The green bar, which he assumed was stamina, was down from full. As he stayed in sneak mode, moving down the canyon, it continued reducing. So sneak takes stamina. That makes sense , he thought.

  When he reached the corner, he peeked around. It shifted from black flint to dirt and rocks. Beyond it opened up to a broader area where a camp with four goblins was visible. One of them kept looking in his direction.

  "Cletus, how does this trap thing work again?"

  "Easy. You need to touch the surface you want to trap, picture an area, from one to ten square yards, imagine the elemental damage you want to do, and what will trigger it."

  Lance walked up to the bend in the canyon, reached down to touch the ground, and imagined an area just inside that spanned the width of the canyon about a yard wide. Next, he visualized one goblin crossing it and exploding with fire as a second creature crossed it. When Lance finished, he noticed a deep red-brown area on the ground in his interface where his trap had been set. He picked up a larger piece of flint, walked around the corner, dropped stealth, threw the stone at the goblin who kept looking and hollered, "Hey, you foolish green slob, fight me!" and ran back up the canyon. The goblins yelped and started yammering as they sprinted in his direction. Three of them came around the corner together and entered the brown area almost simultaneously.

  The trap exploded with heat and light as Lance dove behind the rock at the back of the canyon. He heard screams and confusion from where the goblins had triggered the trap. A louder and deeper voice reached his ears, "Yous gonna pay for dis!"

  

  

  Lance's body filled with light and pleasure. It was the most extreme sensation he had ever felt, but he tried to ignore it; this was the wrong time for leveling up.

  Cletus was on his shoulder, "Hey, you need to move those seven points into their final position, think confirm and you will get five more."

  Lance moved four points into dexterity, one each into wisdom, intelligence, and willpower, then chose to confirm those choices. Next, he shifted all five of his new points into dexterity. The offer of an ability was attractive, but it wasn't a great time to think through the options. He checked his health and stamina bars, which were full; he figured they had filled when gaining the level, a standard game mechanic. He enabled stealth and hid in the shadow of the rock. Boots crunched up the canyon. Peeking around the rock, he saw a much larger goblin than the one he killed. It was wearing armor, carrying a shield, and brandishing a sharp-looking blade. Lance slid behind the rock and pondered his situation. First, it had been foolish to pull the entire goblin camp as he had; there could be 20 of them out there. Second, there was no way he could go toe-to-toe with this opponent, but his mind did not devise any quick solutions to his problem. One thing was sure: being trapped in this corner while this beast poked him to death with its sword was not an attractive option.

  Lance peeked out at the approaching foe. Much of the goblin's hide armor was singed, but the goblin looked unharmed. The shield was round, composed of sturdy-looking wood, bound around the edges with metal, and set with a spike in the center.

  He made a decision, dropped stealth, and sprinted from his hiding place, trying to dart around the creature. But the creature was quicker than he expected, and any hope of sprinting past it was dashed as the goblin swung its sword in an overhand blow. Lance skidded to a stop and dodged. The hammer-like swing smashed into the ground, throwing sparks and casting bits of shattered flint at him. He took a few steps backward and thought, Oh well, toe-to-toe it is, then .

  The goblin did not charge in immediately; this gave Lance a chance to examine the creature. Above its head, a nameplate floated, . Where the first goblin he fought was thin and wiry, this one had corded muscles. Not like a bodybuilder's, but still impressive. It was also taller than the other goblins, but Lance had six inches on it.

  He glanced at the walls. There was no way out until he had a climbing skill. He had to get past the sergeant. So Lance advanced a step. His opponent's eyes widened, and it swung its sword in the same overhand blow. Lance stepped back, and the creature calmed. It's waiting for backup . A plan formed in his mind. He again stepped forward, but when the goblin began the overhand swing again, instead of retreating, he dashed right up inside its guard. He took hold of the leather of its armor, lowered his hips below the goblin's center of gravity, pressed them into its thigh, and gave a steady pull on its breastplate. It did not take much work as it was already overbalanced with its swing. As the creature tipped, Lance raised his hips to lift it higher and used the side of his leg to increase the spin. The small green man's feet were soon over its head, and its sword was striking into the ground. It wasn't a perfect hane goshi throw, but it wasn't bad.

  The goblin sergeant landed in front of Lance, dropping its weapon. Lance couldn't reach its neck, but he stretched out with his dagger and slashed across its sword arm wrist, cutting deep.

  "Yeah!" Cletus shouted. "I love that kung fu stuff!"

  "Jujitsu not kung fu, Cletus."

  "Whatever."

  The goblin howled and scrambled to its feet. Its wrist was bleeding profusely; the hand was unusable.

  "I'm gonna smash you!" it shouted as it raised its shield and charged.

  Lance was again amazed at how quick his enemy was. He was only able to step partly out of the way of the charge. The shield's edge clipped Lance's left side, spinning him around.

   Flashed on his HUD. His health bar dipped by about a third; his endurance was fifty percent. The blow dazed him a little, but he shook it off and turned to face his opponent, who had also turned and was charging again.

  Lance had no time to dodge, so he grabbed the top of the shield, planted his foot below the spike, and fell backward. The sergeant's forward momentum caused it to slam into its shield before sliding to one side and cartwheeling away. Lance tried to hang on, but his hands were not strong enough.

  This time, it was the goblin's turn to look dazed. It lay on its back, trying to catch its breath. Lance scrambled over to the goblin and tried to stab it in the eye, but the creature used its disabled arm to swipe the blow into its shoulder instead. The sergeant's health bar dipped below twenty percent. Lance knew the creature was stronger than he was, but he had a clear weight advantage, so he moved to kneel on the shield. It had its arm strapped to the back of it, so doing this would take its one good hand out of the fight. He pulled his dagger out of his opponent's shoulder and plunged it in again, taking another ten percent of his enemy's hit points.

  His opponent roared with frustration and rolled toward him in an attempt to bite his leg, but Lance summoned his other weapon and planted it in the side of its neck.

  

  

  

  

  "Okay, Cletus, spill on the Energy and Skill Orb stuff. What are these?"

  Cletus flipped out his tome and scanned some pages. "There isn't a ton I can tell you right now; they want you to figure out this on your own. But I can tell you a couple of things. First, it costs one power to equip an orb. Level two is early to find one, so I would equip it."

  "What does a Leadership Skill Orb of Goblin do? And is there a limit to the number of orbs I can equip?"

  "For now, you have two slots for each of the four orb types..."

  "Which are?"

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  "Hmm, I can tell you about two of the types now. The first is personal, which will affect only you. The second is Leadership. This will work on you if you are alone or the whole group if you are leading a party. As to what this orb does, you will need to experiment to find out."

  "What is the other thing you can tell me?"

  "Oh, almost forgot, Orbs have two powers each. One is basic, and the other is less obvious. The second one has both positive and negative sides to it. So, something like plus 5% on attacks and a weakness to cold."

  "So if I equip this orb, can I unequip it later?"

  "Yes," Cletus replied, "but it will cost you Energy to remove it. Three to be exact."

  "So, does Energy have another use besides equipping and removing orbs?"

  "Sure, it makes you more powerful." The little raccoon said with a sparkle in his eye.

  Lance glared at his guide.

  "Yeah, each adds one attack and defense percent up to 30 percent."

  Lance equipped the Orb but felt no different after doing so. Shrugging, he got up and moved to the bend in the canyon, enabled sneak, and peered around the corner. Nothing stirred in the small camp or beyond. He breathed a sigh of relief.

  As he turned, he suffered a sharp pain in his leg--not pain, but discomfort. Three goblins had been caught in his trap; one was still alive and had stabbed him. The trap's flames had seared the creature, but it wasn't dead. He quickly dispatched it.

  

  As he moved back up the canyon to loot the Sergeant, he pushed his available attributes over to wisdom, sharpening his perception, and searched the larger creature. He did not want to take the time to remove all of its armor, but he touched the shield and sword and willed them into his inventory. He grabbed a small pouch attached to its hip, plunked it in inventory next to the other stuff, and noticed a faint glow on the goblin's belt. He removed it and put it in his inventory as well.

  Moving to the other three goblins, he rifled through their belongings, finding 13 copper pieces, three goblin short swords, and a mishmash of useless clothing.

  He slunk down the canyon and looked over the camp. Four bedrolls were laid around a central fire pit, and a tent was next to them. He went through the bedrolls, finding nothing. He carefully slid open the tent flap. He found a bedroll, a small chest, and a map inside. He grabbed the chest and map and put them into inventory as well.

  "Ooh, a map," Cletus cooed. "I will overlay this." You can view it by thinking about it.

  Lance thought map, and an image of the local landscape popped into his vision. He saw a crudely drawn image overlaying a near photo-realistic map of his immediate surroundings. At the back of the canyon, an X had been scrawled where the rock was; he guessed this was some sort of a treasure map to the ring he found. As he zoomed out, the rough drawing indicated he was in a broad valley surrounded by cliffs. A forest was in the middle of the valley, and on the northeast side of that, a small town was indicated. Symbols indicating danger and death encircled the location, but Lance figured that was from a goblin's perspective, not a human's.

  He slipped out of the tent and checked his stats. His health and stamina were both depleted.

  "How do I heal, Cletus?"

  "Normally, you would cast a spell given to you by your god, but you chose not to be able to. The other way takes a lot longer: pump up your constitution, sit down for a while, and eat food."

  Silent frustration filled Lance. He felt cheated. He moved all of his free attribute points over to constitution but did not sit. Whatever the goblin sergeant had been waiting for must still be coming, so he slipped out of the camp with his Sneak ability turned on. About halfway to the woods, Sneak failed, having run out of stamina; his pace slowed to a walk.

  He finally slid into the cover of the forest. Something distant was oppressing him, like a heavy weight pushing him from somewhere to the south. He decided to wait for a moment to see if he could learn anything and hid behind a bush next to a tree. He found a spot to rest and view the camp and the valley entrance while remaining concealed.

  What is that feeling, Cletus? Lance thought at his assistant.

  Cletus flipped open his book and pretended to be looking for something. He was sure this was unnecessary, but Lance did not mind a little showmanship. The sense of oppression? That is the feeling you get when you should run away. This means an opposing creature or player with a much higher level than you is in the area.

  Thanks, Cletus , Lance replied.

  So, are you going to run away? Cletus asked.

  Nope, I'm hidden, and the valley is a way off. Figure I'm safe here.

  You likely are, but whatever is coming is a big bad for sure. Get ready to run if you need to.

  Lance sat, ate a biscuit, and watched his stamina and health climb.