“That’s great. You said you wanted to do some more quests,” Dave said cheerily.

“Not against something like this. I doubt I can even get through its armour, and I know the wolves won’t, considering their low levels as you stated. Any advice?”

“Don’t get hit by the claws.”

“Really. That is all?” SJ replied sarcastically.

“Well, you can allow yourself to be hit if you wish, but I wouldn’t advise it,” Dave replied flippantly.

“Any helpful advice would be appreciated.”

“They are slow, and their eyesight is very poor, so you should have enough notification of an attack.”

One of the wolves sprung towards its left side, and as it did, the Rock Gobbler snapped its jaws towards it. On doing so, another wolf on the right moved in to snap at it. The Rock Gobbler moved its front leg to strike, and SJ noticed how slow it was compared to most things she had fought so far. The wolf easily dodged its attempted bite-and-claw attack as the other snapped at its side. The wolf that struck it didn’t do any damage, and it remained with full health.

“This is not going to be fun,” SJ said as she flew behind the creature. The armour plating seemed to come down and cover virtually all its body, as though it wore a scale shirt. At the rear of the creature, where its tail joined its body, it looked as though it had less armour plating.

SJ lowered slowly. The bulk of the creature between herself and its head. She had not flown low and doubted it had even perceived her as a threat. Landing, she grew, equipping her claws and approaching the rear of it, stabbed into the weaker armoured area of its body, where its stubby tail originated. SJ had not been expecting the reaction to the attack, and it jumped forward as if launched from a cannon. Patch bounded out of the way as it landed where he had been some thirty feet away. She had penetrated its body but only managed to do eight points of damage.

“That thing can move,” SJ said in surprise.

“Its legs, although short, are ridiculously strong as it pushes against stone when burrowing, and it doesn’t even bother trying to attack its head. It may not look armoured, but it’s harder than steel.”

This was going to be a long fight. As the wolves continued to snap at it, grabbing its attention, SJ continued to shrink and grow, performing attacks at its rear. It was unable to turn quickly, and she could imagine it performing a ten point turn on a road in the UK, it was so inflexible with its sideways movement. It was designed for one job only. To dig and move forward to its next food source. With its stubby legs, it was slow, and it lumbered forward, trying to strike at any wolves that came in front of it, occasionally launching an attack.

After almost ten minutes of fighting, it still had over 150 hit points remaining. Her more recent hits did very little damage, even against its unprotected rear.

“This is ridiculous. There must be something that can damage it easier?” SJ said as she flew to its rear again.

“Only if you have a lightning or fire spell or similar,” Dave replied.

“SJ,” the small form of Cristy had appeared at the edge of the forest, crying her name.

“Cristy. Stay back,” SJ called on seeing the small Gnoll.

Cristy mustn’t have heard her response as she wandered further from the tree line, staring at the creature the wolves continued to fight.

“Cristy,” SJ bellowed, trying to be heard above the creatures' snarling, growling, and hissing.

Still, she didn’t respond, and SJ flew straight towards her. “Get back in the tree line now,” she screamed at the small Gnoll as she neared her.

Cristy looked at her in shock. It was the first time SJ had ever said anything with anger in her voice, and it obviously had an impact. After standing momentarily and looking at her, she turned and ran, tears running down her cheeks.

“Argh,” SJ screamed in frustration. She hadn’t meant to shout at Cristy. She just didn’t want her to get hurt by the ridiculously armoured creature. “I need to go follow her. I can’t have her running off.”

“The wolves will keep it busy,” Dave said.

SJ followed Cristy and could hear her as she ran through the forest brush on all fours. She was very fast, and SJ struggled to keep up, even flying and moving in and around the trees. Eventually, she began to slow down, and SJ caught up with her. Cristy came to a stop, curling up in a ball at the base of a huge tree, sobbing.

SJ landed gently and grew. “Cristy,” she said softly.

Cristy didn’t look at her and buried her head into her arm, covering her face. The dress she had been wearing was all torn and tattered from being caught in the brush.

“Cristy. I am sorry. I didn’t mean to shout at you. I was scared you may get hurt, that was all.”

Cristy sobbed as she responded. “I thought you were my friend.”

“I am your friend. You know I am. That creature could have hurt you if you had gotten any closer than you did.”

“I just wanted to help. I was worried when you had been so long,” she turned to look at SJ, streaks covered her little face and her eyes glistened.

SJ could feel a tear in her own eye. “I know you did, and I am sorry I didn’t come back straight away. I was helping the wolves. That creature is too heavily armoured. It isn’t like attacking a Hogling or a Hobgoblin.”

SJ bent down next to her and held her arms out. Cristy slowly moved over until she could envelop her in a hug. Stroking her head gently. “I am sorry,” Cristy continued to sob, and SJ felt terrible. After a minute, the sobbing became less, and Cristy pushed away from her, looking at her.

“I need to go back and check on the wolves, but I have no idea where they are now,” SJ said, looking around and lost after chasing her.

“I can lead you. I can smell them,” Cristy replied, her little face looking at SJ wide-eyed.

“Only if you promise to stay in the trees and not go into the open. Whatever happens,” SJ replied.

“I promise.”

“Come on then, show me which way.”

Cristy began to move back through the trees. Walking back took much longer than Cristy's mad dash, and SJ could hear the fighting still going on when they returned. “Now stay here, please,” SJ said.

“I will,” Cristy replied, nodding her head.

SJ, shrinking and taking off, flew back onto the plain. The Rock Gobbler had only lost two more hit points in all the time she had been gone. The wolves were beginning to tire, and their movements were less fluid. One of them was almost hit by the beast as it launched towards it, only narrowly bounding from its path.

“I need to do something different,” SJ hissed.

“I have an idea,” Dave said.

“What idea?” SJ said hopefully.

“You need to try and lead it away from the woods towards the cliff edge.”

“And do what?”

“Make it launch at you and over the side. Their vision is poor. It won't know where it is in comparison. You have seen how far it can jump when it tries to attack so you can try to get positioned so it jumps too far.”

“It won’t go for me when I'm small.”

“No. That’s the problem,” Dave chuckled nervously.

The cliff's edge was probably a couple hundred feet from where they fought, and SJ began the slow process of trying to make it turn around to face her. The creature was worse than a heavy goods vehicle, and SJ got into a routine of landing, growing in front of it, and running as it tried to launch its attack. It jumped nearly thirty feet each time, and eventually, after several minutes, it began to face the cliff.

“Now lead it straight,” Dave said.

Two heavily panting wolves had moved back from the fray, and SJ believed they must be exhausted. She didn’t have the luxury of being tired. She needed to get rid of this thing. Landing fifty feet from its front, she grew again, calling at it and screaming to get its attention. The wolves were now on the same side of the creature as SJ. The creature now had four creatures to choose from to attack.

It leapt forward towards one of the wolves, thankfully still moving closer to the cliff edge. The wolf, this time, was not fast enough as it leapt to the side, and one of the Gobbler's huge claws caught it on its flank. The wolf yelped in pain as it crashed to the ground, unable to land properly and whimpering. SJ rushed forward and struck at the face of the creature in anger. The Gobbler's head turned as she did, knocking into her and sending her sprawling sideways. Its head felt like being hit by a sledgehammer, and this close, its teeth looked like huge razor blades. Having swept her claws down the side of its face, they had had no impact on the creature. SJ immediately began to backpedal, realising how stupid she had been getting so close. Considering this thing ate rocks, why she had even thought about going near its head she had no idea, Dave had warned her how hard it was.

It had drawn its attention, and as she moved backwards, she noticed the tension in its limbs. The unsightly beast was like a coiled spring being released when it jumped. It was an instant movement. SJ turned and ran. She was probably twenty feet away, trying to run at an angle. It landed with a huge thud, exactly where SJ had just been, missing her by inches. Continuing to move forward, she glanced back as it got ready to jump again.

The only bonus was that its mobility and time between attacks were slow due to its size, and she reached thirty feet before it sprung again. Being out of range, she continued towards the cliff as it coiled again. The wolves had withdrawn. Patch stood by the side of the injured wolf with the others as they watched the fight, howling and growling.

“Nearly there,” Dave shouted.

SJ could see that the cliff edge was only fifty feet from them and continued to draw it towards the edge. The next jump caught her off guard as she stumbled on the uneven ground approaching the cliff edge, where it had eroded and pitted over time, catching her foot in a hole she squealed as she tripped, sprawling onto the floor, quickly standing again. She was no more than ten feet from the edge when the creature leapt again. She hadn’t been able to move far enough, and as the creature hurtled towards her with its claws extended and jaws open, she knew it would hit her.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a clean strike, but it was still like being hit by a cannonball. The wind knocked from her, and the impact threw her backwards, reducing her hit points by half. She suddenly realised that she had not landed and that they were in free fall.

“Shrink,” Dave screamed.

SJ was already in the process, and as she shrunk, she opened her wings, causing friction and, being buffeted, slowly worked into a glide, opening her body wide like a freefall parachutist. The Rock Gobbler shrieked, still plummeting towards the base of the cliff nearly 1000 feet below, and as she glided, she began to spiral following its descent until it eventually met with the cliff's rocky bottom. From SJ's height, it looked like a waterbomb had just exploded, leaving a wet, damp patch on the surface.

SJ continued her descent, gliding as her speed continued to decrease until she got to a point and a speed at which she was able to begin using her wings. It was a much more successful fall than from the mage wind spell at the windmill. As she got control of her descent, the shock of the freefall and exploding creature subsided, looking around her. At the base of the cliff was the start of some grassland with sparsely dotted trees, and it reminded SJ of pictures she had seen of the savannas in Africa. The bit that amazed her was the huge expanse of sand that started not long after. It stretched off into the horizon.

“That’s the next territory,” Dave said in what seemed to answer her thought. His responses seemed more adept at her thoughts than her having to speak. In the desert region, there are 10-20 base monsters initially. The far desert area increases to 20-30, and several nasty tribes live there. Eventually, it expands into a forest region of 30-40. There is a town, but it's not on the map, and I am not sure which direction or how far it is from here.”

“I didn’t realise it was so close and how fast the territory areas change. It is like just crossing a line,” SJ replied, staring at the sudden environmental change.

“It’s even worse between an Ice and Desert region,” Dave replied.

SJ struggled to imagine an immediate transition from desert to ice. “I better head back up, but I want to see if the Rock Gobbler has any loot first.”

“Possibly you sometimes get ore from them for the obvious reasons they eat so much.”

SJ’s display was triggered when the Rock Gobbler hit the ground, exploding into the glutinous mass covering the cliff's base. The shared experience between the wolves had only given 25xp, which seemed ridiculous for such a long, difficult fight. The quest completion was a little nicer, though.

 

Quest – Save the mine - Complete

The Rock Gobbler has been thwarted, and you have removed the threat to your hopeful future income.

Rewards: 320xp +100% reputation bonus 640xp awarded

 

Her improved reputation with Killic was a massive boost, but SJ had noticed the significant difference in experience needs between levels. To reach level 11 from 10, it had increased from requiring 1500xp to 2250xp, and from 11 to 12, she now needed a total of 3000xp. The reputation increases would really help going forward, with the increase for each level. She checked her new total out.

 

Experience: 987 of 3000

 

Landing by the remains, as there wasn’t much of a body left after the impact, she looted the Rock Gobbler.

 

6 x Armour Plates of the Rock Gobbler, 1 x Vial of Intestinal Acid

 

“Oooo. Be very careful with that vial. The contents can be sold for a nice price, but if you get it on you expect severe pain, when I said that acid is strong it is insanely strong. The Armour Plates are great for smithies with the knowledge to reshape them. I would advise seeing Zej. I don’t know if he will be able to or not. Reshaping animal or insect armour is a specialist skill that not many smiths have,” Dave said.

“You said before that I can’t wear armour as an assassin.”

“Yes. Until level 20, then you can wear leather and then at 40 chainmail.”

“What about animal skins or components?”

SJ could sense Dave frowning when he responded. “You do know where leather comes from don’t you?” his reply dripped with sarcasm.

“Of course, but these plates are not leather. What do they constitute?”

“Erm… I have no idea. No one has ever even considered that before. Their armour class is equivalent to decent scale mail, if not weak chain mail. Umm, I need to check be right back.”

SJ began climbing back to the top of the cliff, and as she neared, she could see Cristy's small, panic-stricken face looking down. As she headed towards the top of the cliff, Dave started chatting excitedly.

“It’s unlisted.”

“What’s unlisted?”

“The Armour Plates of the Rock Gobbler.”

“What does that mean?” SJ asked, frowning at his response.

“It means they are not identified as a type of armour, which theoretically means you could get away with wearing them. I am unsure what the System would do if or when it finds out, but there is nothing in the rules about using the armour plates. All standard animal hides, including the Crepar Chitinous plates, are listed, but these aren’t.”

“I will need to get them to Zej and see if he can do anything with them.”

“Yes. Definitely,” Dave said, his voice buzzing with excitement.

“SJ,” Cristy called as she neared the top.

“I am ok,” SJ called back, reaching the top and landing.

Tear streaks again were visible on her face. “I thought you were dead,” Cristy said, throwing herself at her once she reached her full size.

“No. I am good. How is the injured wolf?” SJ said, looking over to where they were still standing by it.

“I don’t think it’s good,” Cristy said tearfully as SJ felt her body slacken against her sagging.

“Let’s go and see, we may be able to help,” SJ said as she hurried towards the wolves.

The Black Wolf turned and growled as she approached but didn’t step in her way as she knelt next to the injured Grey. The Gobbler's claws had torn its side severely.

“We need a healer,” SJ said. “Cristy, can you wait here with Patch? I will fly back to town.”

“Yes,” Cristy replied, sitting by the grey’s head, stroking it. The grey was whimpering quietly, and SJ wasn’t sure how long it would survive.

“I will be back as soon as I can,” she said as she shrunk and took off. Raising above the treetops, she could see the town in the distance and headed straight towards it as fast as she could.

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