The Lich's Master

Chapter 11: ...Let's Try a Tree!

The goblin chieftain’s scream nearly deafened Kyle as he ran through the woods. He could feel the ground tremble beneath his feet as the creature chased him among the trees. Kyle’s gaze leapt around, he scoured his surroundings as he hopped over the thick, tangled roots of the trees.

Thankfully, most trees here were pine trees. They had thick, sturdy trunks, and planet of strong branches. Once he found a tree suitable to his needs, he slowed his steps.

“Hey, slowpoke!” He shouted again to make sure the goblin chieftain’s attention was still on him and waited for it to approach. There was no space for the chieftain to charge at him at a straight line, the trees would block him every few steps, so the creature just walked towards him menacingly, holding the metal tower shield.

Kyle shot a quick glance at the tree behind him over his shoulder. This had to work!...right?

As soon as the creature was close enough, he stuck his tongue out, and mocked it some more. The creature’s green face twisted with emotion. It shouted something in goblin and grabbed the tower shield with both hands before swinging it like an axe.

Kyle threw himself aside just in time. The metal shield passed over his head, hitting the tree with a loud crash. He quickly got back on his feet as the goblin chieftain tried to pry the shield off of the thick, sturdy tree trunk.

Kyle ran around the creature, blade in hand, and swung with all his might. Alarming creaks sounded as the creature continued pulling at the stuck metal shield. It didn’t seem to care too much about Kyle, or his attacks.

To be completely honest, it was quite… humiliating, for lack of a better word. Like the creature didn’t even see Kyle as a threat. Like he couldn’t ever harm it. Annoyed by that though, Kyle stepped back and took one of these precious moments to ponder.

The A.I. in this game was surprising, good, the NPC’s – enemies, neutrals and allies alike – were quite smart, and their threat detection worked near flawlessly. If the goblin chieftain didn’t consider him a threat, then with his current equipment, it wasn’t too likely that he would be able to do any real harm to it.

So, what could he do?

The first answer that came to his mind was the obvious one: get better equipment. But he couldn’t just up and leave now, and even if he did, without enough experience, he wouldn’t be able to gain much strength anyways.

The second answer was the slightly more obscure one, though it was quite an easy solution, all things considered. To use the environment against his opponent. Easy, he thought as the idea solidified in his mind.

He ran around the goblin chieftain and circled around the tree. He stopped when he reached the unharmed side of the trunk. He could still see the goblin chieftain struggling, trying to free its shield from the sturdy tree trunk.

Kyle took a deep breath, then raised his leg and kicked the tree with all his might. A loud creak sounded at first, but nothing more happened. Disappointed that his climactic moment of kicking a tree over an elite enemy such as the goblin chieftain didn’t happen, Kyle pursed his lips, and kicked the tree again, with a pout. “Come on!”

This time, the creak sounded for longer, and the tall, large tree waddled back and forth. It was getting more and more unsteady. Kyle prepared to kick it again. As he raised his leg, the chieftain suddenly let out an alarmingly victorious sounding cry and freed his shield from the tree trunk.

Immediately following his victory cry, the tree let out an ear piercing creak. Kyle’s eyes widened as the tree slowly toppled over. He closed his eyes as it fell on the goblin chieftain with a disgusting crack.

“Ugh,” He muttered, as he noticed the impaled creature’s corpse. “So much for looting that one.” Nothing could make him approach the disgusting, crushed, impaled, bloody mess of a corpse.

‘Level up:

Kyle – Lv. 20 Unclassed

INT 10 | WIS 10 | DEX 10 | STR 10 | CON 10’

‘Class Options Unlocked’

‘You may choose a class at any time. Beware: Your character will be locked into the chosen class until your total level reaches 50. At that time, you may choose a secondary class.’

Kyle’s eyes widened. “Finally!” He exclaimed with joy. But now wasn’t the best time or place to choose a class. Once they were defeated fully, monster camps would begin to repopulate within a quarter of an hour. He needed to go get whatever loot he could, and return home, or to Cacophus’ lair.

He was about to turn his back to the fallen tree and crushed goblin chieftain when he noticed the large tower shield laying on the ground, off to the side. His eyes widened once more. “Jackpot!” He said with a huge grin on his face. He snatched the shield and placed it in his inventory.

He sure didn’t intend to become a tank type character, but a shield as powerful as this could sell for plenty of gold, or even some premium currency, perhaps. That is, if he could convince a player that he wasn’t a hidden boss.

He hurried back to the camp, quickly searched the dead goblins, the tents, and the general area around the place, only to find a grand total of two gold pieces and a whole lot of useless, crooked arrows. He tossed the arrows aside, took the gold and hurried away from here.

By the time he reached the Lich’s cave, he still hadn’t decided what he wanted to pick as his first class. Now, classes and levels worked somewhat differently in this game, then it did in most other MMO’s.

“YOU’VE GROWN IN POWER!” The Lich’s voice echoed in his mind as soon as he stepped through the doors that led to the room that once was his boss room. It was more of a study now. “GOOD, NOW YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF A MAGE!”

Magic… Kyle’s eyes glimmered. That was exactly what he wanted.

“Tell me more!”