Legend of the Spellthief

The week plan of Logan and Marcus had just been rudely interrupted, the large window beaming in front of the Spellthief’s face warned him of another goblin army. Unlike the one to the south, this one read as if it was going to be the main force, at the mention of a goblin hero in their ranks. Was the southern attack just a diversion then? Were goblins that smart?

Marcus was unaware, already preparing himself and his gear for another day of training with the guards. Logan shuddered slightly before he held out his hand and called out to his friend.

“Marcus, hold on a minute, would you? We need to talk.”

Turning his head quickly, Marcus plopped his bag onto his bed and walked to Logan. “Sure, what’s up? Need help with a hunt today?”

“No… another quest from Vokka came in.”

“Oh, great! What can we do for her today? Not another group of bandits is it?” Marcus responded with enthusiasm.

“Actually, it’s kind of serious. You know that goblin war happening in the south? Well, it’s going to be happening here too.”

“What? Another force? It should be fine with the guards and adventurers here. Most of the goblinoids should be in the south from the numbers reported.”

“That’s what I am told. I was also warned about a goblin hero.”

“A hero? A monster hero? Is that possible?” Marcus replied more worried than before.

“We’ll have to assume it is, alongside the hero is at least a hundred goblinoids though I wager there will be far more than that.”

“Desma help us. Where are they? An army of that size couldn’t hide so easy, how long till they arrive?”

“Around 8pm tomorrow.”

“A day and a half? Either they have mounts… or. Damn, what are we going to do? A lot of the veteran adventurers are down south. Should we alert the G-Hall? Tell Jirango?”

“We don’t really have the clout to be believed. We’d need evidence. But if they haven’t been found yet, it is possible they’ll approach in a manner that let them hide.”

“Flying beasts then? Or maybe teleportation? If a hero is amongst them maybe they have a powerful spellcaster at their beck and call”, Marcus formulated aloud.

“However they are approaching, we need to be ready. The guards will take heavy losses from a surprise attack, not to mention the townsfolk near the entrance if the gates aren’t closed in time.”

“Right, I’ll need far more bolts than I have on me. We may also require spellforce potions to see us through a battle of that size. Let us check on the adventurers at the hall, see how many will be here tomorrow evening for this.”

“Good thinking, we can also gather information if anyone else knows of this attack.”

Throwing on his clothes, the pair hastily left their room. A quick wave to Yetveka showed their urgency as they both mounted Logan’s horse. Riding off to the G-Hall to see how their numbers were looking.

A disappointing sight was on display, a smattering of ranks 5 through 10 and a few below that. None above 10 were to be seen. Logan jogged to the counter to ask about available adventurers.

“Sorry, a lot of adventurers have headed south to deal with the goblins. A few quests also came up to deal with some rowdy sea creatures to the north”, the man at the counter responded.

“Any word on the goblin forces or their movements?” Logan inquired.

“Last report we got was that there were three hundred goblinoids and more. The local monster population has also been migrated north to escape so the adventurers have been quite busy keeping the peace.”

Walking back to Marcus, cursing under his breath, the Spellthief scanned over the local area to at least try and keep some people behind. At a headcount there were only thirty or so adventures out of work, a few looking at the quest board.

“Marcus, can you use your fame as a ‘blessed’ to say you had a vision or communication with the above about the goblins? Is that common at all?” Logan tried to plan.

“Talk with the deities is rare but not unheard of. But for something of this magnitude they would ask for a truth circle test. Sadly it would lead back to your prophecy.”

“Fuck sake. Ok, can you talk with the guards? See if they have any sort of early warning systems or items to see far distances? Try and find the goblins before they approach.”

Marcus gave a solid nod, “I can do that for sure. I could say I was interested in their instruments after my time spent there. What about you?”

Celsius just rotated his head back and forth as he saw his two allies conversing, like a child waiting for his parents to finish talking so he can ask a question.

“I need to buy some gear and tomes, if there’s going to be a big force I need to make my own.”

Finishing their discussion, Marcus started to jog towards the Gerro Guardhouse while Logan mounted up and rode to the bookshop.

Purchasing “Summon Horde Manual 1” and “Summon Mastery Manual 1”, Logan proceeded to the marketplace to sell off any spare equipment he had laying around in the inventory as well as the vorkas feathers that he had yet to craft with. With his spare money, he bought up ten ashin daggers combined with two holsters that hugged his sides to hold five each. Getting two cheap red cartton herbs, Logan also prepared himself to do a small round of Alchemy when he got back to the inn.

Reading through the two tomes, which were both 50 pages each, took him 3 hours and 36 minutes, granting him two skills that seemed rather underwhelming for the price of them. Logan’s hopes of high numbers were dashed, but they would have to do for now.

With a single extra level and only one more summon at a time, Logan’s plans shifted once more. He had planned to put his skill point into one of these skills, but seeing their low impact he fell on his secondary choice of Charge Transfer.

Once again the power of the skill felt as if the short text oversold its value. It would still be useful in a drawn-out confrontation as Logan was unsure how long he would be fighting against the normal 1-hour time limit of his absorbed spells. At least with this, he could have them for the entire confrontation. As Celsius was now, Logan could convert 1.5 MP, which wasn’t even two casts.

All of the new skills he had unlocked could progress further but without mastery experience, they would require additional tomes or skill points, and Logan was fresh out. He would need Celsius and his next summon to go out on their own to quickly gain experience without him, and he knew just what to do with them.

Grabbing some chalk, Logan started making a summoning circle just as he had in the forests on his journey to Gauntlet. Instead of an hour he only needed 36 minutes for this creation process thanks to his new ring.

“Elements of Avanar, I call forth your strength. Lend me a denizen of your hold and I shall grant them a true will. Created in my arcane image, infused with my magic, I summon thee. Summon Lightning Elemental, Spark!”

At the end of his incantations, bolts of lightning and arcs of azure danced around the floor, whirling into a mass within the centre of the summoning circle. Exploding into a static burst the lightning formed itself into a more solid mass. Creating a more humanoid looking blue mass of electricity and plasma standing at 4' tall, the creature’s black eyes stared deep into Logan’s.

“That which gives me life, I am born in your guise. Humbly I shall serve, till my last speck is snuffed out”, it recited just as Celsius had done.

A wave of shimmering blue lines coursed from head to toe on Spark, completing his creation.

“Master, I thank thee for bringing me into life. What perchance are your orders?” it spoke in a refined manner.

“Wow, looks like he got your formal side. You read a lot of books about nobility?” Celsius chimed in with his usual energetic tone.

“Reminds me of the days I spent in roleplay forums and tabletop games”, Logan thought to himself.

“Spark, you can call me Logan. I need you and Celsius here to gain strength quickly. Are you fine to go straight into combat?” Logan asked his new personality clone.

“Logan, I shall smite down those you cast judgement on. Celsius, my brother, your lead is the one I shall follow.”

“Thanks for a brother, Logan!” Celsius spoke as he beamed a dark-orange smile at the Spellthief.

Giving a quick scan over Spark’s status, he seemed pretty identical to Celsius, just a lightning variant. His attribute distribution favoured Agility over Strength, but the rest was the same. Seeing the experience split get worse, Logan confirmed that the more of these he had at a time the slower he would progress, however, using them as spell batteries would help the Spellthief in the long run.

With his two elementals prepared, the trio headed to the G-Hall, where Logan found quite the archetypal first quest for adventurers, rat slaying. The sewer systems under Gauntlet had an infestation that needed cleaning, though the quest was to just thin the numbers by at least twenty. Since no one else would be on the quest at the same time, Logan accepted the quest and ordered his elementals to do the dirty work.

Taking them to a nearby sewer entrance, Logan ordered Celsius to take the lead but to allow Spark to engage in every fight in some way, even if it meant throwing rocks. They were to kill any rats or low-grade monsters they came across until they were both killed, or there were no enemies left to kill. Since they were elementals, they did not need food, water, or rest. They could reasonably fight until the day ended.

Having two elementals on the go at once took all of Logan’s second-level slots, but they would hopefully grant him greater rewards than those slots would. This would also mean that Logan could kill two birds with one stone, getting money for quests and increasing his elementals’ might.

Removing the elementals from his party, Logan made sure they were grouped together so that they could share experience properly before sending them into the dank depths. It wasn’t going to be a summer camp, though Logan was sure that Celsius would have fun in there.

Returning to the inn, Logan spent the next two hours working on his Alchemy. Crushing up the red cartton, Logan combined the herbs with water and syrup, heating them above a flame until the colours diluted to a thick red hue. Creating two common healing potions was quite lucky in Logan’s mind.

As he was about to move on to his next task, Marcus entered into their room with news of his investigation.

“Ah, you’re here. I talked with the guards and local seers. They have no worries about the local monster populations outside of what the adventures are already dealing with.”

“Did you use their equipment to confirm?”

“Yes, they had a few telescopes set up. No large camps that I could see. From their position, the guards should be able to spot an approaching force of the scale you mentioned a day ahead of time, but if they are using flying beasts or teleportation, they will be taken by surprise.”

“If I could just talk with Vokka this would be so much easier to prepare for”, Logan complained with his arms crossed.

“There’s not much for it. We’ll have to hold off the first sign of danger outside the gates. There’ll be too many people outside who won’t get inside in time if the goblins charge at us straight away.”

“If it is an army, goblins do like to taunt. By my bet, they will stand and laugh at us for a few minutes before charging. Kind of like how two opposing armies stare down one another across an open field”, Marcus theorized.

“We can only hope they give us time to bring in the traders and the like. Is there any way we can get people to believe this story of goblins coming in for an attack?”

“They’d want proof or truth magic. You’d need to let people know you’re an… who you are”, Marcus spoke, holding back the word just in case.

Images of Darius and his alchemical table flashed in Logan’s mind. The MT were hopefully still not aware of Logan. Those gold watches were never found so it was a possibility they went back to whoever Darius trusted. Could Logan let his secret out if it was to protect others? His face showed signs of conflict that Marcus picked up on quickly.

“How about we create a distraction? Those sticks you got, the ones that make exploding noises. We can set those up around the forest near the gates. The noise should attract the guards’ attention and possibly that of nearby monsters. With the guards on the walls looking at the scene they’ll also notice if anything else appears.”

“Will that be enough you reckon?” Logan asked hopefully.

“It should. It will. You know the exact time of the goblins’ arrival right? Dead on 8pm?”

“Without fault, I would wager, these haven’t been wrong before.”

“Alright, then we can set these up about ten minutes prior. That should give ample time for a guard response and the more jumpy travellers to get over the bridge. We can be on watch at the gates themselves while we await the first signs of the goblins.”

“Hopefully that is all it will take to not turn this into a slaughter fest. If it’s plenty of low-rank goblins I can take them out with Force micks from the gatehouse”, Logan spoke as he was calculating the damage of his mick.

“We’ve still got a lot of time to prepare, I’ll look into getting some loans going. Followers of the churches often get better rates so it is best I handle that.”

“That’s good, I’ll look into some last-minute crafting to finance some extra potions and the like.”

“And your elemental?”

“I have two now, they are in the sewers fighting rats. Hopefully, their ranks will increase to aid in the coming fight.”

“Two!? A good jump in power that is. With your skills, they will certainly come in handy.”

“I had the money, and the skills were available for me to obtain in tome form.”

Standing up from his bed, Marcus continued, “Right, I’ll go do some investigations. We can meet here if anything changes.”

“Alright, good luck.”

“And to you, Logan.”

Splitting up for some time, Logan got right back into crafting trinkets. He could go hunting, but it would be risky with a threat on the next day, and the guardhouse was still a bit busy sorting out the most recent hunts the pair had handed in. The chance of getting higher-tier trinkets bringing in higher pay also meant he could make more money in a shorter amount of time.

After 4 hours and 30 minutes, Logan had crafted three shoddy gobbo-ear necklaces, one common variant, and a high-quality variant. By the time he was done, Marcus was back after buying up more potions for both health and restoring spell usage. Due to the slog that the fight was going to be, it was decided that Marcus keep the MP potions so that he could heal the team up if they got into a tight spot.

Trading places, Logan sold the necklaces for 42 silver and bought up a few extra components to craft a few extra to get more preparation funds. The day was getting late, however, and the two needed rest after their worry-filled movements. Logan could swear he was ageing rapidly from the stress, though he knew he couldn’t just leave the people alone in such a situation.

- Day 7 -

Passing into the seventh and final day of their weekly plan, Logan and Marcus went about their final preparations for the oncoming waves of madness. Marcus persuaded the local guards and civilians to light a few extra torches due to a lie about a dark night approaching. Logan got to crafting after buying up one additional goblin ear.

Two commons and two high-quality necklaces brought back 48 silver into his pockets. Crafting up a common bastarn eye earring only added in another 11 silver, meaning Logan was still 2 gold and 69 silver away from a spell ring. Even if he were to borrow money from Marcus, Logan wasn’t going to be able to afford a spell ring at 4 gold.

Asking around about the bastarn coven heart, Logan found out that it was mostly used in demonic trinkets and potions. It wasn’t expensive on its own, but when combined with other materials it could progress one’s demon stages without relinquishing your soul or revival abilities. Unlike vampirism which was a fast track to power in return for such things.

There wasn’t much cost, outside of money, for going through demon stages at least from word around town. A “demon” wasn’t the typical mythological or religious depiction that Logan was used to on Earth. It was more related to beings of power between that of mortals and deities, a stepping stone to greatness. Logan could only wonder how he would be affected if he were a demon on Earth.

It was a choice between having the bastarn coven heart ready for if Logan needed the power of a demon, or extra potions to heal up through the war. With how people were speaking of demons, Logan was enticed enough to put his faith in that choice. With his remaining money and time, Logan prepared an ace in the hole while Marcus made some last-minute inquiries as to if anyone had learned of any threats.

The day was getting late and Logan’s worries started to mount ever higher as the timer for his quest’s beginning ticked down. Celsius and Spark finally returned from the sewer, keeping their MP for the coming battle as commanded by Logan. Both were larger than when they had left, their levels having increased in conflict.

“All clean, Logan. Shouldn’t be any rats left, we found a few bats, snakes, and lizards too. Some small, some big. A lot died trying to touch us, though the larger ones did put up a good fight”, Celsius spoke in a joyous tone.

“The foes of the sewers are vanquished, our reward shall be given unto thee once you visit the quest holders”, Spark added in his usual formal tone.

Looking at their status, Celsius had reached level 6 and Spark jumped to level 4. It was a good improvement, though likely not a strategy that Logan could use too often. As they gained levels they got progressively less experience and needed more too. Converting their spells into MP would give Logan 2.75 MP, not a good number.

Thinking it over, it was going to be far better to not convert the spells to MP and instead use them rapidly in the beginning parts of the oncoming battle. Eleven uses of first-level spells was nothing to look down on, even more so when Flame and Lightning were tier 4 and 5 respectively.

The rat extermination quest, which was easier for the two elementals who both had damage reduction, brought in a reward of 3 silver. Logan collected his pay and the update to his signet, then made his way to the eastern gates ahead of the invasion to enact his and Marcus’s distraction plan.

Meeting up with the Devout, Marcus used Healer’s Caress on the elementals to bring them back up to max HP with ease. Marcus informed Logan that there had been no sightings of the goblins, and since it was barely a half-hour away, it was pretty much confirmed they would be teleporting in at this point. The skies were dark at 7:30pm, but a mass of goblin-mounted flying creatures would still be visible on the skyline.

The hours of Logan’s timer had already turned to minutes, marking a precise event start of 8pm. Checking over their gear a final time before the approaching army arrived, the pair moved to the forest outskirts of the city. Not wanting to resort to it in the fight, Logan absorbed 3 Flame and 1 Lightning spells from his elementals.

Along with those charges, Logan had already prepared 1 Gaia, 1 Lightning, 3 Necromantic, alongside 3 Summon _ Elemental for Celsius and Spark.

Planting the trickster’s crackers several feet apart hidden by the trees, they snapped them and stealthily exited the treeline. Thankfully the crackers had a warm-up time before they started to work. Small pops of both smoke and cracks were followed by larger loud bangs and shots. Several people on the outside of the wall jumped at the noise as many of the more timid ones rushed to the gates.

“Noise from the east!” one of the male guards shouted.

A door leading into the gatehouse opened up on the city side as several guards rushed out to meet the noise. Up on high, archers prepared their bows and crossbows, aiming toward the explosive display at the extent of the forest. Logan could hear an excessive ticking in his head, combined with the annoyance of powerful firecrackers in the distance.

“Keep an eye for casting beasts!” a female guard instructed as they got to the treeline.

A wrenching feeling rushed into Logan’s stomach, an anticipation of the event that was close to arriving. Were his plans good enough? Should he have risked himself to save others by revealing his powers? The ticking continued.

As Logan worried with his eyes dipping to the floor he was unable to see the skies get darker and darker, black clouds forming to block the moonlight. Marcus was wise to advise better torch placement, and the guards were all the more thankful for the warning of a Devout ahead of time.

A final ding rang in Logan’s head as the timer ran out, the quest taking over a dark hue as it progressed into a “currently ongoing” stage. The orders and discussions of the guards were replaced by screams and clunking of metal as their retreat announced the beginning.

Through the treeline, Logan could see a solitary figure darkened by the shadows of the clouds and tree canopies. Lit up every so often by the sparks of the crackers, his skin was black, brown, green, and covered in patches of scales. Standing at 6'2" he would rival Logan’s height, though his devilish red and yellow-tinted eyes were a far cry more sinister.

Identification returned no result, meaning the marked goblin hero was over level 16, his name a dangerous red with adjoining red skull and crossbones topped with a golden crown. Unlike the previous foes, the goblin hero had a name, which he spoke in his goblin tongue.

“Krekka ast ire. Mono, mono and shek. Takka is heads”, the goblin hero Krekka shouted, his voice booming as if he was empowered through magic.

Countless red eyes appeared in the treeline, belonging to countless foes. The army was here.

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