Legend of the Spellthief

The fomin looked up towards Logan, his attitude was only slightly more cordial than it was before. It seemed like a shaky fielty had been established with the Spellthief defeating the fomin in combat, but if Logan was to turn his back it wouldn’t be out of the question for the fomin to ambush him.

“Oer numbers lower. The whar on Mono kind killed many of us. Mono searched the forests for what was left”, the fomin spoke in an abridged Ava tongue.

“Who ordered your attack, where did you come from?” Logan questioned.

“Krekka. We exited oer gates from oer homes. I did knot know many others.”

“So, you came from different places. At least your shamans seemed organised.”

“Oer magicmen were with Krekka. Many fled when his presence was not there.”

“Looks like I’ll need to find a shaman then. Do you have any bases around here, any shamans?”

“No, no. We hide in trees, head south soon.”

“Why south?”

“That is where we came from”, the goblin replied reluctantly.

“No wonder the real war was down there then. Did you plan to attack Gauntlet or was it spontaneous?”

“No. We were told two cycles before.”

“That lines up with when I got my quest”, Logan calculated in his head. “Who told you?”

“Our mistress statue.”

“Madamra?”

The goblin hissed at the name, “That is Mono name for her. She is stronger than a name.”

“So, seems like a deity did orchestrate it. And it linked up with my quest. Either I was tasked with dealing with it, or, they created it for me to deal with”, Logan ruminated in his mind.

“What do you want with us?” the fomin asked as it looked up at Logan.

“My desire will change based on your responses. You say you’re hiding until you head south, will you continue to attack other people?”

“You have proven your lordship. I will take your command until another shows.”

“Really? You were very adamant that I was not your lord, is strength a major marker for goblins?”

“Might means leader.”

“You didn’t answer my question though, ‘if’ you were to head south would you still hunt humanoids?” Logan pressed.

“Yes. It is as our statue mistress commands.”

“Marcus”, Logan called out towards the trees.

“Yeah?” a distant voice asked.

“Come here and use Healer’s Caress on this fomin. I want to test something.”

The fomin looked between Logan and the treeline, most likely to find who his new master was talking to.

Marcus slid from the tree to the ground and jogged up to the pair, the other goblins still looking at the scene.

“You sure?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah, he doesn’t have his weapons”, Logan reassured.

Marcus placed a hand on the fomin, the creature flinching at it but allowing it nonetheless. With skill use after skill use, the fomin was brought from 27 HP to 62/110 HP.

“What do you want of me?” the fomin asked.

“I want to fight you again, to test something.”

20 minutes passed as Marcus continued to use his skill as it came off of cooldown, leading to the fomin reaching its maximum health once again. Logan explained the general task with the goblin and Marcus, the fomin accepted the terms, as it saw the fights as a way of proving itself as well as improving its own fighting capabilities.

The fomin started off with another Rush at Logan, though this time with its claws. Logan retaliated by stabbing the fomins palms with his Bowen daggers, dragging them down to then strike into the left side of the goblin and twisting around to his back.

With a Backstab strike, Logan brought the goblin down to low health before knocking him out with a Force mick.

Looking over the rewards for defeating the same monster a second time, Logan could tell that the experience was halved. It was a good stroke of luck that he was still able to gain skill mastery with repeated fights though, Logan would need to do further testing, which he did.

Healing the fomin to consciousness, Logan immediately knocked him out again without a full heal, this granted no reward whatsoever. He had to fight them from max, or near max.

After the third round of healing, this time to max HP, Logan fought in a weirdly cathartic nature as he could let out his anger against the monster. As the goblin fell to the floor, Logan could see the diminishing returns rear their heads further.

Another victory, another half, though checking the Backstab mastery showed that even skill experience lessened as it was still at 1%. This was not going to be a quick avenue to levelling, at least not for Logan. Fighting the fomin again would most likely net 78 XP, but a level 10 almost always granted 100 XP to an NPC.

Anymore testing would have to be left for later, however, as the night continued onwards. Marcus was still rather tired after his revival process and Logan was still running on his sleepless schedule.

The fomin was ordered to scout the forests for any further goblinoids, and when he found any, to gather them within a certain part of it atop the trees. Giving back its scimitars, it darted off to take care of its task.

Conversing with Marcus about what to do with the others, he confirmed that Madamra created monsters and it was their purpose to be at odds with civilised folk. If they were sent off to do their own business, they would continue to hunt humanoids as they made their way south.

Gathering up the goblins, Logan waved his hand over the monsters as his hands began to ignite.

As the pair returned to Gauntlet, Logan looked over Marcus’s status. The Devout had to help in fighting the remnants of the goblins, which allowed him to gain a small amount of experience which was enough to bring him to level 7—gaining 1 Strength, Agility, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma while getting the normal 3 and bonus 1 into Wisdom.

With only one level remaining before Marcus gained access to second-level spells, the Devout would soon receive a big leap in power. That was a major mark on Logan’s list of goals before attempting the cavern again, not just for the damage and healing output but also for Marcus’s survivability in the fight.

Retiring for the night, Logan was welcomed by a message from Yetveka, letting the Spellthief know that both his and Marcus’s stay at the inn was assured for 3 months due to all the work he had been putting in at the guardhouse. He was also informed that Jirango wanted to speak with him in the morning.

Marcus got some additional reading in before sleeping, while Logan still couldn’t focus fully on just reading. A long soak in the bath and checking over his statuses drew him into the right hour to hit the hay.

The chilly night did well to soothe Logan into a couple of hours of being unconscious, but his body was restless and his newfound scars made sleeping uncomfortable. After awakening, his mind was allowed to wander far, towards memories of the ice caves, visages of his dead allies and a made-up scenario of his next attempt leading to Marcus dying again.

Residing to put his mind back to work, Logan stealthily left the room so that Marcus could get his own rest. Summoning up Celsius and Spark within the relatively large bathroom, Logan set to absorbing his daily MP from them before heading off to the Gerro Guardhouse.

There was the usual sight of Jivvy at the counter due to the time of night, or very early morning, who mentioned that Jirango wasn’t in yet to talk with Logan. The Spellthief assumed this already and was only really there to pick up some hunts until the bright morning approached.

Picking up his usual assortment of 5 hunts, Logan went out until the sun rose:

A man who was running around and slashing the curtains of businesses, his prejudice against vampires pushing him to try and murder as many as he could.

Two informants who had been selling caravan details to bandits in exchange for part of the stolen goods.

A level 4 Knight traitor who had killed her team to take their gear and share of the reward.

A level 3 Rogue who had killed her employer in their sleep to steal their belongings.

Three level 4 Sorcerers who were faking an elemental hiring service with partially animated rock formations.

Moving through his assignments, Logan kept all his thoughts on their minutia. With the use of Identification he was easily able to find details on the classless who were breaking the law, and with Safecasting could knock them out in an instant. Logan also apprehended the traitor and killer, as there was a bonus for their apprehension and interrogation, though Logan did have to hold back a deathly spell against each.

58 quests done: 11 adventurers and 1 dungeon, 11 villagers, 35 hunters. Logan gained 720 XP, 31 silver and 5 copper. As a bonus, he was gifted a common monstrous advisor earring, which was mostly paid for by selling off the equipment of the Knight and Rogue he had brought in.

Logan changed his shoddy variant earring out and sold it at the market, along with the gear taken from the goblins, getting another 59 silver.

As the Spellthief was handling his final contracts with Jivvy it came to the change of the guard and with it Jirango. Entering the guardhouse he gave a solid clasp onto Logan’s shoulder as he spoke to him.

“Come with me.”

Walking through a doorway with Logan in tow, the pair entered a side room before the main jails. It was dimly lit by a torch on the wall that was soon to be extinguished as the sun rolled in through a barred window hole. The grey stone walls gave the room a claustrophobic feel, as if it too were a jail cell, if a bit fancier than the others.

Sitting at a table, Jirango pulled out a ledger and motioned Logan to sit opposite him.

“I’ve finished my talks with some of the higher-ups in command. This whole under market business needs to be handled carefully. With the length of its operation lifespan, we are sure that there are those in the nobility that aim to keep it going.”

“That’s what I had gathered too”, Logan responded as he glanced around the small room.

“We’ve decided to plant a few parrots in the market you found, we’ll gain information over time to fully grasp their extent.”

Logan knew that “parrots” were this world’s form of moles or spies, relating to their ability to repeat the conversation of people they observe.

“So, am I to stay away from it for now?” Logan asked.

“Yes. once we’ve gathered what we need we will most likely call on all hunters to assault the under markets, as many as we can at once if we find others through this one.”

“Will it just be hunters?”

“No, I shall alert the nobility, or at least the ones I have some amount of trust in, to supply us with guards and royals when the time comes.”

“Any clue on how long away that is?”

“I wager a few months, we’ll certainly leave it till after the Ice King’s revival. The monarchy is often taken up with that”, Jirango informed as he leaned back in his chair.

“Back to that again”, Logan thought to himself. “Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. I take it you’ll alert the inn when it is time?”

“Of course. Until then, it’s operations as normal, though we will avoid that market’s area.”

The conversation between the two continued on for a while until Logan eventually made his way back to the inn, Marcus already prepared at its entrance as he leaned on the wall.

“Yetveka said you’d gone to see Jirango, thought it would be best I wait here for you”, Marcus announced as he kicked off the wall. “There are three guys inside waiting for you, by the way, said something about villager quests?”

“Just sorting some things out. I’ll talk with them quickly.”

Entering the inn, Logan saw three homeless men who were seemingly there for his offer the other night. Using Clean to make them proper, Logan signed up for some quests they could undertake. They were classless, but their numbers made up for their lack of… well, numbers.

Logan would have the quests noted as his completion, outside help wasn’t disallowed, so having these guys do it in return for the pay wouldn’t come back to hurt him. Some people had rented-elementals do all their work for them, so having people do it brought no issues to the table. The only circumvention was getting quests for non-adventurers, but as they were villager quests they weren’t going to get picked up often.

Whilst at the G-Hall Logan also checked over any goblin-specific quests that he could handle when he went to go meet with his fomin again. Logan also quickly settled affairs with his Frost Monarch’s Cavern quest, noting the dead and that he would attempt it again at a later date.

With the pair taking their horses into the forests they were able to get to the location that Logan had mentioned the previous night. It hadn’t been overly long since his command, but after two hours of riding Logan was met with four red dots on his mini-map after an Echo Radar. Logan was glad he had resummoned Celsius and Spark before setting off, just on the off-chance an ambush was waiting.

“Marcus, keep an eye out”, Logan commanded as they hitched their horses to a nearby tree.

Moving to a clearing of the forest the pair were certain no other adventurers were near. This part held very little value, no monster activity and no real herbs to gather either. As the treetops rustled four goblinoids fell to the floor, all of them fomins but with minor differences. One had parts of metallic plates, one wore a long black robe, one had patchwork leather armour, and the last wore just a fur skirt.

“You he who other spoke of?” the metallic one spoke as it pointed at Logan.

“Tall, tone, not chief-like toe”, the skirt one added.

“At least you lot have the decency to talk things out first”, Logan responded as he looked at each of the goblins.

“Why you call us here?” the robed one asked.

“I have questions…”

Speaking with the goblins for a while didn’t reveal much more to Logan. They had come from separate caves in the south, only two of them knew of each other beforehand. Just like the other fomin they had all entered portals and grouped up with Krekka, taking the hero’s commands without question.

“You reforming clan?” the goblin in leather asked.

“Yes. You chief, said our kin. Raise new army?” the metal one continued.

“No, I have other plans”, Logan responded adamantly.

“What? We raid?” the robed one picked up.

Logan’s spine tingled as if to alert him to danger, like he needed any other sign. The fomin drew their scimitars as even angrier faces appeared on each of them.

“Madamra is our mistress, and yous will not stop her will. Our kin was right when say you soft”, the skirt goblin spoke.

“He must have spoken on the times I was able to defeat him in combat. You think you’d fare better?” Logan antagonised as he drew up goblin-killer.

“You gather us for talk, not for war. Yours is not a breath worthy to command us”, the robed goblin announced.

Marcus inched towards Logan alongside his elementals. The goblins started to circle the party.

Before being able to quell the heat in the air any further, the leather goblin used Dash to close the small distance and loosed a flurry of strikes at Logan. Logan blocked the first, sparks flying from their weapons as they clashed, but was unable to block the following three strikes, bringing the Spellthief to 71/118 HP.

Marcus kicked away from Logan as he took the attention of the robed goblin, the elementals handling the one in the fur skirt. However, as they all did so, the one in metallic plates let out a loud roar that sent the nearby avian animals fleeing in fear. On the other hand, the party felt an increasing fire in their heads and hearts, Logan seeing the goblin as the most infuriating creature in existence.

Turning his head to the metal goblin, Logan envisioned him as a miniature ice yeti, an anger building in him that overflowed. The goblin smirked, obviously utilising a skill similar to Come Forth, though it was shocked when it saw Logan’s retaliation.

Mentally commanding a Dimensional Jaunt, Logan warped behind the metal goblin with a diving dagger slash. Placing his other hand around the back of its neck he chanted, “Necromantic Grasp.”

His hand became a mess of black shadows that formed into a claw, digging into the throat of the goblin from behind. As the magics dug away at the foe he was drained of 94 HP, healing Logan for half and bringing him back to full health. The goblin was let go as its unconscious body slumped to the floor.

With the defeat of the threatening goblin, Logan’s and his allies’ minds became clear once again. Though the few seconds they had spent running towards the now-defeated foe allowed the other goblins to land a hit each into them.

Ducking down, Logan called out, “Dimensional Jaunt”, warping behind the leather goblin to land a smooth Flame Grasp that dealt 120 Backstab damage.

Rushing towards Logan, the skirt goblin landed a solid slash into the Spellthief, the following slash missing by only a hair. His allies focusing on the robed goblin, Logan was free to attempt parries and circle movements around his next foe. This fomin was very aggressive, showing to the classed being who he had drunk the blood of.

Spinning around, the goblin had its blades glow red, alerting Logan to another skill usage. Aiming to block the blow, Logan swung his blade to meet at least one of the goblin’s. Successfully slashing the blade caused tremors to shoot across Logan’s arm as he felt the power behind the blow. He felt it even further when the other scimitar collided with his side.

A wide gash was cut from Logan, his skin and blood dressing the grassy floor in surgical colours. He could feel his body starting to patch itself together again, thanking whoever would listen in his head that it wasn’t a permanent injury. Kicking at the goblin, Logan jumped backwards as he called out for another teleport.

Planning ahead, and assuming his foe was beginning to catch on, Logan decided to teleport right in front of his foe instead of behind it. This gambit paid off when the goblin swung wide behind itself only to hit the air. Logan planted his hand on the twisted back of the fomin and chanted, “Necromantic Grasp.”

A spring of luck appeared before Logan, a critical strike. The black mass shot outwards in a larger hand than normal and pierced the goblin’s heart. Pulling backwards coated Logan in a wash of red, healing to full and dealing an immense 133 Backstab damage.

It was surprising that Logan’s Safecasting was able to keep the goblin alive after that display, though he did make sure to keep the heart inside. A mixture of his own magic and that of the durability of monsters must have allowed it to live, though it most likely saw oblivion for a second.

Turning to his allies, Logan was relieved to see that Marcus had just about finished it off with his own Safecasted Gaia Grasp, the Devout having learnt the skill just recently. With the four bodies on the floor, still breathing, if you could call what some of them were doing “breathing”, experience numbers started to float upwards to announce the end of the fight.

“Level up! Gain: 8 HP, +1 Str, +2 Agi, +1 Con, +2 Int, +1 Wis, +1 Cha. You have 1 attribute point to spend.”

“Can never trust a monster”, Marcus spat out as he composed himself after the battle.

“We got what we needed out of them anyway. Sad to say I can’t test my other theories on these ones”, Logan replied as he sheathed his dagger.

“I am glad we can take these out with relative ease, though I would say that comes from your numerous teleportations.”

“Yeah, this new absorbing technique is making this easier.”

“Is the one we saw yesterday still finding more of his kind?” Marcus asked as he looked around.

“That is my guess. We can come back out for him after we cart these bodies back”, Logan responded as he pointed at the unconscious bodies.

“Ah, those quests you saw at the hall? I wonder what they would do with live monsters…”

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