didn't care much about a nice clean pull. Teddy had no problems handling a train. I simply selected the warrior closest to me as target and said, "Attack!"
With a growl, the bear charged.
After two minutes of animal noises, metal clanging and paws slapping flesh, the first room was gnoll-free. I glanced up at my experience bar. The fight had added twenty-four percent, not bad at all. I went through the bodies picking out the most valuable spoils. I wasn't sure whether to take Soul Stones or not but decided for it. You never knew when you might die, and that way I always had some high-level items. I was happy to see some quest bracelets—not just gray ones as earlier on the surface, but also a couple black ones. If I wasn't mistaken, they went for a good fifty copper.
I stopped for a moment checking the master gnoll. Among other trash, he dropped a heavy bunch of lockpicks. I fingered them, thinking, and turned around looking for my rogue friend. I couldn't see the little thief but the disappearing objects I'd discarded gave his location away.
"Hey, dude. Mind showing up for a bit?"
The rogue unstealthed and looked up at me, curious. He couldn't do much else, actually. He was kneeling with the end of his bag between his teeth where I'd just smoked four of the warriors, scooping in the battle booty.
I laughed. I couldn't help it. "Boy, you're a scream. What's your name? Bug? Suits you, sort of. If you think you're a super thief, here're some trade tools for you."
I flung him the lockpicks. The kid grabbed and inspected them.
"Zool! And I'm not a thief but a super spy. I'd love to level all stealth skills and become No 1 Spy."
"You go for it, dude. A spy will never want for work," I tried to conceal the skepticism in my voice. "If you don't mind me asking, why is your char the size of a garden gnome? Where have you seen a High Elf two feet tall?"
"I've just told you. Spies may need to crawl into places, especially hiding places. It's perfect."
"It is indeed," I had to agree. "Go ahead and hide, then. We're off. Hummungus, heel!"
After twenty more minutes, the kid realized that his eyes were bigger than his belly.
"Overload," he said wistfully. "Two more items, and I won't be able to move. Stealth speed is half the standard as it is. I might go to town and flog it all. Thanks, dude. Good luck and good hunting!"
I waved him away without looking up from a freshly-made map. This was another problem with my unplanned marathon, the fact that I hadn't even got myself a caves plan so now I was groping my way through like a newborn kitten. All that time, we'd been taking the corridors to our right, inspecting the rooms one by one as we approached the central hall and the stairs down to the second level.
It still took me and Hummungus another half-hour to get to the central altar. By then, I was level 14 going on 15. When I'd reached level 14 a few rooms back, a few new system messages had popped up.
Congratulations! You've received Achievement: Impervious.
You've stayed alive for five subsequent levels!
Reward: +100 to Fame
A few seconds later, another message blinked on,
Server alert! Server update 2144:
We have introduced a new measure aiming to restrict a summoned creature's level regardless of the player's class. A summoned creature's level is now limited to that of a summoner +30%. In case of summoning a higher creature, its level will be automatically lowered to comply with the above formula.
This measure does not apply to item and buff bonuses.
E.g.: Necromancer, level 10, has a Soul Stone level 20. Item bonuses +2 to level. You can raise a level 15 pet.
Oh. AI was quick on the uptake. Apparently, they kept a firm eye on this achievement to make sure no one could abuse bugs for leveling.
After a few more seconds, Admin PM'd me with a message that made me chuckle.
Dear Player,
You have recently helped us to detect certain gaming scenarios which could potentially
With a growl, the bear charged.
After two minutes of animal noises, metal clanging and paws slapping flesh, the first room was gnoll-free. I glanced up at my experience bar. The fight had added twenty-four percent, not bad at all. I went through the bodies picking out the most valuable spoils. I wasn't sure whether to take Soul Stones or not but decided for it. You never knew when you might die, and that way I always had some high-level items. I was happy to see some quest bracelets—not just gray ones as earlier on the surface, but also a couple black ones. If I wasn't mistaken, they went for a good fifty copper.
I stopped for a moment checking the master gnoll. Among other trash, he dropped a heavy bunch of lockpicks. I fingered them, thinking, and turned around looking for my rogue friend. I couldn't see the little thief but the disappearing objects I'd discarded gave his location away.
"Hey, dude. Mind showing up for a bit?"
The rogue unstealthed and looked up at me, curious. He couldn't do much else, actually. He was kneeling with the end of his bag between his teeth where I'd just smoked four of the warriors, scooping in the battle booty.
I laughed. I couldn't help it. "Boy, you're a scream. What's your name? Bug? Suits you, sort of. If you think you're a super thief, here're some trade tools for you."
I flung him the lockpicks. The kid grabbed and inspected them.
"Zool! And I'm not a thief but a super spy. I'd love to level all stealth skills and become No 1 Spy."
"You go for it, dude. A spy will never want for work," I tried to conceal the skepticism in my voice. "If you don't mind me asking, why is your char the size of a garden gnome? Where have you seen a High Elf two feet tall?"
"I've just told you. Spies may need to crawl into places, especially hiding places. It's perfect."
"It is indeed," I had to agree. "Go ahead and hide, then. We're off. Hummungus, heel!"
After twenty more minutes, the kid realized that his eyes were bigger than his belly.
"Overload," he said wistfully. "Two more items, and I won't be able to move. Stealth speed is half the standard as it is. I might go to town and flog it all. Thanks, dude. Good luck and good hunting!"
I waved him away without looking up from a freshly-made map. This was another problem with my unplanned marathon, the fact that I hadn't even got myself a caves plan so now I was groping my way through like a newborn kitten. All that time, we'd been taking the corridors to our right, inspecting the rooms one by one as we approached the central hall and the stairs down to the second level.
It still took me and Hummungus another half-hour to get to the central altar. By then, I was level 14 going on 15. When I'd reached level 14 a few rooms back, a few new system messages had popped up.
Congratulations! You've received Achievement: Impervious.
You've stayed alive for five subsequent levels!
Reward: +100 to Fame
A few seconds later, another message blinked on,
Server alert! Server update 2144:
We have introduced a new measure aiming to restrict a summoned creature's level regardless of the player's class. A summoned creature's level is now limited to that of a summoner +30%. In case of summoning a higher creature, its level will be automatically lowered to comply with the above formula.
This measure does not apply to item and buff bonuses.
E.g.: Necromancer, level 10, has a Soul Stone level 20. Item bonuses +2 to level. You can raise a level 15 pet.
Oh. AI was quick on the uptake. Apparently, they kept a firm eye on this achievement to make sure no one could abuse bugs for leveling.
After a few more seconds, Admin PM'd me with a message that made me chuckle.
Dear Player,
You have recently helped us to detect certain gaming scenarios which could potentially
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