Ultimatum: The Proving Grounds (9 page)

Jesse sighed. “Slave driver.”

“If needs be.”

Toby spun the sword in his grip before charging into the camp. Members of other groups were in there fighting. All of them had guild names and colors that marked them as allies.

He swung at every goblin he saw, and stopped to knock over tents and the like. The quest had said to get rid of the camp. He might be wrong, but that sounded like making sure the things they built went away, as much as making sure the goblins were gone.

A blood curdling roar rose above the camp. Toby wasn’t alone in turning to face the noise.

The creature stalking the center of the camp was far larger than a goblin. It was larger than any of the characters attacking the camp. It had the same ruddy green skin, but it was muscled and sprouting fur in places. Its maw was wider than Toby’s chest and bristling with sharp teeth between a pair of tusks.

“A bugbear? The hell?”

Toby jumped and turned to see Tim standing beside him.

“Stop bamfing around like that.”

“No can do, kiddo.” Tim shook his head at the creature. “That’s bad. Shouldn’t be here. Definitely not level appropriate.”

Toby glanced back over his shoulder at the sound of footsteps. The rest of them had caught up. Paul was frowning. “Damn it, Miller.”

Toby turned his eyes back to the creature. It roared and lifted up broken bits of wooden structures and threw them at some of the other groups. A man with a shield took the hit and was thrown outside the camp. Two healers in robes ran after him.

He spun the sword to get a better grip. “So the raid encounter wasn’t the only one he messed with.”

Paul nodded. “Looks like. Bugbears are much stronger. Goblin kings, if not goblin gods.”

Amos was watching Toby’s sword cleave the air. “Maybe it’s a test…”

“A test?”

He pointed. “That thing is beyond us at this level, maybe even if we all gang up on it, but that sword hasn’t been operating at our level. So we have the tanks distract it while we get him in close enough to wail on it.”

Paul rubbed at his beard. “Dangerous.”

Jesse shrugged. “Won’t finish the quest if we don’t clear the place out. Looks like giganto was added to the roster for this.”

Paul glanced back and forth a few times before sighing. “Right. Okay. Jesse, you stick with Tobin like glue. If his health drops below half, I’ll be very disappointed.”

She nodded. “On it.”

“Claire, you’re with me. The rest of you see if you can whittle a bit of its health off.” He raised his voice. “Tanks try and get its attention, healers stick with your tank. DPS make sure the area is clear of smaller goblins, then get in there to help. We don’t need any tiny bastards knifing us in the back after we take that thing down.”

The other groups had already been doing more or less what he said, but they gave shouts of acknowledgment.

Paul turned to Toby. “And you… don’t die. That’s an order.”

“Sir.” Toby saluted.

Jesse punched Toby in the shoulder. He could almost swear he felt it…

“Come on, let’s go get ‘em.” She moved off to the left of the group before heading forward, keeping well out of aggro range. Toby followed her.

He watched the fight happening off to his right while they circled around. The tanks engaged, trading blows with the creature. When one tank started to get into trouble, the next tank to his right would taunt it and the healers about would shore up the weakened member. They worked in unison and always knew who would taunt next. It might work in the end, but it would take awhile.

Most of the DPS were engaged with the remaining goblins about the camp, though a few ranged DPS had attacked the creature, but they were attacking slowly to keep their aggro low.

Jesse cackled and rubbed her hands together. “We get to fight the big one.”

Toby shook his head. He wasn’t sure about this. “You might be crazy.”

“Pfft.” She smiled. “Let’s see the sword.”

He held it up and she made the fire gesture. Flames played along the blade for a moment before vanishing, but an orange glow remained.

“That ought to get you a few more points of damage in the first few hits, assuming it’s not fire resistant.”

“Huh. You can just do all kinds of stuff with that, can’t you?”

“Super helpful with the cooking mini game. You don’t even know.”

He found himself smiling. “Okay, I guess it’s time I got myself killed nobly for king and country.”

“Hardly. You are the king, remember? Let this be where the world sees your strength and stands in awe of you. We could use the recruits.”

He nodded. “Right. I can do that.” He took a deep breath as he stared at the bugbear’s back.

Go time.

He charged ahead with the sword held behind him. He chucked it as hard as he could and sent the blade flying as he ran. It sailed through the air trailing a spiral of red light until it struck the creature in the back.

It roared and stood taller as it cried out to the heavens. The tanks out in front paused for a moment, but began swinging again before it recovered.

The sword reappeared in Toby’s hand even as it was vanishing from where it had stuck in the creature’s hide. Huh. Maybe if he was fast enough… there could temporarily be two of them.

He shook his head. Test later. Win now.

Toby crossed the last few feet while the creature was still wailing at the sky. The tanks had been bashing at it the entire time. With any luck, they had its undivided attention again.

It’s health had moved when the blow landed… but not by much. It would take more than a few hits to drop it, and with how much more damage he was doing he was bound to get the creature’s ire at some point.

He stabbed the sword straight ahead, a red outline of energy appearing before it as it sailed toward the bugbear.

The creature screamed as the blade pierced its thigh.

He pulled the blade clear and swung it straight down. The brighter white light appeared on the second swing as before, the blade striking the bugbear hard enough to send it down to one knee.

The tanks wasted no time in peppering it with hits from swords and maces. One even seemed to have a greatsword of his own.

Toby stopped his attack when the creature fell. He backed away a few steps as the ground shook, and he held his sword up before him. Could be block with it? He hadn’t tried. It might work… but then, even blocking a blow from a creature that size was sure to cause some harm.

Jesse hissed and waved for him to follow. She moved behind one of the fallen wooden structures. He turned and ran to join her. “What are we doing?”

“Breaking line of sight.”

“Wait… line of sight works here?”

She nodded. “If you’re still at the top of his aggro list he’ll look for you when he gets up, but if he can’t see you you’ll drop off the list pretty quick. Especially with four tanks fighting for his attention.”

Toby watched the creature through a crack in the wood. Its health bar had moved, but it was still almost seventy percent full. It budged as the tanks laid into it, but that was it. The creature barely acknowledged the tanks as it stood back up and glanced around.

“That sounds like a rogue thing.”

“It is.” She nodded. “But they have abilities to disappear. You get to hide around corners.”

More DPS were showing up to lay into the bugbear all the time. Hopefully they would muddy the list enough that he could get back out there before too long. The tanks got its attention again.

He made to stand, but she grabbed hold of his arm. She shook her head a few times. He tried to ignore the fact that he would swear he could feel her hand.

“Stay here a bit longer. You’re still near the top of the list.” Her head was peeking out as she watched the fight. She wasn’t on the aggro list.

He didn’t like watching. Every hit they took was one that could have been avoided if the thing was already dead.

Jesse nodded. “Okay, you’re probably good.”

He was running across the field before she had finished “okay.”

All of the DPS seemed to be here now. The tanks worked in concert to keep it angry but unfocused. Its health bar was steadily dropping… but the tanks were taking a beating, and some of the DPS were close enough to take damage. The healers were having a hard time keeping up.

He’d seen it before, though never in something so low level. The tanks were the priority because if they went down, everyone else was going to lose anyway. DPS could be rezed, and even if they couldn’t, it just meant a slower fight.

Well… they couldn’t be brought back this time, but that was the normal procedure.

He had the only means of changing that in hand.

The first attack was a throw, as before. The blade lanced into the creature’s back, though it didn’t lose focus this time. It was still beating on the shield of one of the tanks while two healers threw all manner of glowing lights at them.

The sword returned to his hand and he slashed at the leg again and again. Each second slash was stronger, causing the bright red and white arc to appear. The one that followed that would be a normal red strike, then the one after would repeat. The health bar dropped faster now, though the bugbear looked back over its shoulder.

He backed up a step while the other DPS continued to whittle away at it and the tanks hit it with all manner of strikes.

It didn’t care.

He was too high on the aggro list.

Toby knew better, of course. This was exactly what DPS were not supposed to do… but his team needed him. He held the sword up before him. “Come on you jolly green jackass. Hit me!”

The bugbear raised its arms high as it turned, its feet shaking the ground and pushing a few of the melee DPS away.

The tanks kept trying to get its attention, but it seemed a lost cause.

Its fists hovered in the air over its head as it roared. Both fists dropped.

As soon as he saw movement he lunged forward and ran between the creature’s legs. He ducked down, but he probably didn’t need to.

The giant fists striking the ground nearly knocked him off balance, but he managed to stay up and keep running.

The creature roared in impotent rage as it stood back up…

But Toby was long gone. He was ducking low behind a fallen tent on the far side of the fight, on the other side of the tanks and a wall of ranged DPS. It might still search for him… but by then they might whittle it down to nothing.

He had a few moments to catch his breath.

A loud roar caused him to glance around his hiding place.

The bugbear’s health was flashing read, nearly gone… but it was swinging much faster and every hit shook the ground.

The tanks could barely keep their feet. Most of the DPS had already withdrawn to a safe distance if they couldn’t hit it from range.

But that meant the damage it was taking had slowed as well. And its enraged state would last longer. The tanks were barely keeping it together. Jesse was back with the others, throwing green heals at Paul while Claire kept him glowing white almost constantly.

Toby tightened his grip on the sword. They needed him to hit it. He might be able to drop it in a couple of swings. It didn’t have much left. But in this state… it may only need to hit
him
once.

Paul would want him to stay out of it. To be safe. To ensure the mission continued.

But it wouldn’t continue long if he was alone. He needed a full raid with him at the end. He was one of many. Part of the unit.

He stood up and ran out of his hiding place. This was his job. He needed to do it.

Toby roared as he charged back into the fight.

The bugbear’s eyes immediately turned to him. Not long enough in hiding then… but he didn’t have a choice.

He lifted the sword high over his head with both hands and cast it forward with a wordless yell.

8

The sword lodged into the bugbear’s chest.

Its health bar shrank to a red sliver, barely visible.

But it was still alive.

Toby held out his hand and the sword began to reappear, but his world went askew before it had completely reformed.

He glanced around, disoriented.

It took him a few moments to realize what had happened. Tim was standing over him and a large piece of jagged, broken off wood was lodged in the ground just behind where he had been standing.

Toby stood up and shook his head as he tried to reorient himself to the world. He felt a little queasy…

Tim had already bamfed away again.

The tanks were wailing at the bugbear’s legs. Its last sliver of health not visible in the bar beyond the blinking effect.

A burst of smoke preceded Tim appearing on the creature’s back. He dug both of his daggers into it as it keeled over forward.

People had to backpedal to stay out of the way as it landed.

A window popped up before Toby’s eyes even as the ground shook from the creature landing.

“The Goblin Menace: Rank 1 - Complete!”

He tapped the window and a pair of boots appeared out of thin air in front of him. They struck the ground with a pair of thumps. He let out a sigh as he sat down. He barely noticed the level up sound or the light show this time.

He was tired. Really, actually tired. For reals tired.

Claire was the first one to find him. She lifted her hand and gave the Chang Sing salute. The name of the gangs in Big Trouble in Little China had been bugging him for awhile. He’d figured it out right about the time the Bugbear showed up. The Chang Sings fighting the Wing Kong who were working for David Lo Pan.

He had apparently lost some health at some point. The white light fixed that. Things had gotten… a bit hectic.

She gave him a nod. “Good work. That thing was way out of our league.”

“Go team, rah rah.”

“Quite.” She sat down beside him. “You okay?”

“Honestly? Tired. And Tim saved me from that bit of wood there.” He waved at it absently. “But when he knocked me down… I felt like I was going to throw up.”

She nodded. “Spacial dissonance. You were standing up, your character was lying down. Not something you ever really get used to. We tried to remove it entirely, but it made for screwy physics if people couldn’t move. So now we just try to avoid causing it.”