A Fight On Even Footing

Achilles sprinted down the hallway until he reached the double doors leading into the foyer. He kicked through, swinging the door wide, and dashed into the room.

He took quick stock of the situation. The once beautiful foyer, with its fancy art pieces and polished stone floor tiles, was now a mess. The lamps on the walls were lit, giving light to the room.

An enormous hole had been shattered in the side of the stone wall, and there was debris lying all around. Three surprised-looking men with clubs stood near this hole, and one of them shouted angrily and ran to meet Achilles.

The man had no class, but 3 HP. The man’s swings could have easily killed Achilles when he was only a boy, but he was more than that now. He threw his candle down and wielded Virgil with two hands, then drove his sword deep into the thug’s chest, landing a Critical Hit that killed the man instantly.

Now the other two burglars rushed up, circling around Achilles so they were always on opposite sides of him.

<They’re flanking you!> said Virgil. <It gives them a huge bonus to hit and a much higher chance of getting a Critical Hit!>

That wasn’t good. Even without classes, one of them could probably get a hit in. Achilles tried to back himself into a corner of the room, like he had with the orcs, but the burglars seemed to realize what he was doing. They pivoted, pushing him toward the center of the room.

Achilles attacked, landing one hit, but couldn’t follow-up in time before he was also attacked.

The wounded burglar was screaming with pain and anger, but the other one swung his club so fiercely that Achilles had to dodge away.

He gritted his teeth. “How are these people being more annoying than orcs?”

<You all have the same advantage. You seem to be all in unfamiliar territory and with the same light. At your village, you knew the environment much better than your opponents, and you could see while they couldn’t. Also, keep your guard up. Have you noticed the final combatant?>

“What? I see three people, and one is dead.”

The bandits were charging side-by-side now, preparing to attack together.

<There’s a 1st Level Rogue hiding in the shadows. She seems to be very stealth-focused, and I’ve lost sight of her…>

Achilles had a surge of adrenaline.

He remembered reading about the Rogue class when he had chosen his own class. They specialized in stealth, stealing, and sneak attacks.

Pain suddenly burned in Achilles’s back!

He had just taken 4 points of damage from a single attack!

For a brief moment, Achilles saw a dark figure standing beside him, but then the figure disappeared into the room’s shadows.

Achilles coughed up blood. That wasn’t good.

Full of rage at his pain, he dashed forward to meet his attackers. “Alright, Virgil, this is life or death! I can’t become an Imperial Knight if I die here!”

<You mean…?> asked Virgil, voice eager.

“Boost my AC and give me darkvision!”

Rather than attacking, Achilles dodged between the thugs and ran to the first of three lamps on the wall. He smashed the lamp, extinguishing it, then quickly raced to the other two lamps before any of his enemies understood what was happening.

Within moments, the room was plunged into darkness.

But Achilles could now see in the darkness.

He rushed back to the thugs, who were arguing with each other about where they thought they had seen Achilles. A few quick blows killed first one, and then the other. The second one had time to flail wildly, but none of his blows did more than glance off Achilles’s arm.

“You think you’re so clever, don’t you?” asked a cruel, feminine voice. “You memorized where my friends were and then extinguished the lights, so they were easy to kill. But now I know where you are, and you don’t know where I am! You just signed your own death warrant, idiot!”

Achilles suddenly realized that the Rogue who had sneak attacked him didn’t know he could see in the dark.

He grinned, looking around. There she was, dressed in black leather and wielding a short sword in one hand and a knife in the other.

She ran at him, her eyes closed but listening intensely.

Achilles had to admire her. Even at such a disadvantage, she was still this committed to destroying her foe! Had she not been so foolish as to speak before attacking, she might have killed Achilles without him noticing.

But Achilles only lowered his stance to brace himself and pointed Virgil’s tip at her chest.

As the Rogue sprang forward toward the location where she heard Achilles standing, she impaled herself completely on the blade.

She had started with only 5 HP, since Rogues had much lower HP than Warriors, and her age seemed to be in her early 20s. The Rogue coughed up blood and tried to pull back off of the blade.

<Here’s an idea,> said Virgil. <Knock her out for questioning. Someone with a level who is reduced to 0 HP remains unconscious for a few hours before they die, unless you finish them off right after.>

Despite his anger at the pain of his own wounds and that these people had burglarized the home of Sir Azarah, Achilles was a little relieved that at least one attacker could be brought to proper justice, and perhaps could give information about who had ordered the burglary.

As the Rogue tried to free herself, Achilles punched her several times in the face with his free hand until she was unconscious.

She slid off the blade and fell to the ground. As Virgil had said, she remained at 0 HP and continued bleeding, but did not immediately die.

It was very strange. Nothing like seeing an ordinary animal bleed out and die.

<Come on,> said Virgil. <Now to the vault.>

Achilles spent a few moments to meditate for his daily healing ability, returning to full HP. Then he entered the broken hole in the wall and headed to meet the butler down below. So long as the fellow was still alive!

Even though the butler had a level, it was certainly not a combat-focused class. If he faced another Rogue, he would surely die.

Achilles moved a little faster.

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Achilles

1st Level Human Warrior

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HP 5/5

AC 12

Eyes 979