The little ferret moved with surprising speed, summoning and bursting her ward right in the middle of the charging boars and sending the animals and their riders veering off in all directions while Pete pulled out his bow and notched an arrow.
“Shit!” Sam blurted, looking left and right for something to use as a weapon. “I’ve got nothing!”
“You can take my machete!” Pete called out, pulling back the arrow and finding that the task was much harder than he’d anticipated.
“It’s too heavy! I need to pick up my class. Just swing me 500 Bucks and I’ll sprint for the kiosk!”
Pete aimed at the closest goblin and fired the bow, grunting and straining as the arrow went whistling through the air, entirely missing the oncoming goblin and flying past to skip off the roadside behind, sending up sparks as the arrowhead hit the ground.
“Fuck!” he blurted, drawing another arrow and trying simultaneously to pass some money to Sam as she sprinted for the Vend-o-matic machine.
Realizing immediately that he was out in the open and fully visible to the enemy, he triggered his Pauper’s Ward and notched another arrow, fumbling the attempt and sending the arrow off sharply to the right where it sailed over the top of an oncoming goblin. Before the charging goblin made contact, Pete transferred the full 1000 Belch Bucks that his Coinlink ability allowed.
The ward burst, driving the goblin back off the boar as the beast continued on, veering sharply to one side as though drunk while its goblin rider hit the ground. Pete put all his strength into pulling back the bowstring as far as he could as he notched a third arrow and aimed it directly for the chest of the enraged goblin.
He paused, quickly transferring another 1,000 Belch Bucks to Sam as he waited for the goblin to stand. The moment the little green figure stood to its full, meager height, Pete fired the arrow and heard a satisfying whoosh sound as it left the bow. It struck the goblin with enough force to lift the little creature up off the ground as it tore its way through its chest and out its back.
The arrow continued on its path, clattering on the ground a few yards behind, a moment before the goblin’s body hit the road in a crumpled mass of lifeless green flesh. The sickly splat sound Pete heard might have turned his stomach, but another goblin was almost on him, and the first rider’s boar had turned around and was charging.
>> ACHIEVEMENT: Goblin Kebab to Go!
Congratulations! You just skewered a goblin with an expertly delivered shot from your bow. Well, actually, you used an overpowered attack against a pint-sized enemy that was barely three feet in front of you and ripped out its chest like a monster, but who cares!
ACHIEVEMENT REWARD: 1 Attribute Point!
KILL REWARD: 5 Belch Bucks!
>> ARCHERY PROFICIENCY +1
Pete quickly passed the remaining money in his wallet, including what he’d just earned from the kill, over to Sam’s account via Coinlink and immediately started running. He felt the Insolvency debuff kick in as he darted to the side and narrowly avoided a now confused Goblin Scrapper as it rode past on an enraged boar. The pair narrowly missed him as Pete continued running, using his stealth status to create some distance between himself and the enemy and draw another arrow.
>> STATUS WARNING: YOUR ASS IS BROKE!
He dismissed the warning, doing so with such forcefulness that he instinctively understood the warning wouldn’t appear again unless he purposefully undid the dismissal. Pete wasn’t sure exactly how he knew this, but some part of his mind had locked onto the fact as a certainty.
He strained against the bowstring, pulling it tight and finding the closest goblin that was chasing Coop, having been dislodged from its boar and now running after the ferret along with two other goblin riders. Pete fired the bow and once more heard the satisfying twang and the whoosh of air as it zipped through the air. It didn’t hit the goblin cleanly but took the creature so forcefully in the right shoulder that it spun the goblin around and sent it careening into the oncoming path of a charging boar.
Green blood sprayed into the air as the hapless goblin was pulped by the enraged boar. The area around the impact point also shuddered with the impact, suggesting that the boar had used the same kind of enhanced charge or attack ability Pete had seen back at Coop’s house.
>> KILL REWARD: 5 Belch Bucks
Pete immediately sent the money to Sam, spinning around to find her sprinting towards the kiosk and in grave danger.
[Sam] Little help!
She was darting left and right, trying to avoid being struck down by charging boars. Sam was only a short distance from the Vend-o-matic machine, but running to help her wouldn’t do any good. Pete knelt down, trying to steady his shot and already feeling the strain in his back and shoulders as he notched another arrow and pulled it back.
He aimed for the boar to the left of Sam, trying to shoot ahead to where the boar would be a moment after he fired it and hoping that his guess was right.
It wasn’t.
The shot flew through the air but lacked sufficient height to make the distance without hitting the ground. It skipped off the ground, sending up sparks as it hit the road, and then shifted directly just enough to bounce up and hit the second boar in the eye, causing it to squeal in pain as it shuddered to a halt, bucking the goblin rider off its back and sending the little green creature right into Sam’s path.
To her credit, she punched the goblin right in the gut, sending it to the ground with a thud and giving it a kick for good measure before running for the kiosk again.
Pete loaded up his bow, thinking to finish off the wounded goblin, but realizing as he pulled back the string again that the second rider would likely hit Sam before he could kill the first goblin. Instead of kneeling, he stood, now panting heavily with the effort as he took aim. Pete tried to adjust the pitch of his shot to allow for gravity and the distance between them and fired the bow.
This time the arrow’s trajectory arced directly toward the enemy goblin, cutting through the little figure’s chest and pinning the creature back against the boar like a toothpick shoved through an olive. The goblin screamed, legs flailing as it tried desperately to pull the arrow shaft from its chest.
The boar swerved left and right, snorting and frothing like it was trying to scratch an impossible itch. A mix of green and red blood gushed from the pair, leaving a snaking trail behind them as they charged about. Pete didn’t wait to see the outcome. Although his arms were starting to ache, he was beginning to get the hang of shooting, and the thrill of that fact gave him new reserves of energy.
He aimed for the other goblin that had recovered somewhat from his injury and produced a small dagger from a sheath on his belt. A moment before Pete released the next arrow, he reflected that all the goblins seemed to be covered in tattoos, in addition to the metal piercings they all wore. He wasn’t sure of the significance of the tattoos, and it hardly mattered given the circumstances.
Once more the arrow flew directly toward his target, hitting the goblin at precisely the moment it spotted the arrow. The little figure seemed to recognize his doom, looking almost resigned as the arrow thudded into his chest and sent him to the ground in a pool of his own blood.
>> KILL REWARD: 5 Belch Bucks.
>> ARCHERY PROFICIENCY +1
>> CRITICAL DAMAGE PROFICIENCY +1
Pete already had another arrow ready and fired it at the charging boar and its pinned rider. The shot went wide, clattering into a nearby parked car as Pete pulled out another arrow and sighted his enemy. He was about to fire when the sound of galloping caught his attention.
He spun around a moment before a boar charged into his side, cutting a savage gash out of his right leg and hip as it passed by, snorting and squealing.
“FUUUCK!” he cursed, turning and firing an arrow too late and hitting the ground behind the charging boar as blood sprayed from his wounds.
[Nero] Your insolvency status, Pete! You have money in your wallet!
“Shit!” Pete transferred the coin to Sam and limped away, pulling the medkit from his inventory and immediately triggering it as blood gushed from his wound and spilled out onto the floor.
The medkit did its work, filling him with strength and vitality as he pulled another arrow from his quiver and aimed once more at the boar that had spun around and was looking for him in confusion.
>> ACHIEVEMENT: Rapid Response Unit!
Congratulations! You just used a medkit within a second of receiving a potentially life-threatening injury! At least, it might have been life-threatening if you’d given it a few more seconds. As it is, we’ll never know because chicken-boy apparently has a twitchy finger when it comes to medkits. Just remember, those puppies cost money!
ACHIEVEMENT REWARD: 1 x Common Medkit [Try not to waste this one!]
Pete spotted the boar that had gored his leg and side.
“Little fucker!” he hissed under his breath as he stalked towards the boar, pulling the bowstring back with his renewed strength and firing with all the power he could manage.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
The arrow shot like a bullet, crossing the ten feet between them and hitting the boar with comical force, splitting the creature’s skull with such ferocity that the beast was practically split in half. Blood and gore sprayed out in all directions, and Pete flinched instinctively, managing to stay just clear of the splash zone.
>> KILL REWARD: 5 Belch Bucks
On autopilot now, Pete transferred the money immediately over to Sam and looked over at the kiosk to see that she wasn’t there. He scanned the battlefield, finding only Coop, struggling to stay ahead of a trio of charging goblin riders and screaming at the top of her lungs.
[Pete] Coop! Lead them towards me. I’ll pick them off one by one.
[Coop] AAAAAAAAAHHHH!
[Pete] And maybe don’t scream through the—
[Coop] AAAAAAHHHH!
Pete took aim, focusing in on the goblin rider that was likely to be the easiest target as Coop shifted direction and ran towards him. She was darting left and right as the goblin riders threw what looked to be crude throwing knives at her. They clattered off the ground here and there, and Coop successfully managed to dodge every one of them or use her shield to deflect the attacks.
Remembering something he’d seen once in a documentary about some medieval war or other, Pete tried to steady his breathing. He inhaled deeply and exhaled a little as he drew the bow. Now aiming directly for the chest of the oncoming goblin, he held his breath and released his shot before exhaling.
While the shot didn’t hit the goblin rider directly in the center of its chest, it tore through the creature’s shoulder and continued on, thunking into the flank of one of the other boars charging behind it. The goblin who had been struck twisted in his saddle and screamed bloody murder but stayed in place as the confused boar looked for the source of the shot.
Using exactly the same process, Pete drew another arrow and fired once more, this time aiming for one of the uninjured goblins. It occurred to him that perhaps injuring each of the goblins rather than trying to kill them outright would be of greater benefit, given that he had a higher chance of success and he could do so from a stealth position with a relatively low risk of taking damage himself.
With this in mind, he spent three arrows in rapid succession, firing at the boars rather than their riders and managing to injure all three. The boars were less impacted by their injuries than their goblin riders, but striking from stealth had sown so much confusion among the group that Coop had been allowed to get free, and now the goblins were milling about, looking left and right for some sign of their attacker and whispering a certain phrase to one another over and over again.
“Gruk’tash! Snagga-Maw! Gruk’tash ek daba! Snagga-Maw Kaka!”
They repeated the phrase again and again, seemingly ignoring their injuries and backing away from Pete’s position. Coop came running up beside him, panting heavily but looking unharmed, while Sam was nowhere to be seen.
“What the hell is going on?” Coop asked. “Why are they just standing there like that?”
Pete shrugged, looking around the intersection for some sign of Sam. “No idea. Nero, can you tell us what those words mean?”
[Nero] In the common goblin tongue, they seemed to refer to a feared demigod creature, a particularly vicious member of the goblin pantheon who preys on children and those who fall short of the goblin ideal. I believe an exact translation of what they are saying would go something like, ‘Bite in the dark! Shadow Fang! Bite in the dark is here! Shadow Fang causes intestinal distress!’
Despite the grave danger they were still in, Coop began cackling with laughter. “They’re scared of some kind of boogeyman!”
“Seems like it, yeah,” Pete replied. “Maybe because I’ve been hitting them from stealth and it’s triggered some kind of primeval fear? Nero, is this Shadow Fang creature real or just something they made up?”
[Nero] I’m unsure whether the character they refer to is real; however, I have found a record in the Mammon System database that refers to this demigod character. Would you like me to display it?
It seemed an absurd time for a history lesson in goblin mythology, but the creatures were clearly rattled and were no longer attempting to attack. They looked so fearful as though they expected this Shadow Fang creature to arrive at any moment and tear them to shreds. Then there was the matter of Sam’s sudden absence. Pete’s first thought was that she had been injured, but there was a more troubling possibility that he didn’t quite want to face yet. What if she’d taken his money, picked up her new class, and then run?
Using the Coinlink ability, he set up a channel with just the two of them.
[Pete] Hey, are you okay? I can’t see you anywhere, and you can’t have just disappeared. Anyway, let me know if you’re OK; there’s something going on with the goblins. They’re scared of some kind of boogeyman.
He closed down the link, aware that he was starting to babble.
“Alright, Nero, show us.”
>> SHADOW FANG [Goblin demigod]
ALTERNATE TITLES: Slayer of the Faithless, Dark Biter, The Clickety Clack Snickety Snack,
>> PREVAILING LEGEND:
Long ago, before goblins dug their warrens deep, before they discovered the technological wonders buried below that would see them take to the stars, legends told of a dark wolf with teeth like broken moons that prowled the edges of every camp and settlement.
They say Shadow Fang is no wolf of flesh, but a shadow-born hound of the old goblin gods, prowling the edges of firelight with jaws hungering not for meat, but for faith. His law is simple: goblins exist to chase profit. A goblin without coin in their purse, without hunger in their eyes, is a goblin already half-dead—and Shadow Fang comes to finish the job.
The stories say he can smell an empty purse from miles away. He stalks goblins who sleep with no coins close, who shirk the bargaining pits, or who refuse the call of trade and toil. They are marked as “faithless”—not worthy of the hunt, not worthy of the clan, not worthy of life itself.
And so, goblin parents whisper to their whelps at night: “Keep your purse full, keep your claws sharp, and never forsake the hunt. For when the jingle stops, when the fire dies, Shadow Fang walks behind you.”
Pete nodded, beginning to understand the fear he was seeing in the faces of these surviving goblins. “It’s not real though, right? This is just a myth.”
[Nero] Correct. Well, goblinkind has advanced a great deal since it first emerged millennia ago; they still hold true to many of their baser instincts, and historical legends like this form a solid part of their identity. It is likely that they are interpreting their present circumstances through the lens of this legendary figure, as you suggest. Although it seems they are not so concerned with your arrows, Pete. Something else has them spooked.
You nodded. “Yeah, I was beginning to think the same thing. So, what are they afraid of? Can you sense anything coming?”
[Nero] Nothing of consequence. Perhaps you should consult your novice map?
Coop snorted with laughter. “He doesn’t have a map. Stupid boy sold it and gave all his money just Sam and now she’s done a runner.”
“We don’t know that she’s run,” Pete corrected. “She could be injured or—”
A figure moved out of the shadows behind one of the wrecked cars that the hobgoblins had destroyed. It jumped onto the back of the nearest boar, ripping and clawing at the goblin rider who was shrieking in panic and alarm.
Pete squinted, trying to get a better look at the beast. It was roughly the same size as the goblin and seemed to be a wolf with bright red eyes. It attacked savagely, but the goblin wasn’t killed immediately, so the two of them fought on the back of the boar for several moments as the other goblins shrieked in terror, turned their mounts around, and fled.
Coop and Pete watched in confusion as the small black wolf mauled the goblin. It continued shrieking, batting at the wolf with its bloody hands as the creature ripped and tore at the goblin with sharp teeth. This went on for a few more moments before the boar managed to buck the wolf off its back and promptly turned and charged in the same direction its companions had fled. Its goblin rider flailed about in the saddle, leaving a trail of emerald blood behind as they charged off.
“What the fuck was that?” Pete asked, drawing an arrow and watching as the small wolf turned to face him and Coop. “That can’t be this Shadow Fang character, surely?”
[Nero] I believe I have an answer to your earlier question, Pete.
Pete saw his answer before Nero continued. Sam emerged from behind the car that the wolf beast had emerged from. She was grinning, holding one hand out to the side with what looked like a ball of magical indigo light swirling around her fingers. She dropped her hand, and the ball vanished, but the wolf creature remained, trotting up beside her and nuzzling against her side as she bent down and patted its head.
Standing side by side, the wolf looked less like a hellhound and more like a pet. It seemed to demonstrate genuine fondness for Sam immediately, though they had only been together for a few moments.
“What the hell is that thing?” Coop asked as Sam came walking up to the pair.
Sam turned to the wolf, running her hand through its midnight fur. “I haven’t picked a name for him yet. This is my first summoned minion. I figure I’ll see how he does over the next few days and then pick a name that suits him.”
Pete smiled. “So, you picked up the Woe Binder class then?”
Her eyes lit up as she responded. “Hell yeah, I did. And it’s amazing! Sorry, I couldn’t reply to your message. I was in some kind of limbo place after I selected the class. I had to choose what type of summoner I was going to be and pick my first minion.”
Pete nodded, turning to look at the trail of blood stretching off into the distance in the direction the goblins had fled. “Well, it was a good choice. Turns out the goblins are scared shitless of some wolf god.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I picked the wolf as my first minion.”
“How did you know that?”
She shrugged. “Nero told me.”
Pete looked down at his gauntlet, or rather the forearm where the invisible gauntlet sat.
“What the hell, Nero? You couldn’t have clued us in to what was going on?”
[Nero] My apologies, Pete. Sam was in stasis at the time, and it is difficult to communicate details from that realm to this one. This is a new party, and I am still growing accustomed to the various linkages between party members and knowing which information I should keep private and which I should divulge to the team. As time goes on, I will become more adept at this.
“I found out about the wolf god thing,” Sam went on. “And threw the wolf out as quick as I could, but there was a glitch or something. The first time I summoned him, he took a bite out of one of the goblins but then just disappeared. I had to tweak some settings so that the wolf hung around a lot longer. Now, each time I summon him, he’ll be more or less permanent until I dismiss him.”
She shook her head.
“I had to give up some other stuff to have the permanent minion, but I figured having another party member would be a good idea.”
Pete shook his head, chuckling. “But you could have had a soulbound companion when you started this thing.”
“That’s not the same, though. This isn’t another individual that I share stats with. The wolf is a minion, an extension of my Summoner abilities.” She turned and patted the wolf once more. “He’s also cute as hell.”
“Except for the eyes, maybe,” Pete replied.
Sam nodded. “Yeah, I made them extra freaky. It looks like you’re staring directly at two portals to hell.”
“You designed them like that?” Pete asked.
“Of course. He’s only a little guy at the moment, but Wolfy’s gonna get bigger as my class advances, so I want him to look as nasty as possible. Later on, I’m gonna add in some fire on his paws and maybe even make it so that he drips tar or something. I’m still thinking through possibilities.”
“Why is he staring at me like that?” Coop asked, backing around behind Pete’s legs as the wolf began to growl.
Sam leaned over and patted the beast on the back of the neck. It looked up at her, panting contentedly and letting out a little bark of acknowledgment.
“He’s just getting to know you, that’s all.”
Coop climbed up Pete’s leg, causing him to flinch as her claws pricked his flesh. She climbed up to his shoulder and sat draped around his neck. He could feel the tenseness in her body.
“Well, you can keep it the hell away from me. I don’t trust big dogs.”
Pete snorted. “That’s not a big dog.”
“Speak for yourself, hotshot. It’s twice my size already, and Summoner Sally over there says it’s only going to get bigger.”
“Then you better make friends with it now,” Pete said, moving forward and bending down as he extended his hand towards the beast.
He let the wolf sniff his fingers, waiting patiently as the creature sniffed and then began licking. All the while, Pete could feel Coop tensing up around his neck, her claws digging into his right shoulder.
“Relax, Coop, he’s fine,” Pete insisted as the wolf continued licking his fingers, swirling crimson eyes looking up at Pete as it wagged its tail.
She only sunk her claws in deeper, forcing Pete to back away. “Jesus, Coop! Go easy with the claws.”
“I don’t like big dogs!” she replied, each word punctuated by a percussive vocalization.
“Oh, here, you should have this back,” Sam said, turning to her gauntlet.
>> FUNDS TRANSFER: 1870 Belch Bucks received.
Pete checked his wallet to find that the money had been deposited. He also confirmed that his Insolvency debuff had ended.
“How’d you transfer all the money in one go?” he asked. “I thought there was a thousand Buck limit?”
“Through Coinlink, yeah, but not when you transfer it directly like this. I think, if we’re standing close enough to each other, you can pretty much transfer as much stuff as you want.”
[Nero] Correct. As you are both in the same party and provided you are within 10 feet of one another, you can transfer any number of items and funds from one individual to another, provided it does not exceed the amounts that can be held by the individual receiving the funds or items.
“Good to know,” Pete said. He looked around at the battlefield. “I guess we should start cleaning up then, right?”
Sam nodded. “Guess so.”