of the night was a little unnerving but it was also comforting in a strange way.
I could barely make out the sound of voices off in the distance but I wanted to enjoy the serenity of the moment, and pretended not to hear. The stars were shining brightly but the colorful aurora was barely visible from here.
It was a shame.
Even so, it was still a lovely sight while lying on my back, watching for shooting stars and other odd events in the night sky.