Goblin queen, p.1
Goblin Queen, page 1
Contents
Title
Foreward
Prologue
Chapter 1: Rock and a Hard Place
Chapter 2: Assessment
Chapter 3: Gods
Chapter 4: Mobilization
Chapter 5: Confrontation
Chapter 6: Priority
Chapter 7: Reset
Chapter 8: Price to Pay
Chapter 9: Harvest
Chapter 10: Double Down
Chapter 11: Split Decision
Chapter 12: Desperation
Chapter 13: Spree
Chapter 14: Long Live the King
Chapter 15: A new plan
Chapter 16: Coronation
Chapter 17: Rebuild
Chapter 18: Resolve
Chapter 19: War
Chapter 20: The Depths
Chapter 21: One Shot
Chapter 22: Salvation
Chapter 23: Recompense
Chapter 24: Secrets
Chapter 25: Failure
Chapter 26: The Way Home
Chapter 27: Questions in the Dark
Chapter 28: Unknown
Chapter 29: Epilogue Author’s Note
Goblin Queen
Crystal Shards Online Book 5
By
Rick Scott
Copyright © 2022 by Rick Scott
All Rights Reserved.
VER 1.00
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of very brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Acknowledgments
To my wife and kids. This is all for you guys!
Special thanks to all my alpha and beta readers too numerous to name but who watched me bring this book together from scratch and helped me do it!
You guys did wonders for the book!
Thank you!
For more great GameLit/LitRPG reads, check out these links!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/GameLitSociety/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPG.books/
Other Books in series
Crystal Shards Online
Book 1- Dodge Tank
Book 2 - Shard Warrior
Book 3 - Shard Wraith
Book 4 - Gun Blade
Book 5 - Goblin Queen
Sundered Soul Series
Sundered Soul - Book 1
Will you leave me a review? Your feedback and thoughts really make a difference, especially for people who want to know what the book is about. If you can, please consider leaving a review on Amazon.com.
My eternal thanks in advance if you do so!
-Rick Scott
Prologue
Xantheus, Third Claw of the 2nd Echelon, materialized within the close confines of the brood chamber. Familiar surroundings came into being as his twin sets of eyes unfolded. Forged earth, black as the void, lay indented with suckling chambers about him, the pocked walls reaching just past his head at over three meters tall.
An unexpected silence filled the chamber.
Normally the squeal of newborn grubs would be maddening, but now Xantheus stared questioningly at the lone larva flexing within the center of the chamber. Sat upon a bed of its siblings, its mandibles tore into the young flesh of a grub twice its size, gorging on its innards. Xantheus was not certain of how many grubs the chamber once held, but he was certain that within a spawn, none would remain. The feasting larva appeared only cycles old, still freshly molten with white skin, but it exuded the essence of an ancient. Upon closer examination, there was no question of it.
Somehow…this was his master.
Honor dictated he sink to his haunches before the exalted one, even though his perception still riddled him with incomprehension. To grovel before a mere grub was unconscionable, much less so for a Third Claw of the 2nd Echelon.
Yet, still…was this truly he?
The High Imperator perhaps sensed his apprehension and doubt.
It was a veiled threat. Xantheus was not certain what had brought the High Imperator to such a state, but it was clear Lord Xuba would not let his present predicament change his station. And being over a hundred thousand cycles older than he, Xantheus was not about to challenge it.
Xantheus bowed.
The grub writhed about until its twin sets of eyes faced him.
Xantheus bowed again.
Xantheus had no reason to question his master, even though such a decision was normally well beyond even Lord Xuba’s station. But as High Imperator, perhaps his actions would be respected nonetheless.
As if in emphasis, Xuba continued to feast upon the larvae flesh, consuming while he still yet spoke.
Xantheus sensed anger from the grub.
Xantheus’ insides burned with shame.
The words shook Xantheus. To sense such fear uttered from the High Imperator was incomprehensible, yet here the exalted cultivator was, reduced to a mere grub—cycles upon cycles of cultivated essence, decimated in an instant by mere meat.
What terror was this Kono-Zemsu indeed?
Xantheus nodded again.
Chapter 1: Rock and a Hard Place
“Are you sure that is wise?”
Lady Diana gives me a questioning look as I peer into King Braxus’ camp just outside the perimeter wall of Brookrun. We’ve only just arrived back in Nasgar, returned from our stint in New London. The rapid transition from high-rise metropolis to rain-drenched fantasy world is system shock enough, but now we have King Braxus to contend with right away.
“You wish to meet with him?” she says again, sounding incredulous.
I grin at the knight in her battle-worn plate armor, the remnants of the emerald dress poking through beneath. “Absolutely. It’s time Braxus knows exactly what he’s up against here.”
I mean every word of it. Braxus needs to see that I’m not the same person he was dealing with before. I’ve changed in both power and perspective and so have the rest of my friends. We’re all together atop a windmill, under an overcast sky with drizzling rain, overlooking the expanse of Brookrun village—which is now more like a town. Row upon row of cottages line the cobblestone streets, which lead like the spokes of a wheel to bigger buildings at the center. I’m not certain if this was all Gilly and I’s doing from our instructions to Wilbur before we left, but the place has grown immensely and no doubt aided by Lady Diana who’s now squinting at me with her ‘cop eyes’.
“Perhaps you need to see what we’re up against first,” she says with a hand on her metal-clad hip.
As if to emphasize her point a boom of cannon fire sounds in the distance, accompanied by a plume of black smoke rising into the rain-drenched sky. I turn to my comrades.
My brother Maxis, the Karate Master, looks every bit imposing with his muscular build and brandished fists. Even when stood next to his girlfriend, the half-giant Val Helena, who towers over all of us with her e ight-foot frame, he stands out, the two of them looking like a power couple of muscle and brawn.
Val Helena’s sisters, Aiko and Becky, hang towards the back of our group. Although they are blood related in real life, their characters are polar opposites in the game world. Becky is a Halfling, looking both wizened and cute in her mage gear, while Aiko, now switched back to thief, exudes allure with her long elf legs, striking features, and purple, bob-cut, hair.
Rembrandt, the baddest gunslinger in all of New London, looks as cool as ever in his mirrored shades and trench-coat, his bald head, goatee, and ebony skin giving him an extra sense of uniqueness in this world. And finally there’s Gilly, my one and true love, with her slightly pointed half-elf ears, short dark hair and sparkling green eyes.
Of course, we’re all looking a little worse for wear at the moment—the drizzling rain clings to our skin while matting our hair. Even Wilbur, the town administrator, a man in his 80s, resembles a drowned rat with his rain-drenched clothes and beard. Lady Diana is no exception, perhaps looking even worse than us with wisps of her scarlet hair plastered across her forehead.
She continues to stare at me for an answer.
I look once again to my friends for input, but they’re all deferring to me as their leader, trusting in my response. Diana’s probably right. Braxus isn’t our only problem here and I should see which one of them is greater before making the final call.
“Fine,” I say. “Let’s go see what the Goblin Queen is up to as well.”
* * *
We descend from the windmill and make our way hurriedly through the rain-washed streets towards the cannon fire in the distance. Once again I’m taken aback by just how much the village has grown. When we were here last the place was a few log cabins and some farms, but now I feel like I could be in a suburb of Stormwall.
“This place has really changed,” I say to Diana as I run alongside her.
She glances at me. “You’ve changed as well. What’s that strange garb you’re wearing?”
I didn’t give much thought to it before, but I’m still dressed in my urban chic glamour wear from back in New London. My armor is still the same in terms of stats, changed in appearance only, but to Diana’s eyes an LED-lined tech-jacket with fingerless gloves and armored plated boots probably looks odd to her. I notice she gives questioning glances to some of my other companions as well, especially Aiko who is dressed provocatively in a mini skirt, thigh high leggings and a stylish half-jacket. Rembrandt still looks much the same, save for a new tie, but my brother looks like he just came from the HUB back in Citadel—blue jeans and leather jacket with a white tee-shirt underneath.
Gilly, Becky, and Val Helena went the extra step of reverting their gear back to their original forms before returning to Nasgar, looking very much at home in the fantasy realm. Becky and Gilly have matching white robes, while Val Helena looks like an upgraded version of Lady Diana in her gleaming, gold-trimmed Paladin armor.
I realize too, that after unlocking level 99, that there are probably new and better gear sets for us to seek and find out there. And if the return of the Goblin Queen is any indication, we might definitely need to do so, because the increase in level cap means an increased in monster difficulty as well, according to Lennox anyway.
Still, while I’m not yet Level 99, I’m no slouch in the combat department and I’m almost eager to test my new weapons against whatever the Goblin Queen has to offer.
Lady Diana gives me another odd glance as I materialize my new weapons in a burst of nano-dust. The Particle Beam Emitter appears on my hip, the matte-black pistol glowing with a futuristic aqua-blue aura along its sharp edges. At the same time an eight-foot-long katana called Zanbatō emerges on my back. I check my character sheet for their effects on my stats.
Name: Reece
Class: Ninja
Level: 87
Strength: 6+200
Dexterity: 99+270
Agility: 99+80
Intelligence: 29
Mind: 6
Vitality: 31+20
HP: 1762/1762
Stamina: 367/367 (+50)
TP: 221/221 (+30)
You have equipped:
Dark Shinobi Mask: +30 Shadow Magic +30 TP
Dark Shinobi Gi: +150 HP +30 Shadow Magic +30 AGL +30 Dodge
Warrior’s Tekko: +75 HP +20 AGL +20 DEX +20 STR +20 VIT
Ninja Hakama: +150 HP +30 Dodge +30 AGL
Dark Shinobi Kyahan: +75 HP +30 Shadow Magic +20 Dodge
Zanbatō: +180 STR +180 DEX +30% Critical Damage
Particle Beam Emitter: +70 DEX +40 Aim +25% Crit Chance
Less Agility but a ton more Strength, plus the huge Dex bonuses means I’ll be hitting like a truck with critical attacks. It’s also nice to see my Int edging closer to 50, raised from my last couple of levels. If I want to get to my goal of 50 Int however, I’ll probably need to level some sub classes, because the XP gaps between levels is now tremendous. I check on that next.
You are 586750/2000000 Experience Points from your next Level.
Man, two million. I’m actually looking forward to some higher-level mobs. I’m going to need to defeat a lot of them to reach 99. Of course I could always switch back to using my XP for Veteran points too, but looking at my ability list, I kind of want to unlock them first through leveling before getting back to optimizing and slotting.
Level 87 Shuriken: Ranged Attack, Stuns Enemy
Level 90 Cyclone Shadow: AOE Lunge – Pulls Enemies
Level 95 Shadow Walk: Self Teleport between Shadows
Level 97 Shadow Drain: Self Buff – Absorb 20% of damage done as HP
Level 99 Muteki no Shi: +50% to all stats, immune to CC for 30 seconds
My next ability, Cyclone Shadow, doesn’t interest me much, but Shadow Walk and Shadow Drain look like must haves. Finally I check my veteran points and slots to make sure I’m ready for a battle if it comes to it.
You have earned 25/30 Veteran Points.
You have 0 Veteran Points to allocate.
You are 0/500,000 XP from your next Veteran Point.
Veteran Awards:
Attribute Point 2 VP
Ability Upgrade 3 VP
Cross-Class Ability Slot [5/6] 5 VP
Non-Class Ability Slot [0/3] 10 VP
Allocated Points
Cross-Class Ability Slot [5/5] Allocated [25 Points used]
Slotted Abilities:
Gun Blade: Stun Blade [1/5] Slots used.
Backflip [1/5] Slots used.
Paralyzing Shot [3/5] Slots used.
I consider my new set-up and am fairly pleased with it, although it’s probably more suited for PvP with how many Stuns and CC breakers I now have. Back in New London, fighting against other players, those things were key. You can lock down an opponent and 100 to zero them with enough Crowd Control abilities and I now have four, including my new Shuriken ability from Ninja. But against mobs I’ll need to be careful not to overdo it, especially on the bosses. They can develop CC immunity quickly and render all those skills useless. Still, with my much lower Agility from not using my tanking kunai, I may need a quick interrupt here and there to buy me more time to cast Shadow Copy.
“Look!” Lady Diana points ahead of her. “They’re nearly through the wall already!”
Flashbacks of our siege within the keep plays within my mind as the towering, thirty-foot-high wooden perimeter wall buckles inwards with a violent hit from the outside. The lashed-together tree trunks that make up the wall lean inward with the force of the hit, threatening to topple the whole thing over like a string of dominoes. A couple dozen men are at its base, propping it up with more logs and the health bar on that section of the walls appears to slowly replenish—but not nearly fast enough.
