Chapter Twenty-Six
For three days, Alex scouted the deepness at the western edge of the Warped Forest. It became less necessary to use her climbing ropes, as the trees grew at awkward angles making them easier to climb. The trees sprouted multihued leaves seemingly at random. When she squinted from a distance she was reminded of colorful fractals.
The smells were richer and fruitier, too. A group of reedy plants reminded her of mangos when she passed them, while the saprolings she bumped into exhaled strawberry scents into the air. Life seemed to be bursting from every cell as if it couldn't wait to become something new.
She'd worked out a system with her minions, sending them ahead to look for danger, then once it was relatively clear, she would find a sturdy tree and make her way to the top.
The dangers changed along with the trees as the solo mobs increased to herds and groups. While she watched from above, multitudes of warped animals passed beneath. This development was both a boon and a curse, especially because the creatures were at a minimum of level 9.
It'd been hard enough to take on a single level 13 or 14, but a group of ten or twenty level 9s seemed ridiculous. But the large groupings offered an opportunity for earning spikes of experience. A popular speed leveling strategy in many online games was to find a group of characters that could do area of effect, or AoE, damage. Together, assuming they could survive, they could deal mass amounts of damage across a large group, farming experience in short bursts.
Usually the flaw was mitigating the damage from a large group of enemies. Exploiting the landscape was one such strategy, but there were fewer opportunities in Gamemakers Online than in traditional pixel-based games. Alex had no doubt that if she tried to stay in a tree while firing air spells at a herd of malicious battlegoats, they'd knock it over and trample her into dirt.
The other—and more pressing—issue was that she lacked an appropriate AoE spell. But she wasn't about to let that minor detail stop her.
When she found a spring-fed pond near the bottom of a hill surrounded by tortured trees and covered by brilliant lily pads exploding with a riot of color, a strategy suggested itself. Alex almost felt bad that she was going to use it as her killing ground. She spent the next day preparing the site, using the endless ropes that were available to her to create a funnel that led to the pond.
Before she attempted her first AoE kill, Alex changed her binding point—the place where she would resurrect if she died—to a location closer to the middle of the forest. She'd hunted the eastern side to extinction, which made it a safe passage.
Then she selected a herd of Ruthless Capybulls for culling first, mostly because they were slow moving and had no ranged attack that she could determine.
Standing on the far side of the pond, Alex sent Pinky after the herd. Pinky had been instructed to attack the largest capybull. Her minion's Reactionary Armor would keep her safe during the surprise attack until she could lead them back to the pond.
Alex chewed on her lower lip waiting for Pinky's return while insects buzzed across the surface of the pond. A bright blue fly with crimson wings landed on her arm. She was so enamored of the color combination she forgot to swat it away until it bit her.
Rubbing her arm, Alex inhaled, collecting the fresh scents of the spring-fed pond. It was hard to believe it was a mirage inside a game. After nearly six months in Gamemakers Online, Alex was more than convinced the place was real. What she didn't understand was how the "game" aspects of the place, like the stats and level information, connected to the action.
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Nothing she'd ever played before simulated real life with such detail. Even the strange concoctions she mixed in the Exquisite Cooking Pot—besides providing her with enough sustenance to sustain her—tasted as flavorful as real food.
When Pinky didn't return in the timeframe she expected, Alex brought up the spell she'd been leveling up for the past week.
Cloud Taunt – Tier 2
Faez: 15 ? Duration: 1 minute
Dmg: 21-45 (Repeat Shock Damage every 20 seconds)
Effect: Enrages the creature to attack you.
The upgraded version of the spell had justified her decision to level up Cloud Taunt. The damage had only increased a slight amount, but the second tier of the spell gave it three pulses of shock damage, which was critical to her plan.
Her nervous review of the spell ended when she saw Pinky's oversized bat-like form dart into the clearing, furiously beating her dark brown wings. The grinding crunch of small trees being trampled under hoof came rolling behind her minion as the herd surged into view.
The bowlegged capybulls crashed into the pond, sending a spray of bug-infested water into the air as they strained to reach Pinky. The capybulls' stiff brown fur became matted and dirty as they trudged through the shallow pond, their short horns catching lily pads and moss.
Ruthless Capybull, Warped Animal, Level 9
Ability: Toothy Bite
Alex waited until the herd of eleven capybulls were completely in the pond before casting Cloud Taunt. The second-tier version shot jagged smoke lines towards the lead creature, a crackling cage of electricity penetrating the gray mist.
You hit the Ruthless Capybull with Cloud Taunt for 19 damage!
Alex flailed at the wall of text that appeared in her vision, almost forgetting to start counting in her head. The spell had hit every capybull in the pond. After the fight she'd try to find a setting that would reduce the information flow.
A host of grunts from the capybulls filled the air as if it were a stockyard. They pushed their broad chests through the water, moving faster than she'd anticipated. The lead capybull was only fifteen feet away, stocky frame rising from the water, when her mental count hit twenty.
You hit the Ruthless Capybull with Misdirection!
The Ruthless Capybull takes 21 shock damage from Cloud Taunt!
The Ruthless Capybull takes 18 shock damage from Cloud Taunt!
Her view was filled with eleven versions of the Cloud Taunt spell hitting the capybulls, which summoned angered bellows from them.
She'd hoped that the secondary trigger of Cloud Taunt would be misdirected into the others, making it appear that that capybull had cast Cloud Taunt on them, but it didn't work, leaving Alex standing before an angry herd with nowhere to go.
"Nothing ever goes to plan, does it?" she mused aloud as she sprinted along the edge of the pond as the capybulls strained to reach her.
The first two capybulls had reached the land before she'd begun running, but the muddy edge slowed their pursuit, giving her the opportunity to skirt around the pond. When she reached the trampled spot the herd had entered the water, and after the third and final Cloud Taunt had triggered, Alex cast the spell again.
To her delight, the two that had exited the water charged in a direct line at her, which slowed them. This gave her the opportunity to kite them around the pond while using the water to transfer the shock damage through the whole group. It wasn't the plan she'd hoped for but it was working.
When the end of the fight came, Alex punched her fist in the air at the host of notifications.
You have gained experience: 750 XP
Special Achievement Reached: You have killed more than ten creat*ures at the same time!
You have gained bonus experience: 35,000 XP
You have gained a skill point: +1 Cunning Strategist
Alex couldn't believe it. She'd gained 43,250 experience in under five minutes, which put her over halfway to level 6. While she wouldn't get the special bonus again, the mass experience was important enough to prove that her strategy had worked.
There were some tweaks needed, but she was pleased overall with the result. As she surveyed the carnage of eleven floating corpses, Alex let a grin of victory rise to her lips.
