Path To Radiance; First Ascent

Chapter 10 - First Ascent: Part 2

After Tamos dealt with most of the rats, he turns his attention to the Goblin caster. Both mages hurl magic at each other. The masses collide and disappear in a burst of light.

Brick is holding his own against the Leader. Now that the caster is preoccupied, he can focus on just one target. They trade blows, one deflecting the other's sword with their shield then lashing out, just to be deflected themselves.

I pretty much don't do anything other than watch everyone's back, blocking an ill-placed thrust, aims a slash, or swing here or there. There just isn't an opening for more. As I have chosen a support role, I feel I am making up for my earlier blunder by keeping them all safe.

I do notice one way I can help end this fight once it's down to just the Goblin Leader and Caster.

"Brick and Tamos. Keep these bastards busy." My voice seems to add some vigor to Brick's posture. I then signal Tella and Rina to me. They lean in. "I have an idea but it will be uber risky. Are you in?" I look from one to the other and they give me a slight nod. They then both scowl at each other before looking back at me to listen to my orders.

After I explained my plan, Rina gives me a slightly doubtful and disbelieving look. "You are crazy. Do you even see all the holes in this plan? It requires both of those two to cooperate with no heads up." She indicates Tamos and Brick.

"It'll work. Let's do this, my Lord. I'm in." Tella said with confidence.

Not wanting to be outdone, Rina also agrees. "I am in as well, even if this does sound spectacularly dumb."

"Wait for three seconds. Then do it." As if my words carry my intention, a small window pops up. It's a simple stopwatch. There's a bubble selector for Self or Party. Making sure Party is selected, I set it for three seconds and hit go. A small digital timer appears in my vision and begins to count down.

00:03

The three of us get into position.

00:02

We make sure to remain behind either Brick or Tamos to not give away our intentions. Tella and I line up behind the Squire and Rina behind the Mage.

00:01

We all ready our weapons.

00:00

A sharp tone sounds. Whether the Goblins can hear it or not doesn't matter. The three of us spring into action.

Rina begins her swirling dance. Her steps bring her right in front of Tamos. She releases both chakrams at once. They both curve outwards then right back in at the Caster. Rina springs back just in time for Tamos to throw a fresh ball of magic at the Goblin.

Rina's timing is perfect. The caster raises his staff to defend himself and lost the light around his right hand. After the blades begin their return trip, Tamos' magic strikes the Caster in the chest. Thankfully, it was his bigger "Magical Blast" not just the regular attack from his wand. The Goblin's screams in pain.

Rina springs forward into a handspring. Upon landing on her feet, she catches her chakram then she continues into a roundoff. As she lands, the chakram is sent back at the Caster and his cry ends. With surprisingly little sound, his head falls to the ground with a spray of dark blood.

Until then, the leader would have blocked this attack with his shield, saving the Caster's life. This time, however, he could not. Tella and I had charged the tall goblin. I hooked my arm around his sword arm while Tella pulled back the shield. The dual attack separating the Goblin's focus.

Brick, sharp as ever, jumps with his arm pulled back. His sword begins to glow. He uses all the force he can to jab his blade down through the Goblin's head. The Leader has been watching Brick's rise and descent. The blade takes out both of the black eyes and the point erupts out of the back of the creature's skull.

With two loud thumps, both corpses hit the ground at about the same time.

All five of us stand with our weapons ready. After a few seconds, a familiar tone sounds and the bars locking the golden door slides back. A treasure chest appears in a flash of light ten feet in front of the door.

We all cheer. Brick hugs and dances everyone around. Tamos and Tella both look extremely uncomfortable. Rina plays along but is hesitant. When he turns to me, I return his grasp with every ounce of enthusiasm he's showing.

"We did it!" He chants. As we bounce around briefly, I catch a sweet scent. Our laughter fills the chamber. He is right. We had done it.

I feel a tap on my shoulder. When I turn, both Tella and Rina are looking at me with disapproval.

"And what, exactly, were you doing at the beginning of the fight!?" Rina yells at me. Her face is full of blood and anger.

I threw my hands up in pacification. "I'm sorry! To be honest, I don't exactly know what was going on. I could only see red. The only thing that mattered was the death of that Caster." I look at my hands which I had turned to see my palms. "I....lost control." My voice cracks.

A reassuring hand lands on my shoulder. It's Brick. He steps between us and turns to me, keeping his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, homie. We did it!" His voice instills confidence in me. I meet his eyes. "You should check your combat log when we camp to see what was up." He nods.

I continue to nod too and we shake hands. Rina throws her arms around me briefly. "You're right. Jut, we did great! Your plans went off without a hitch."

I step out of her grasp and look about. "Let's get this loot. We're going to have to find the key."

"Who gets to open the door?" Tella asks.

"I say we roll. I'll abstain as I have already opened a door." I said as I lean over the Leader's body. "Then we'll get our prizes." Spotting something glinting at the Leader's waist, I reach down and pull the key off his loincloth. Thank God it's on his hip and not somewhere else. Not a whole lot of storage options with a loincloth.

A normal Roll on loot in most other MMORPGs is usually initiated upon the opening of the treasure chest, just like it was in the sewers. I found an option under the party tab in my party menu that allows me to call for a different kind of roll. Instead of Need, Greed, or Pass popping up, this window will only give a 'would you like to roll? yes or no.' Once the player selects yes, they are assigned a random number. The highest number wins.

Instead of opening the options window to initiate the roll, however, I try just willing the roll to start. To my surprise, it works. A small window appears.

Do you wish to initiate a party roll?

Yes or No

Hitting yes, the window changes. This one asks me the "maximum" number and has a blank spot. When I touch the blank, I can input a number. I choose ninety-nine and press OK.

Another window appears in front of everyone.

Would You Like to Roll?

Yes or No

I choose no.