The hobgoblin boss lunged forward again, swiping his axe in a wide arc. Pete shifted aside, dodging out of the path of the weapon as Grinko Maas suddenly spun the axe and shoved the haft towards Pete’s face. With no time to move, Pete triggered his Pauper’s Ward ability and, rather than backing away, decided to use the shield to his advantage and move towards the hobgoblin leader.
It was a risky maneuver, but he reasoned that if he could deflect that first blow, he might be able to move in close enough to use coin toss more effectively and with less risk. The glinting golden shield surrounded him at the moment the haft of the axe struck. The shimmering translucent shield shattered immediately, but Pete felt no impact, and he was able to use the knockback from the shield to move in close to the brute and fire another coin towards the figure’s dull black eyes.
In a blur of movement, he fired a second coin. He was so close when he used the ability that Pete could smell the stench of rotten meat, stale sweat, alcohol, and unwashed armpits.
Once more, a coin was deducted from his tally, but this time Pete’s aim was true. The coin went flying into the hobgoblin leader's left eye, striking home with enough force to draw a gurgling cry from the brute’s mouth. Green blood and yellow goop splattered from the eyeball, and it popped like a water balloon, spraying gunk out over Grinko Maas’s cheek and nose.
>> ACHIEVEMENT: It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses an Eye!
Congratulations! You just scored a critical hit against the eye jelly of an enraged hobgoblin gang boss. If you’re looking for any advice on your next move…RUN!
ACHIEVEMENT REWARD: 2 Belch Bucks!
Still gripping its axe in one hand, the hobgoblin boss roared and patted at his ruined eye with his spare hand. Spittle sprayed from his mouth, and yellow snot pelted from his flared nostrils as he frothed and cursed. Using this moment of advantage, Pete grabbed the haft of the axe just above the hobgoblin's grip and yanked as hard as he could, lifting his feet and kicking the brute in the chest to lend as much power to the move as possible.
It felt like his leg was being torn in two as he shoved with all his might. As he strained with all his might, Pete wondered whether all those weeks when he’d missed leg day at the gym would catch up to him. The hobgoblin boss screamed and spat, wrenching the axe back towards his body but fumbling so that it pulled free, and Pete went falling backward, the top-heavy axe slamming into the ground and sending him into a wild tumble.
The axe clanged against the road, bouncing up and dragging Pete to one side as he clung desperately to the weapon. This was his chance, after all, and there was no way he was letting go of the damned thing now that he’d finally been able to acquire it.
>> ITEM ACQUIRED: Grinko Maas’s Skull Smasher!
TYPE: Melee Weapon
RARITY: Unique
>> DESCRIPTION: A hefty, crudely fashioned axe made from nickel and zinc and fashioned from melted down Belch Bucks coins. The weapon features a wide cutting arc designed for slicing through enemy armor and severing various appendages. On its opposite side is a thick metal spike intended to puncture armor plating or simply to batter one’s enemy to death.
+| Primary Damage Type: Slashing (Axe Head)
+| Secondary Damage Type: Piercing/Bludgeoning (Spike/Hammer Head)
+| SPECIAL ABILITIES:
>> Coinage of the Crag: Due to its unique composition, the Skull Smasher deals an additional 25% of its base weapon damage as Piercing damage against constructs and armored foes.
>> Armor-Severing Arc: When you use the Slashing damage type, you get a 20% increase in damage against targets wearing heavy armor. This attack also ignores 20% of the target’s damage reduction from armor.
>> Skull Smasher: When you use the Piercing/Bludgeoning damage type, a successful critical hit stuns the target for 6 seconds.
>> Clan Boss: If the axe is wielded by the leader of a hobgoblin fighting band, a 10% increase in damage will be granted on the first attack against an enemy.
FORMER VALUE: 1900 Belch Bucks
CURRENT EXCHANGE VALUE: 190 Belch Bucks
In addition to the sudden loss in value, there was one more issue with the large axe. It weighed so much that Pete had to use two hands just to wield it. Though the last few years had seen him soften somewhat from his college prime, Pete was still relatively fit and still held much of the muscle he’d built in his earlier years.
Even so, this axe was heavy. It felt like holding one of those long pry bars, but the head of the weapon also made it lean awkwardly to one side. That wouldn’t necessarily be a problem for someone the size of Grinko Maas, but Pete knew the moment he lifted the weapon and backed away that he was in trouble.
The hobgoblin boss had moved from frothing anger to mindless rage, pointing at Pete with a goop-covered finger and shouting at his men.
“Get the meaty meat! GET IT!”
Pete turned, holding the huge axe upright so as to lessen the pull against his arms. Three of the nearby hobgoblins immediately charged towards him, while the other two ran around giggling like gruff-throated children and chasing Coop, who was sprinting ahead of them.
“Shit!” Pete blurted, waiting for his shield to recharge as an axe came hurtling towards him.
The words ‘why the hell do they keep throwing their axes’ ran through his mind as he braced himself for contact and tried to block the incoming axe with his newly acquired weapon. Metal clashed against metal, striking with the force of a wrecking ball and shunting the metal shaft of Grinko Maas’s axe so hard into Pete’s wrists that he heard bone cracking.
“FUUUCK!” he roared, as he twisted to one side, the thrown axe careening off to the road and kicking up sparks as it skidded along. “Fucking fuck!”
He dropped the axe, holding his throbbing wrists against his chest as he stumbled backward yet again. Instead of clanging to the floor as he expected, the weapon vanished the moment he let go of it, and a small, illuminated axe symbol in his HUD confirmed that the weapon had been placed into his inventory.
“Grinko Maas is gonna crush yous!” the hobgoblin leader said, approaching from Pete’s left as the three others formed a ring of bristling weaponry, muscle, and bling all around him. “Grinko Maas is gonna squeeze yous little head like a punkin!”
Two of the boss’s lieutenants thundered forward, heavy footsteps thudding against the road as Pete grimaced, trying to push back the throbbing pain in his wrists, the pounding in his head, and the persistent piercing stab shooting up his thigh. He dodged left and right, narrowly avoiding being split apart by the scything blades of the two hobgoblins.
The only reason he wasn’t dead already was that they seemed to be competing against one another for the kill rather than working in unison. A series of shoves and cross strokes were accompanied by the clang of metal against metal and various grunts and hisses.
The baffling attack was still enough to have Pete flailing backward, though. He tripped on something hard and fell to the ground, wrists jarring again as he tried to cushion his fall.
One of the blade swings broke free of the competitive tangle and drove down towards Pete’s groin. He triggered his shield a moment before the blade struck and was once again surrounded by golden light, which promptly fractured as the shield was broken, sending the attacking hobgoblin hooping off to one side.
Pete fired a coin at the remaining hobgoblin, not even bothering to aim for the brute’s eyes but simply hoping that the projectile would cause enough confusion to buy him a few precious seconds. The coin hit the hobgoblin in the middle of the forehead, stunning the brute as Pete had hoped and allowing him to land hands on whatever had tripped him.
He felt hard metal and realized that he’d stumbled over the axe which had been thrown at him moments earlier. Wrists throbbing, body aching, he pulled with all his might, driving himself to his feet and hefting the axe up off the ground.
>> ITEM ACQUIRED [Green Rarity]: Haggy Krug’s Ear Splitter!
TYPE: Melee Weapon
RARITY: Unique
>> DESCRIPTION: A hefty, crudely fashioned axe made from melted down Belch Bucks and various other low-value items. While not as sturdy as the weapon favored by Krug’s leader, the Ear Splitter still performs admirably as both a cutting weapon and a blunt force club. This particular item is adorned with a series of personalized clan markings made by Haggy Krug himself. While the runes are somewhat crude and prone to misinterpretation, they do show a level of care and dedication to the hobgoblin’s chosen profession.
+| Primary Damage Type: Slashing (Axe Head)
+| Secondary Damage Type: Piercing/Bludgeoning (Spike/Hammer Head)
+| SPECIAL ABILITIES:
>> Hobgoblin’s Hammer: Due to its simple but effective design, this axe deals an additional 15% of its base weapon damage as Bludgeoning damage when used to attack unarmored targets.
FORMER VALUE: 700 Belch Bucks
CURRENT EXCHANGE VALUE: 70 Belch Bucks
The weapon felt heavier than the previous axe he’d acquired and, while it was the only thing standing between the four hobgoblin bruisers currently threatening him, it was too hard to wield, particularly given his injuries. Pete dropped the weapon and, as with before, it dropped into his inventory.
“Stop taking the bashy bash!” Grinko Maas roared in a plaintive tone. “Give it back! Give it or Grinko Maas makes the crush crush with your skull!”
The now one-eyed boss was clearly not the sharpest tool in the shed, a fact that was demonstrated by his repeated attempts to beat Pete with his fists while he was asking for his weapon back. Blood and yellow pus were still oozing from the huge figure’s ruined eye, but it hadn’t dulled his aggression.
Pete understood at that moment that his greatest resource in this fight wasn’t his own intelligence, strength, or the new abilities he’d acquired, but the blind stupidity of his enemy. When they outnumbered him, the hobgoblins had fallen over one another instead of coordinating their efforts, and now their leader was wasting words and holding his men back, allowing Pete enough time to keep clear.
They should have killed him ages ago, during the opening salvo of the fight. If three of the brutes had thrown their axes at the same time, he wouldn’t have been able to dodge out of the way, and at least one of the weapons would have struck him a lethal blow. But a combination of the strict hierarchy these hobgoblin thugs obviously observed and their own dull minds had given Pete just enough leeway to survive to this point.
Grinko Maas continued to punch and spit, goo running from his wounded eye as he frothed insults. His hobgoblin lieutenants, meanwhile, looked on in confusion and amusement, supremely confident that their leader would eventually kill Pete but unsure whether or not they should join the attack effort.
Pete led the hobgoblin gang boss around in a circle, managing to stay ahead of those meaty fists while his shield and Coin Toss ability finished their cooldowns. His aim was clear: to repeat the same move he’d done previously, using the shield to blunt one of Grinko Maas’s attacks and then firing a coin at the brute’s uninjured eye.
The hobgoblin leader was still incredibly dangerous without a weapon, but if he lost all of his sight, it would be significantly easier to put the brute down. Pete's plans were thrown into disarray, however, when the hobgoblin leader turned to his men and barked.
“Grinko Maas needs cutters! Give the cutters, you jelly weak choggers!”
Two of the hobgoblin lieutenants turned and ran at speed, heading towards one of the parked vehicles, while the other hobgoblins that had been watching Coop walked over to join the larger group.
I should run, Pete thought, eyeing the street behind him and wondering how far he would be able to get, given his wounds. He needed a car or some sort of rapid transport, and with all the buildings along the street shielded, he couldn’t even use any of the structures to hide and wait out the hobgoblins.
The two hobgoblin lieutenants returned hefting long blades that looked like machetes, each painted with vivid white and crimson symbols. They threw two of the blades toward their leader, and the weapons drifted upright in the air until Grinko Maas snatched them up with both hands. Or rather, he managed to successfully grab one of the machetes but fumbled the second attempt and sent the blade clattering down onto the ground.
“Flaacking flack!” the hobgoblin boss cursed, turning to face Pete and leaving the weapon on the ground nearby.
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Pete's eyes flipped down toward the weapon, and he tried to judge how heavy it would be. The machete was only about half the length of the axes the hobgoblins used, a long length of metal with a short wooden handle and no crosspiece. Judging by the way Grinko Maas was swishing the blade about, it must have weighed considerably less than the axe, and that meant it could be a weapon that Pete could use effectively himself.
The problem was he needed to get his hands on it without being split apart. As his mind raced, the hobgoblins began to spread out, forming a rough circle around him. They started grunting the name of their leader over and over again, punctuating the name by slamming their axe hafts or booted feet on the ground.
“Grinko Maas! Grinko Maas! GRINKO MAAS!”
The hobgoblin leader was smiling again, showing rows of mismatched teeth, the green blood and yellow pus from his eye wounds now starting to dry as it clung to his cheek and chin. Snot dripped from his nose, running down to the wiry whiskers on his chin.
With his one good eye, he gazed hatefully at Pete, extending the tip of his cutter toward Pete’s head. There were no more threats, no more promises of what the hobgoblin leader would do once he killed Pete. Instead, the brute edged forward, swiping his blade in a cross shape and grinning maniacally as the chanting of his name continued all around them.
[Coop] You need to run!
Grinko Maas slashed and jabbed, stopping periodically to thrust his fist into the air, much to the delight of his hobgoblin gang members. Their cheers rose as he made the gesture, growing to an almost deafening volume.
[Pete] Can’t run. They’re all around me. Besides, my leg is killing me. But if I can get to that other machete, I might have a chance. I’m gonna try and burst another shield and fire a coin at Grinko’s good eye. That should give me the time to reach the cutter.
[Coop] Unless one of those other bastards decides to stop you. And even if you reach the blade, you’ll have to kill six of the green-skinned monsters!
[Pete] One problem at a time. First, I need to get a weapon I can use.
The hobgoblin leader thrust ahead, and Pete shuffled quickly to his right, wincing in pain as his pierced hamstring throbbed.
[Coop] I might be able to help. Says here that I’ve got a few abilities of my own. One of them looks like it might be a shield.
Before Pete could reply, the hobgoblin leader leveled a series of vicious slashes at him, driving him backward so quickly that within moments he was just a foot or so from one of the other hobgoblins at the edge of the fighting circle. It was now or never, Pete realized, bracing himself for his next move and triggering Pauper’s Ward.
Once more, instead of backing away from the attack, Pete lunged towards it, his face an inch from the tip of the hobgoblin's blade as Grinko Maas swatted down in a brutal arc. The shield flared and broke instantaneously, driving back the machete as Pete aimed his coin and fired at the hobgoblin leader’s good eye.
There was no time to see if his aim had been true. Pete shoved past the hobgoblin leader, scoring a crack against his shoulder that spun him around and sent him stumbling towards the machete lying on the ground a short distance away. He half ran, half fell towards the weapon, aiming to scoop it up with one hand and turn to face his attacker but stumbling as his wounded leg buckled.
Pete hit the ground hard, grazed fingers numbly feeling for the handle of the machete as his wrist throbbed and his shoulder ached. He rolled, legs slapping against the hard ground as his body came to an unceremonious stop. Blood ran from cuts and abrasions all over his arms and hands as he stood gingerly to his feet, hefting the newly acquired weapon in bloody triumph.
>> ITEM ACQUIRED: Grinko Maas’s Slashy Slasher [aka ‘Bobby’]
A crude but lethally effective weapon, the Slashy Slasher is a testament to Grinko Maas’s resourceful brutality. Forged from smelted Belch Bucks and other scrap metals, this long, sharpened blade is a menacing machete designed for one purpose: dismemberment. Nicknamed ‘Bobby’ by Maas himself, it’s a weapon that gets the job done with gruesome efficiency.
+| Primary Damage Type: Slashing (Axe Head)
+| Secondary Damage Type: Piercing/Bludgeoning (Spike/Hammer Head)
+| SPECIAL ABILITIES:
>> Belch Bucks Blade: Forged from the coins of the realm, this blade deals an additional 15% of its base weapon damage as bleed damage against any target with a coin pouch or other valuables in their possession valued at more than 1000 Belch Bucks.
>> Severing Strike: This weapon excels at targeting limbs. Critical hits with the Slashy Slasher have a 50% chance to cause a deep wound, inflicting an additional 10% of the weapon’s damage every second for 3 seconds.
FORMER VALUE: 1200 Belch Bucks
CURRENT EXCHANGE VALUE: 120 Belch Bucks
The hobgoblin leader spun around, murder in his eyes. Or rather, murder in his single remaining eye, which was still intact but boasted a violent crimson welt on its left side that made the orb swell like the eye of a goldfish.
He roared a string of expletives and phrases that were so jumbled and so violently expelled that Pete couldn’t understand what he was hearing. The hobgoblin lieutenants gathered around ceased their chanting, turning to one another and staring in confusion as their leader charged towards Pete, seemingly having forgotten that he was still holding a blade and was reaching for Pete’s neck with his bare hands.
Pete crouched low, trying to figure out his best move under the circumstances. He held his newly acquired machete out to his right side, muscles tensing as he prepared to strike at the oncoming hobgoblin.
The legs. That was the obvious place to slash, both because they would be easily within range and also because he could avoid Grinko Maas’s murderous hands and the other blade if he ducked down low, sliced through the meat of the brute's left leg, and then rolled away.
In Pete's mind, the move was crystal clear, but reality rarely aligned with his mental picture of the world. As the hobgoblin boss lunged at him, Pete ducked down further, knees cracking against the road as he swung his right arm around and slashed out at the brute's leg.
He felt the sickening sensation of the blade slicing into the hobgoblin's flesh; its keen edge cutting so effortlessly through leather armor and flesh alike that it drove itself into the bone, wedging in place as Pete rolled away. The blade slipped out of his hand as Grinko Maas grabbed at thin air in an attempt to lay hold of the pesky human.
Blood gushed from the wound, pouring out across the road as Pete pushed himself up and watched in horror while Grinko Maas spun around, ropes of spit and snot trailing behind his thick head, red eye bulging. Thick hands grasped, and Pete felt himself suddenly wrenched backward as the hobgoblin leader grabbed hold of his hoodie and halted his movement.
The next moment was lost in a blinding barrage of pain. Grinko’s fist came slamming down into Pete’s gut, hitting him with so much force that the blow lifted him off the ground and sent him flying through the air. There was a sound of tearing fabric as the hood was torn from Pete’s hoodie, left grasped in Grinko’s fist as Pete flailed about in the air before coming to an unceremonious halt as he slammed against the chest of another hobgoblin.
The world dimmed around Pete, color fading and darkness creeping in at the edges of his vision as his entire existence was reduced to the throbbing pain that swelled out from his stomach and filled his entire body. He thought the glancing blow that had hit him earlier was painful. He’d wrongly assumed that the goblin spear shot through his hamstring had been painful.
But in this moment, every previous pain and injury, every thought of agony was subsumed beneath the crippling swell of agony that leeched the life from his body.
[Coop] Pete? Pete, are you still there?
He couldn’t register the words, not understand what Coop was even saying. Pete lay in a heap at the foot of one of the hobgoblin lieutenants, his body broken, every breath and thought bringing fresh agony.
[Coop] Hold on, son! I’m coming!
Pete was only vaguely aware of the huge figure lumbering up in front of him, a machete still jutting out of his left calf. Grinko might have been saying something, judging by the heavy rumbling Pete could hear in the distance, but he couldn’t understand the words. He couldn’t do anything other than simply exist in that moment and hope that the pain ended soon or, by some miracle, he was able to get free of this mess.
Through blurred vision, he caught sight of a bladed weapon washing down towards his body and had the presence of mind to summon his ward a moment before it struck. Golden light flared as the Pauper’s Ward surrounded his body and was shattered an instant later.
Wise now to the trick, Grinko recoiled but quickly recovered, shaking off the staggering effect of the shield break and bringing his blade down in a lethal arc towards Pete’s head. Still reeling from the blow to his gut, Pete was in too much pain to offer more defense than simply raising his arm and hoping that the heavy blade wouldn’t be sufficiently sharp to slice through his arm and into his neck in one sweep. It was a meager hope, but Pete’s options had narrowed to a fine point, and there was little else he could do.
“FUCKEEER!”
The screeching voice was followed by a flash of white fur as Coop leaped off the ground and interposed herself between Pete and Grinko’s blade, front claws raised, teeth bared. Through teary eyes, Pete watched as the blade strike that was meant to cleave his head from his shoulders was deflected, and a thrum of power radiated backward from Coop’s little body, producing a resounding gong sound as the hobgoblin leader was driven backward, his machete flying off into the air.
The next few seconds seemed to move in slow motion. Grinko Maas’s blade flew through the air and embedded itself into the chest of the nearest lieutenant, causing the brute to look down at the jutting blade handle with a puzzled expression while green blood gushed from the wound. Coop’s shimmering blue shield vanished, but not before it apparently caused Grinko a good deal of distress, battering him with a blast of percussive force as the shield broke and the little white ferret landed effortlessly on the ground next to Pete.
The hobgoblin leader stumbled, the machete still sticking out of his calf catching on the road and sending him tumbling to the ground to land with a sickly thud that hit so hard it sent gobs of blood and spit flying into the air above him. The mucus and blood reached their zenith as Pete pushed himself up with screaming legs and reached for the machete, which had been dislodged from Grinko’s calf bone and now seemed to be holding on only tentatively to the ragged chunks of meaty flesh at his lower leg.
Pete grabbed the blade by its handle and ripped it out, using his momentum to carry him on top of Grinko just as the gobs of spit and blood began their return trajectory from above the brute. Screaming and still racked with pain, Pete grabbed the blade in a two-handed grip and raised it high, watching in disbelief as the mucus and blood slapped against Grinko’s good eye, blinding the hobgoblin boss a moment before Pete’s thrust drove the rounded tip of the blade through the brute’s chest, bisecting the words ‘Boss Man’ written on the too-tight t-shirt and sinking deep into flesh.
Blood gushed from the wound as Pete fell onto Grinko Maas’s body, the jingle and clang of rings and other jewelry accompanying his fall as he promptly fell to the right, clinging desperately to the weapon hilt but failing to hold onto it as he tumbled off the dying hobgoblin.
Grinko coughed and spluttered, raising his hands to fumble at the blade in his chest while he spat unintelligible insults. He managed to lay hold of the weapon’s hilt and ripped it free with one hand, twisting in an attempt to stand while blood continued to flow from the wound in a river of gore.
The hobgoblin leader lifted it above Pete as he scrambled away. The big brute held his weapon aloft for a moment, his one good eye bulging comically as he stared off into the distance, blood gushing from his mouth and chest. Grinko turned to look at the machete he had just ripped out of his own chest, confused as his mouth opened and closed wordlessly. He turned back to Pete and then fell to the ground, landing with a wet, heavy slap against the road as the machete clattered in front of Pete, very nearly stabbing into his right leg.
Summoning strength from some inner reservoir, Pete picked up the machete and forced himself to stand. Coop moved up beside him, a light blue aura surrounding the ferret as he eyed the approaching enemy. Four of the hobgoblin lieutenants were staring dumbfounded at their dead leader as though hoping that he might still survive; they were also moving closer, all brandishing weapons.
>> KILLING BLOW!
>> ACHIEVEMENT: Kill a Boss Like a Boss!
Congratulations! You have successfully executed a killing blow against a boss-level enemy, the hobgoblin bandit leader Grinko Maas. Killing bosses within the Dominion Ultrimax competition will earn you greater rewards than slaughtering trash mobs or non-elite enemies. Boss kills will sometimes even provide unique items, but you’ll need a Loot Lure before you go fishing for goodies like that.
KILL REWARD: 100 Belch Bucks.
BOSS LOOT BOX: Requires a Loot Lure.
BOSS REWARD: Grinko’s Gristle Glyph - A gauntlet augment that provides +5% critical hit chance to any melee attacks against enemies who have eaten meat in the past 24 hours.
Pete couldn’t tell whether the brutes had seen the same message, but they clearly understood that Grinko Maas was dead. They turned their full attention to Pete, hefting weapons and showing bristling teeth. Except, of course, for the unfortunate hobgoblin standing with Grinko’s second blade jutting from his chest. He slumped unceremoniously to the ground, unnoticed by his companions as they spread out in a lethal semi-circle, bloody murder clearly on their minds.
>> KILL REWARD: 5 Belch Bucks.
Barely managing to stand, let alone move, Pete stood waiting for the inevitable attack, wondering which blow he would be able to block with his ward before he was pummeled or sliced in half.
[Coop] I have another shield option I can use, and it looks like that first one will be ready in a few seconds too.
Shield? Pete thought. How the hell did the ferret have shields, and how was Mrs. Cooper suddenly so adept at using new abilities like that?
They were all questions he was hoping to answer at some stage, but that would require surviving the next encounter, and that wasn’t likely. True, he had a weapon that he could actually use, but he was also basically dead on his feet, suffering blood loss, a likely concussion, more than one broken bone, and probably internal injuries.
There was one more trick he still had up his sleeve, however. The Bailout Ticket. It would save him from one fatal encounter, but if he was whisked away from the action, only to be returned a moment later still surrounded by angry hobgoblins with death on their minds, the ticket wouldn’t do him any good.
As the closest hobgoblin attacked, Pete summoned his shield and prepared to retaliate with a strike of his own. Before the brute’s downward stroke hit, however, Coop lunged into the air, her white fur prickling with what looked like golden electrical energy as a nimbus of light surrounded her. Instead of hitting Pete, the hobgoblin’s blade sliced right into Coop’s body.
Rather than blood flowing from the wound, a flood of small copper coins spilled from the impact point, bouncing off the ground and causing the other hobgoblins to hesitate as they watched the spectacle. One of the brutes bent down and tried to scoop up the coins, while the figure that had attacked stared with a puzzled expression at the edge of his own blade as if only now realizing the magical potential of the weapon.
Pete turned and ran, with Coop charging beside him. Driven by the need to survive, he pushed past the pain, hobbling along and veering left and right like a drunkard.
“What the hell was that back there?!” he barked.
“Some kind’a hocus pocus spell,” Coop replied as they reached a nearby car, and Pete stopped shambling and leaned against it, trying to catch his breath.
“Did it just make you bleed coins?”
“Damned if I know, son.”
Pete tried to catch his breath, watching as the coins behind vanished and the hobgoblins refocused their attention on him.
“Nero, what was that spell Coop just used?”
[Nero] Quite a useful protection spell by the look of it. The ability is associated with your Penny Pincher class and is one of several that have been allotted to your soulbound companion.
>> THE MIDAS EXCHANGE
The caster is enveloped in a shimmering golden aura. When struck, instead of taking damage, the impact transmutes into a torrent of Belch Bucks that spew from the point of contact. The coins are temporarily tangible for 5 seconds, after which they dissolve. If any ally or enemy manages to collect them within this timeframe, the coins are added to their wallet.
DAMAGE MITIGATION: 100% for a single strike [higher levels will increase the effectiveness and duration of the spell].
COOLDOWN: 10 seconds.
DEBUFF: The caster cannot acquire loot boxes for 24 hours following the use of this ability.
“Holy shit, that’s impressive,” Pete said.
“I’ve got another one too. That blue number I used earlier. Seems like it’s similar.”
“Well, we’re gonna need them both,” Pete said, shoving himself off the edge of the car and preparing as the remaining four hobgoblins approached. “And I’m not sure that coin trick will distract these boys as well a second time.”
“Wouldn’t be so sure of that, son. These boys look dumber than a sack of assholes.”
Pete didn’t share her confidence, mostly because he was finding it difficult enough to stay standing, let alone face the prospect of surviving another encounter with the approaching brutes. It appeared that Coop hadn’t taken any damage, and she had at least two shield abilities she could use to defend herself and even throw a little damage back at the enemy. Pete, on the other hand, was a pile of broken bones, cuts, and bruises. His vision was impaired, his leg was ruined, and he could barely grip his machete, let alone use the damned thing.
“Stay behind me, son,” Coop said, moving ahead of him protectively. “I’ll keep you safe.”
He would have laughed if he hadn’t just seen her in action. As he drew a ragged breath and prepared for the next round, something caught his attention coming from behind. He spun around, grimacing in pain as he twisted his neck.
A vehicle of some kind was heading toward them at speed, but it wasn’t spewing smoke like the hobgoblin cars, and it was also honking every now and then, as though whoever was driving really wanted to get their attention. Pete and Coop watched as a large pickup truck roared into view, heading right for them.
[Nero] Curious. It seems that another player approaches.
Before Pete could ask any questions, the pickup truck skidded to a halt right in front of him and Coop, tires squealing as the vehicle shuddered to a stop. The passenger side door was flung open, and Pete saw a young woman sitting in the driver’s seat wearing a trucker’s cap and scowling as she pointed what looked awfully like a revolver directly at his head.
“Get in!” she shouted.
Pete shook his head. “I don’t—”
“Get in the car. NOW!” she barked, cocking the gun.
Pete dropped the machete into his inventory and started hobbling toward the truck.