1.35 – Dark Warrior

Infusion (Dark) – Average Dark aspect added to all abilities. 3 minutes.

Jaws of Defeat: Minor increase to defense/magic defense from Resilience and Ward.

Dark power rushed out from the shattered gem. It curled up her arm, then wrapped around her shoulders before crawling down her other arm. The energy cascaded down her torso like an inky waterfall, wrapping around her legs when it passed her waist. Wispy, ephemeral tongues of the same energy leaped up from her shoulders and chest, like black and nearly invisible flames. She gave a practice swing of her axe, and the same Dark power trailed behind it like a lesser version of her Dark Strike ability.

It would have to do. Rika lifted her heater shield, taking the first salvo from the axe goblin, then shoving it back with a burst of Darkness to create enough space for an attack of her own. She activated Rend. Her axe traced a glinting orange arc as it reflected the torchlight, while a churning black and purple trail lingered in its wake, thanks to her Dark Infusion. The head bit into the shield goblin’s flesh with a burst of Dark power. The notification that she’d built her first stack of Rend appeared.

Greater Goblin (Elite) – Level 17

Wardriver – Grants Ferocity to all goblins and goblin-kin present in combat.

Ferocity – Bolstered by the presence of an elite of their kind. Average increase to damage.

Rend I x1 – Small reduction to defense. 15 seconds.

Blood wept from the goblin’s wound, but it raised its hammer in the telltale windup to that big overhand strike they used. As it readied its attack, Rika brought her shield around to meet it. This wasn’t something she could afford to let hit her, even if she took hits from the axe goblin in the process. The lesser goblins rushed past their leaders and lent their weight to the oncoming struggle, too.

The shield goblin’s hammer fell, and a surge of power filled Rika. The weapon’s misshapen and crude head battered her heater shield, sending shocks up her arm, but not with the force she expected. She checked her buffs.

Infusion (Dark) – Average Dark aspect added to all abilities. 2:38 remaining.

Jaws of Defeat: Minor increase to defense/magic defense from Resilience and Ward.

Tempo I x2: 4 seconds.

Bolster Might I: Small increase to Might. 30 seconds.

She’d never seen a Bolster Might buff before. Had she somehow triggered it without realizing? The instant the question crossed her mind, the party information tugged ever so slightly at her attention as Chryson moved it ever so slightly forward in her thoughts. Erik was level fifteen. While she didn’t have the time or attention to pull up his full status, she could guess what happened easily enough.

Rika was now strong enough that Erik wasn’t pushed to the edge of his ability just to keep her alive. That meant he’d plenty of time to focus on other things. And as she slaughtered her way through the goblins, he’d be getting experience, too. He must have gained Bolster Might upon reaching level fifteen, and only now had seen fit to use it. The ability couldn’t have been better timed, in her eyes.

She pulled up her own stats, just for a quick check.

• Primary Stats

  • Might – 31(36)

  • Finesse – 31

  • Resilience – 31

  • Magic – 17

  • Control – 17

  • Ward – 31

Five points. Or two and a half levels’ worth with her current growth. Surely the ability would grow as Erik leveled up, too. It was a strong buff, even if it only lasted for thirty seconds. She’d best make use of it.

The two-hander goblin raised its weapon, preparing for a heavy strike of its own. Rika Stunned it with a Shield Slam, then struck a quick blow at the shield goblin with her axe. Each of her attacks trailed the same Dark energy that curled around her and poured off her arms and chest, while each impact released a burst of the same. She punched the goblin in its face with the rim of her heater, just for good measure.

The most important thing she needed to do right now was keep up as much pressure as she could. A goblin arrow ripped through her tattered sleeve and bit into her arm, inflicting a Bleed and wiping out her Tempo stacks. A testament to her need for aggression. This wasn’t a fight where she could easily count on Tempo to stay up. But it was fast enough to build that if she remained aggressive, she could quickly rebuild any stacks she lost.

She decapitated a nearby goblin warrior with a Dark Strike. The combined effect of the skill’s high Dark damage plus her infusion resulted in a burst of power far more potent than any she’d managed before. She swung her leg around and kicked the body into the closest and densest clump of goblin warriors before it fell.

“Same damage aspects compound with one another,” Chryson said as Rika laid into the shield goblin once more. “A Dark infusion coupled with an ability that does Dark damage will produce a synergy beyond what either could achieve on their own, or with an infusion of a different aspect.”

Rika kept punishing the shield goblin as best she could, while also weathering the near-constant barrage from the axe goblin to her right. She also resolved to have a serious sit-down with Chryson once she got the chance. This was just her first job, and she’d had so much new information shoved at her over the course of just a few days. Once she had the time and the opportunity to consider what her future advancement would be like, she needed to figure out how to leverage everything she’d learned along with everything she was. Already she could see the rough shape of her possible futures. But that could wait.

The two-hander goblin had fully recovered by now. It raised its weapon once again, just as the axe goblin launched into another flurry of attacks. Rika grimaced as the twin axes beat against her shield, and she locked her eyes on the descending pommel of the goblin’s two-hander.

The Stun hit her, and all hell broke loose. She dropped her guard as she struggled to just stay standing. Erik landed a Mend, reducing the Stun to just a second, but she was still vulnerable. The shield goblin’s hammer slammed into her side, and sharp pain dug into her chest as her ribs gave under the force. The axe goblin savaged her now-exposed right flank, tearing up what was left of her padded jack on that side. The two-hander dug into the muscle between her shoulder and neck, and half a dozen goblins tried to drag her down.

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Erik’s Mend pulled her bones back together and closed the deep wounds on her arm and shoulder. After what seemed like far more than a single second, Rika could move under her own power again. Her shield came up, protecting her right side and her head as she lashed out at the shield goblin with a Rend. The ability landed just before the debilitation ticked off, giving her another fifteen seconds and a second stack.

The shield goblin was her priority. As far as she could tell, the other two didn’t have Taunts. So long as she focused on the shielded one, it didn’t really matter if it Taunted her or not. And once it was down, she’d have free rein to deal with the rest however she pleased. Dark power ripped through the shield goblin’s armor and flesh beneath as Rika landed another Dark Strike on it. She kicked away yet another lesser goblin and then severed the spine of another. All the while, she did what she could to fend off the two-hander and the dual axes.

Under the constant barrage of axe and sword strikes, she’d long since accepted her right arm was just going to be a numb mass of fatigue and pain. The endless rise and fall of her axe meant similar for her left arm, as her muscles protested against the strain with each swing. And the goblins constantly stinging her with arrows or attacking her legs—well, they were just one more point of annoyance and pain.

Tempo rose and fell as she landed hits and got hit in return. Her main focus was ensuring her Rend stacks on the shield goblin didn’t fall off. She could afford to divert her attention from it from time to time, either to kill a lesser goblin or deploy a critically timed Stun to one of the other two greater goblins. The debilitation was up to five stacks now, and the shield goblin was looking in worse and worse shape. Wouldn’t be long, if she gauged things correctly.