Both quest boxes popped up, and he accepted both. They needed six of the Hippoblooms and eight Panther Fur.
“Thanks guys. Let’s get this show on the road.”
It didn’t take Atlas long to figure out they were leaps and bounds ahead of him in combat prowess. Well, at least in terms of combat damage. They fought in a very methodical fashion, and each of their strikes usually dealt at least 12 damage in a two-hit combo. Atlas was lucky to hit 8 on a good crit.
Where they lacked was in technique. They didn’t know how to counter properly and Atlas never saw them use anything other than their class skills and the two-hit combo. I guess they never bought the extra skills from the weapon master.
They found three of the Hippoblooms and scrounged up four of the Panther Fur. Luckily, Atlas had more luck with the foxes and they killed all eight of those. The panthers were harder to find and most of them they’d actually had to lure out of trees. One almost killed him when it dropped on his head from above, and none of them expected it.
The trip allowed him to get in plenty of practice with his healing magic. Not only did the two fighters do a fair amount of damage, but they took more damage than Atlas was comfortable with. He watched them not even attempt to block attacks more often than not. They just waited for the animal to bite or scratch them and then immediately dashed forward with another two-hit attack.
As they collected hides, Atlas cured them and then used them to make pieces for the other two fighters. They both chose the belts with pouches for their first piece and then Hercules chose a jerkin while Skullcrusher chose pants. Atlas felt generous and made each a pair of gloves and boots with the skins he got.
You gained 210 experience.
You received 550xp in Leatherworking
“Hey, Atlas. You make good money with your Leatherworking?” Hercules asked him as they walked through the trees in search of more of the panthers.
“A fair amount. Nothing all that great but I’m hoping if I can level it up more I can use it to make good money,” he answered hesitantly.
“That’s a shame. See, Herc and I are out here as mercenaries and have decided you’re going to give us all your stuff. Judging by your full set of armor we know you must’ve made a pretty hefty profit since you arrived in game and we aren’t interested in slogging through the money grind anymore,” Skullcrusher said as they both came to a halt and turned to face him. Seditious grins covered their faces.
“And if I refuse? I doubt you’ll be able to attack me since we are in a party and I’m sure once we get back to the city the guards will take my side if you try anything there.”
“That’s true, but you also forgot who the party leader is. They have the neat ability to kick anyone they choose. Since we didn’t sign any kind of contract, we can do whatever we want to you out here. So choose. Hand over everything, or we kill you and take it all anyway,” Hercules told him.
Crap, Crap, Crap. Atlas looked around the area for any way to escape the situation. He knew these guys seemed off but just figured it was normal awkwardness from gamers. Now he realized it was because they were asshole player killers. With nowhere to run, he gulped before responding.
“I won’t hand anything over to cowardly player killers. Looks like you’ll just have to take it.”
Atlas lifted his staff up to guard and slid his right leg back to widen his stance and balance himself. Skullcrusher slid his short sword free while Hercules pulled out his two daggers. The images appeared at once as the two figures rushed. Unfortunately, they were conflicting and didn’t line up. If he followed one, he would certainly take the attack from the other. He couldn’t think of another option, so he followed the motion to block the attack from Hercules. The assassin class surely had nasty surprises that would do crippling damage or give bad debuffs.
His staff twisted in his hands and knocked both of the daggers off course. A small feeling of accomplishment took over before a searing pain lanced through his side. Skullcrusher’s short sword hit a glancing blow. The movement he performed to block the assassin’s attack pulled him out of the direct path for the warrior, and he hadn’t compensated for the difference.
Skullcrusher dealt 8 HP damage to you. (Glancing Blow)
The sword slid free from his side as the fighter pulled it back for another strike. He forced himself to keep fighting and advanced toward Hercules. The assassin looked surprised as the staff swung for his head in a high arc. His blades almost came up high enough to deflect the attack, but he was too slow and the solid thump of the wooden weapon rattled him.
Hercules stumbled to the side, and Atlas continued to the second part of the attack. The red flash lit up his vision, and he followed the change in the image. Twisting his body, he redirected the momentum of the weapon and barely caught the descending blade of the warrior.
The power of the attack rocked him back a step, but he still triggered his Counter ability. Surprise lit up the warrior’s eyes, and Atlas assumed he just saw the unnerving red flash. He brought the weapon around in a low spin and cracked the man in the knee, buckling his left leg and causing him to fall to a crouch.
Atlas followed this by activating Blade Chase. A new combo series popped up in his vision and he stepped forward with a thrust directly at the man’s chest with the top of the staff. The tip cracked into his sternum and Atlas heard an audible crunch as the warrior cried out in pain. The image led him
