'Ughhhhh, my wallet! How did this thing mercilessly steal 210 from my pocket??!!!!! Wouldn't that qualify as theft or invasion of privacy or something like that???'
'….Again, I don't remember have ever signed anything related to my bank account in this game. And yet this game can access it so easily, what the heck??????!!!!!'
While I was agonizing over the loss of my money (again), I also saw how things were unfolding with the NPCs. The big pixelated guy seemed to be unraveling the red female figure(?) while everyone else watched. Including those who had tried to catch the NPCs who had helped him.
'It was a good decision to give them those potions, the question is whether they'll use them.'
This was another aspect of the game that I found fascinating. Even when you gave a consumable item, the items weren't always activated instantly, which I interpreted as the NPCs themselves saving them for when they needed them most. This was an option, considering that those two potions were not common, one being orange and the other violet with white. They are respectively:
[Warrior Awakening Potion (rare): a strange and mysterious mixture that opens the warrior's paths. Once consumed, the individual will have a strengthened body and gain more basic knowledge of combat.]
[Mage Awakening Potion (rare): A strange and mysterious mixture that opens the paths of magic. Once consumed, the individual will have a strengthened mind and will gain the basic notions of how to use mana.]
And the next items (some at least) were also quite good, like the ones I sent to the "protagonist" of this mission.
[Orcish Iron Club (uncommon): A club made by, and for, orc warriors from various tribes, a versatile weapon that is easy to use but difficult to master.
Durability: 130/130
• 15% increase in attack
• 10% increase in critical hit chance
• Built-in ability: (Parry)
—Description: Blocks an enemy attack without causing damage to the user, 5% to 15% chance to return enemy attacks.]
[Red Calendula Tunic (uncommon): A tunic crafted for squires and novice knights. Durable and comfortable, it also offers good defense against various types of weapons.
Durability: 150/150
•20% increase in vitality and HP
•10% chance to defend against attacks that cannot be dodged.]
Okay, I won't say the result was (that) bad for 210 (at least in the context of the game), out of 15 lucky spins I got 5 uncommon or rare and another 6 common. While the rest was (literally in some cases) garbage.... But still, it was 210, couldn't it have been around 59 or something like that???!!!!!
Despite my numerous complaints about the price charged (and how it was paid), if it helps to find it with this fight, I'm not against it. As soon as he received the items, the NPC equipped them immediately, and his health bar (which was dangerously close to red) recovered to just before half, thanks to the potion and the tunic.
'It was less than I expected, but at least it was something.'
Out of immediate danger, he equipped the club and let out a sort of roar that increased his speed, attack, and critical hit chance, as shown on the screen. Then, he charged at the enemy NPC (literally); one moment he was near the other three NPCs, and the next he was facing the enemy NPC.
'I don't remember any teleportation abilities on any of the equipment or potions, how did he do that...? Don't tell me that roar gave him that much of a speed buff, okay?!'
Because if it's the second one, following the logic of the games, he'll either be completely vulnerable after the buff effects wear off, or he'll just drop dead.
"After all that work, please don't die because of some stupid mistake."
Obviously the NPC couldn't hear me, but I still hoped my intentions had been conveyed.
He struck the boss directly in the head with his club, but she created a black shield before it hit, sending her flying to one of the corners of the square. Instead of immediately going after her, he attacked the guards who were closest, needing only two hits each to reduce their HP to zero.
As he was about to continue the attack on the boss, she launched an attack at him, another black sphere. He, in turn, attacked the attack meant for him.
He briefly flashed with a white light, and when the club struck the black sphere, it bounced off like a baseball, hitting one of the curious/idiotic onlookers who remained in the square to watch the whole drama unfold.
[Gregor activated Skill (Parry)]
[Skill successfully activated, attack repelled]
[Gregor regained 10 proficiency in Con (Heavy Weapon)]
'Okay, this is new.'
I'm sure this didn't happen in the fight with the imp/goblin, and those were believers and devotees of mine. Gregor is still ambiguous about whether he'll even become one of my believers.
...Well... seeing how things have unfolded since the beginning of this whole mess, the chances of him not becoming (at least) a believer are quite low, but my point is that this proficiency notification didn't exist before. I didn't even know that NPCs and characters had proficiency levels, or that they could be increased by successfully activating a skill.
Seeing that the attacks on the person were working, the mission boss used some kind of mind control magic and forced about 10 of the spectators to join the fight, sending them after the "protagonist."
'?? Did she forget that he could withstand attacks from armed enemies and fend them off without much trouble? Why use a bunch of even weaker people?'
I didn't understand, but maybe it was something in the script. Gregor, in turn, delivered a single powerful blow with his club that sent almost half the mobs flying (whether they ended up dead I don't know, after all, so far the only death notifications I've received have come from deaths I caused myself or my "subordinates").
The sight of the allies being sent flying didn't discourage the others, who still attacked, and like the previous ones, were promptly repelled. The boss still didn't tire and continued sending more mobs after Gregor.
After 5 seconds of this... "suicide strategy," I realized she was just buying time for her buffs to run out. Gregor had understood this beforehand and kept trying to get as close as possible to her, but every time he got close, she created waves of black shields and sent them to push Gregor back.
'If this continues, it won't be long before Gregor gets tired. But I'm out of recovery potions.'
Tsk, sly one.
But the worst part wasn't just that.
The boss wasn't just waiting for Gregor to run out of energy; she was actively working to finish him off. Besides the waves of shields, she was also accumulating energy in one of her hands.
I thought she was going to make some kind of giant sphere to swallow Gregor, but I don't know if it was the program, the story, or even the NPC's AI in action, but her objective was even worse than that.
She threw the sphere to the ground, generating a dark field. Everyone around her was pulled into this dark energy and twisted. Three seconds later, the ground, where the NPCs Gregor had either killed (or just knocked unconscious) had been, was almost completely clear of them. In their place were five monstruous creatures. They were incredibly detailed, though not entirely pixelated.
They appeared after being enveloped in a coccon of dark energy, slightly larger than Gregor, with pale gray bodies inflated with dark tentacles sprouting from their backs and greenish spines covering almost their entire bodies. Their arms and hands were enlarged, with their fingertips covered in the same dark energy the boss had been using in her attacks until now.
As expected, she sent the creatures towards Gregor, but only three. She sent the other two to attack the three stunned creatures in the middle of the square.