The Alchemist at Hell's Gates

5

^^ Rot Troll ^^

*Squelch* I wish I had my Wings already.

*Squelch* I really wish I had my Wings already.

*Squelch* I might hate Hellen before this day is over.

Each step further into the Fen made me cringe, as my feet sunk up to the knees in disgusting peat, and the smell of the slowly-decaying plant-matter nearly made me puke. This wasn't actually a Swamp, like I'd been told; I'd prepared for a Swamp, which had trees and sometimes Mangroves to stand on. No, this was a Fen, which meant there were no trees to be found, just the horrible, stinking, gross water and grand variety of bugs. One small river ran through the center of the dungeon, creating the only difference between a Fen and a Bog; Standing Water vs Moving Water.

A thick fog filled the entire Fen, making vision more than thirty feet away from Hellen's Burning Aura literally impossible. Unless, of course, you were a Half-Elf Ranger, (Nephilim Archer, whatever,) or a Literal Angel, and were thus unimpeded by such mortal worries.

As if summoned by my irritated mental grouching, the angel (casually flying above the mud that we Plebs had to muck through,) suddenly squinted into the distance and then dropped closer to Uric, speaking softly. "A patrol approaching from the northwest, six in total; three archers and three grunts. Take out the archers, please."

He nodded and stood up from his crouched position, drawing an arrow slowly to full draw, and loosed it, followed instantly by two more, the arrows streaking silently off into the Fog.

150 XP Gained by Party: 30 XP Gained!
30 XP Gained from Goblin Archer Lvl 5 (x3)! (Progress Lvl 3: 1100/2000-> Lvl 4!)

"Nice shot." I mused, yanking my foot out of a particularly sticky piece of Peat, and finding a dry spot to stand with Gerson and wait for the three Grunts to approach us. "How are you on arrows?" I asked, drawing two daggers and waiting patiently.

"I'm good; I've got around 300 total, in my Inventory." He answered while drawing another arrow, but held off when Hellen waved a hand at him.

"Let's fight them up-close; we want to see how Sam does." She murmured, apparently thinking she wasn't loud enough for me to hear, fifteen feet away on a dry spot with the Silent Warrior Gerson.

He nodded and slowly relaxed his bowstring, keeping his eyes on the approaching enemies that only the two of them could see; her because of her elevation, and him because... Rangers. (Archers, whatever.)

When the enemies finally broke into the bubble of no-fog that Hellen created, they shrieked in annoyance as the bright light blinded them instantly, followed by one of my daggers striking one of them in the throat. My Tranquilizer Slime swam off with a surprising amount of agility in the water to sneak up on them while I threw my second dagger. As I'd expected, they recovered after about five seconds, but I still managed to kill one of them with four throws; 168 points of damage managed to kill it, while another one was only wounded with my 42 points of Dagger to the Face before darting directly at me, unimpeded by the mud. I dove out of the way of the little Pain-Train, throwing another dagger into its chest and looking over to see the last one falling to the ground with a Timer above its head reading '1:29:58'. Gerson stepped up behind the creature, Mace held high, but my third dagger struck the goblin's eye, making it halt for a moment and give me time to stand and throw the fourth dagger, killing it.

"Nicely done!" Kenny clapped politely, his sword hugged under one armpit until he grabbed it again.

I bowed theatrically, throwing four more daggers at the sleeping goblin and sending the rest of my slimes to eat the bodies, while the Acid Slime went after the three Archers, or at least their loot, if they'd dissolved by now. Goblin Meat was technically a Harvested Material just like the Deer in the Forest, (a low-quality meant that tasted like very rubbery chicken no matter how you cooked it,) so most of the time they didn't dissolve at all, making Looting them one of the most disgusting things you could find in the Game.