Somnium Online

Sewers pt.2

"Hey, Eric?" Abby called.

"Yeah?" Eric turned to look at her.

"Can we stop for a minute?" She asked.

Eric examined their condition. Their cloaks were muddied, Abby was scraped up from when he had yanked her out of the way of certain death. They were both cold and exhausted. Reagan was running out of energy, and her magical light was glowing dim and beginning to flicker.

They had only been in the sewers for half an hour, but it felt more like a week with no way to accurately track time. Even Eric was looking worn, his armor, which he had started with was showing wear, and his sword had several new nicks.

All in all, they had made barely fourteen coppers. It was pitiful.
Eric sighed, he was tired too. Abby and Reagan were still getting used to the brutal reality of combat.

"Yeah, let's take a break." He slid down the wall rested. Abby and Reagan sat down several feet away. Eric closed his eyes, but kept his ears open just in case someone attempted an ambush.

They sat there for a while, the sewer water slowly flowing past, Reagans dim light flickering every few seconds. After a while Reagan spoke up. "Hey Eric, how did you get so good at adventuring, and fighting?"

Eric thought for a minute. "I guess I got tired of losing." He said. He couldn't tell them the truth, that this was all a game and that the reason he was so calm in combat was because he knew he couldn't die.

"So you didn't go through special training?" Abby asked.

"Not at all" Eric replied. "When I was a kid, I got bullied. I kept asking why I always lost, and I realized something. The most ruthless person always wins."

Abby frowned. "So a fight is all about being willing to kill?"

"Exactly. You might be better at fighting than these goblins, but they were willing to kill to defend their territory, and you hesitated."

Abby glared. "Hey, that wasn't my fault, you distracted me." Reagan elbowed her.

"Of course if you're totally outmatched it won't matter." Eric amended.

"Wait!" Reagan interjected. "So if the bullies had you outmatched how did you win?"

Eric looked at her darkly. "You don't want to know about that."

The twins were taken aback. "O-okay." Reagan stammered.

"Hey, uh, why don't we just get back to work. Goblins don't kill themselves you know." Abby said a little too cheerfully.

"I wish they would" Eric grumbled. "Right, stay behind me, and blast them when I knock them back."

The twins nodded their assent, and the party continued deeper into the sewers.

Their teamwork was starting to become more natural. Goblins would charge out of the darkness, Eric would parry or dodge their initial attacks, then he kicked, stabbed, punched, and on one remarkable occasion headbutted goblins backwards giving Abby an opening to blast them to bits.

Every now and then Eric would receive a serious cut, and once the latest goblins were dispatched they would rest for a minute while Reagan used her healing magic to cure his wounds.

"How many coppers are we at?" Abby asked after a while.

"Around 35." Eric answered. A goblin leaped at him from the darkness. He cut it out of the air. Make that 36." He amended.

"Hey, we should probably head back." Reagan chimed in.

"You're right. 30 goblins means 10 coppers each." Eric smiled.