Blue Blob
Level 1
Health 10/10
Oh, well this shouldn’t be so bad after all. I raise the branch in my hands for an overhead swing and bring it down squarely onto the blob. A red one floats from the creature. I sigh in frustration. I’d hoped that becoming a User would let me do more than one damage. The Blue Blob only vaguely recognizes that it’s even being attacked and looks around for the source of damage. When it spots me, it rolls in my direction. It’s relatively simple to step out of the path of the blob and hit it as it passes. Only once am I even damaged, and that’s when the blob rolls over my foot causing an intense pain there and five points off my health. After hitting the blob for the tenth time, the branch in my hand breaks in half. Thankfully, the Blue Blob’s health also hits zero, and it stops moving. After about thirty seconds the body disappears in a flash of white light.
You’ve defeated a Blue Blob, level 1. You receive 5 XP.
In addition to getting the 5 XP from the blob, I pick up two squishy blue balls. Inspecting them tells me they’re called Blue Balls.
Blue Balls
Ouch. You have a serious case of blue balls here. Formed from the remains of a Blue Blob, these items are most commonly sold to vendors. Rumor has it that they can be charged with elemental energy.
I open up my inventory and toss the balls into one of the slots. Thankfully, the balls stack and only take up one slot.
Walking through the forest, I find four more Blue Blobs and kill each with a branch from the forest floor. It’s annoying that the branch breaks after only ten hits, but there are plenty of them around. I only take two more hits from the blobs, but that equals ten points off my health, bringing me down to 85/100.
Curious about why the branch keeps breaking, I Inspect it.
Tree Branch
Tree Branches are dropped by the trees around you, duh. These branches may be used as impromptu torches, parts for more complex weapons, fuel for a fire, or as a basic bludgeoning weapon.
Note: If used as a weapon, User must have the bludgeoning weapon skill to use effectively.
As bludgeoning weapon: Damage 2-3, Durability: 10/10
Oh, so that’s why I’m only doing one damage. I don’t have the right skill. I open up the skill menu and look up Bludgeoning Weapons.
Bludgeoning Weapons - This skill lets you effectively use blunt objects as weapons. Trying to use a bludgeoning weapon without this skill will significantly reduce that weapon’s damage. Raising the level of this skill increases the damage done with weapons of this type.
While I’m sure I could earn the skill for bludgeoning by swinging this branch around enough, I honestly don’t want to wait. The extra damage will make killing these blobs much easier. So, I spend one skill point to get Bludgeoning Weapons to level 1.
The next Blue Blob I encounter only takes five swings to finish it off. Plus, the branch hasn’t broken yet. Inspecting the branch again shows it still has 5/10 in durability. So, each swing must knock off one point. Walking deeper into the forest towards the castle, I encounter a new type of monster. It would remind me of a walking nose if it had eyes and feet. I inspect it.
Goombie
Level 1
Health 15/15
Wait, a Goombie? At first, I thought this dungeon was a Zelda ripoff, but now it looks like it’s also taking inspiration from Mario Brothers games.
The Goombie is much faster than the Blue Blob and uses its feet to kick me for seven points of damage before I’m able to discern a pattern to its attacks. Each time it’s about to execute a flying kick, it takes a double step. Otherwise, it will run up and try to kick me in the shin. It’s also much harder to hit the Goombie since it tries to dodge my blows. I find it easiest to avoid the creature’s kicks to my shins and wait for a flying kick. Then once the Goombie is committed to the attack, I swing the tree branch like a baseball bat and knock the monster out of the air. Each time I do this, it sits stunned for a few seconds on the ground afterward, and I can get in a free additional attack. Even though I do more damage with the tree branch now, I’m not able to finish off the Goombie before the branch breaks. I’m able to pick up another one from the ground, but I can see this becoming a problem in the future when I face off against more challenging opponents. I only take five points of damage before I’m able to finish off the Goombie. The body disappears in a flash of light, and a blue box appears.
You’ve defeated a Goombie, level 1. You receive 10 XP.
Once the body disappears, a pair of small shoes is left. I Inspect them, but the description only says that they can be sold for credits, so I drop them in my inventory, taking up the second slot.
I pull up my Character Sheet to see how I’m doing on health.
HP 72/100
Mana 130/130
TP110/110
I notice that I’m about a third down in my health but that it doesn’t seem to be regenerating. I also note that my mana and TP are full. I wish I had some special move to help me kill these monsters faster when I remember that I have that ability Absorb. I pull up the ability to see what it does.
Absorb - Level 1
SSS
Active
The User has the chance to absorb the essence of a defeated foe from their corpse. The chance of absorption is based on the difference in level between the User and the foe. If the User has a higher level than the foe, then the chances of absorption being successful upon activation are increased. If the foe has a higher level than the User, the chances of absorption being successful are decreased.
To activate, touch the body of a defeated enemy and think or say ‘Absorb’ with the intent of activating the ability.
Well, it’s not a combat ability since I can’t use it until after the fight is already over. The skill does explain why the bodies don’t disappear right away though. I imagine several skills or abilities utilize the body of a monster. It's a shame I don’t have a necromancer spell, then I could raise an army of Goombies and Blue Blobs to fight for me. I imagine an army of rolling blobs following me to conquer the world.
My daydreaming is interrupted by a hard kick to my back which sends me tumbling forward to the ground, a red number 7 leaving me. When I’m able to look around, I see a new Goombie has appeared and is already running towards me ready to attack again. I roll on my side, losing the half-used branch I’m holding. The move seems to catch the Goombie off guard, and he has to slow down to turn to face me. I use the time to get to my feet but am not able to do much else. The Goombie runs up to me and starts to kick my shins. Each attack doesn’t do much damage, but a bunch of red 1s leaves me with the flurry of kicks. Angry, I kick the thing like it’s a soccer ball and is pleased to see it go flying through the air. A single red one floats away from it, and it lands with a thump.