The Devil In White: An AA Online Novel

She led them a few leagues from the town and started north. As they saw monsters appear they moved through them quite quickly. None of them used any skills since the average enemy level was only above 35, and for the most part, they took turns as they got used to fighting with one another. Or at least Amelia got used to it, the way they coordinated their attacks spoke of longtime acquaintance and trust. Part of the problem, if you could call it that, was that all of them were a little overeager and sometimes would jump in each other's way trying to be the first one to deal with any little thing as if they had never seen monsters before.

Angry Jack Wasps appeared as they went further into the forest. Sunlight began to retreat and it was getting darker, but for the most part, it was easy going. They would pause after group kills and collect loot. Pieces of creatures, and if there was anything to butcher Forsythe would dismantle the corpse and stick the ingredients in his side pouch. The things being collected made Amelia a little uneasy. He wasn't really planning on trying to cook Wasp Legs, was he? The fact that they were highlighted didn't necessarily mean they were for food, just useable in some fashion.

Aside from the questionable future cuisine, the experience gained from the monsters wasn't bad and they took turns helping Amelia finish off foes for expediency. At this rate, she would probably hit 45 before the end of the day. The three had been a little surprised when Amelia started leading them deeper into the woods. The discrepancy between monster levels grew handily from those near the road. So even though they probably weren't getting a lot of experience points, Amelia was doing pretty good as far as gains went. The spell and skill gains were nothing to sneeze at either, and she had already tested out her new replacement skill [Enhanced Molten Shot] on several of the enemies around her level. With her level and the spell mastery progress she had made within the fire school, it only took one or two of the strikes to finish off foes. It had the bonus effect of melting through a variety of the foes they encountered, leaving less mystery meat for Forsythe to collect. He 'ho hummed' about it once under his breath but made no complaint.

Raven fought with a long two-hand sword despite having only one arm, smashing into foes and generating a great deal of enmity on targets. One of her strikes, which she appeared to favor more out of habit than need, was [Overwhelm], a large blow that gained the attention of whatever she was fighting for a short time, somehow convincing the target she wasn't a foe it could ignore. She made swinging the massive sword with one arm look effortless, causing Amelia to wonder whether her stats allowed her to swing with one arm like she had two.

Forsythe fought sparingly and didn't activate any of his abilities, but his style seemed to be the one-handed no shield style. It must have other benefits that made up for the lack of shield but at this level, Amelia hadn't discerned them yet. The only thing she could say for certain was he moved out of harm's way easily and always seemed to land his blows on the enemy with relative speed. If Raven was a hurricane of spontaneity and brute force, Forsythe was an expert painter with a sword for a brush going through the motions.

Aidan though hadn't used any spells. He had merely observed for the majority of all the fights, surprising her once when a Trapbush Spider had burst out near him. He had calmly beaten it to the ground with a single stroke from the end of his staff and held it down while Forsythe approached and dispatched the pinned foe. For a caster class to have such mastery of a melee weapon and use it so efficiently, she was secretly dying to see what kind of magic he could use other than the [Mass Electric Manipulation - Field] but she was afraid he wouldn't bother in such a low-level area.

A clearing ahead emerged overlooking a depression in the land. As they approached the sounds of low grunts and squealing noises punctuated the air. Hiding behind some trees they looked in on the camp.

"Hob-Goblet." Amelia explained. "They're the taller versions of Goblets or Goblins in most games. Stronger and more intelligent than their smaller kin. They can understand our language but they are still hostile. They wear armor and use weapons, and if the villages are bigger they can even produce their own. The history of the land says when this was still the wilds they would raid villages and towns and kill men and steal women to mate with." There were quite a lot of them, maybe 30 or so. A group like that might even be held together by a Chief or Hob-Goblet leader. Amelia hadn't seen a large group like this before.

"As expected of our tour guide!" Aidan said, praising her immediately.

Amelia glowered at him.

"They understand language?" Raven asked, and Amelia turned, already dreading the tone of her voice even as she found herself nodding slightly.

"Ho?" Aidan asked, turning to her as well. "Well, they don't look like much."

"I had a really neat idea though Aidan," Raven said, and she lowered her chin to give him a whining look.

"Ah. Well, that's fine. What do you want to do?" Aidan said instantly. Amelia noted that he seemed interested like he wasn't sure what she was going to do either.

"Just watch!" Raven strapped her sword across her back and began walking down into the depression. She even started skipping.

"Wai-!" Amelia started to reach for her. There were still 30+ Level 40 Hob-Goblet's down there. Even though Raven could probably take them alone it seemed unnecessary. Furthermore, if she completely annihilated a few in the front the others might escape in all directions. Aidan reached out and tugged on Amelia's sleeve halting her progress.

"Just watch. It'll all work out, probably." He said noncommittally.

"Be more convincing!" She hissed back.

"It's not like they can hurt her anyway with the level discrepancy." He countered.

They turned to watch, and as she neared the camp a few of the Hob-Gobs jumped up, readying whatever they happened to be using. Clubs, Axes, and the occasionally cracked sword all started appearing. Their interest alerted the rest of them and slowly the camp roused. They began moving toward Raven, cautiously approaching her as she walked into the camp. A semi-circle of more than fifty started to group up.

Raven hopped on a huge tree stump and held out her hands to the Hob-Gobs. "I heard you guys can understand my language! I think that if we all could communicate, we'd all be friends and have a lot of fun!"

Amelia felt her shoulders slump. She felt stupider for having heard it. She had known it was going to be something like this. From the way both Aidan and Forsythe made little 'ah' noises, it seems they had expected as much as well.

The Hob-Gobs continued approaching, some of them beginning to chuckle darkly as they did so.

Raven smiled at them and said, "this is something I've been working on but, but it wasn't like it was for just you, o-okay?"

"Why does she sound like that?" Forsythe asked Aidan.

"Well, she was a huge comic and manga fan right?" Aidan said with uncertainty. Still, he had a half-smile. "It'll be interesting to see how this world handles it though."

"Handles what?" Amelia asked, getting ready to step out of the trees.

Raven smiled and started clapping her hands, and then cast [Perform].

"You are the strangest people I ever met," Amelia said.

The Hob-gobs stopped uncertainly wondering what sort of spell she activated. Most of them were looking around for effects. They weren't very smart, but they seemed to know that something was going on.

"I call this one, [It's a Hob-Gob Life, For Us!]" She said, continuing to clap. Without further ado she began singing about how it was cool to be a Hob-Gob, swinging clubs, squealing and grunting, plundering and rolling around in the mud. Magical notes flowed through the air, improving her voice and the extension of her projection. Amelia winced because she even thought she saw Raven's hair wafting through the air in a showy sort of way to some unfelt wind. Invisible fans??

The Hob-Gobs slowed their advance, and as the song continued many sat down or put down their weapons at their feet. Some of the ones closer to Raven discarded their weapons altogether and began trying to clap to the beat. They were awful and had zero sense of rhythm

"No matter how you look at it, she is just changing the words to Orphan Annie." Aidan finally said, his smile had disappeared and he looked like he was seeing something really unpleasant.

"The worst." Fours agreed.

"We could attack now?" Amelia offered.

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Ding

Lower Forest Hob-Goblet Tribe becomes non-hostile and unthreatening to Raven's party.

The Hob-Goblet's are moved by the power of the song, both elated and saddened at their role in life. They will forever be grateful to the Marauder (Aegis) - Bard who came to them and shared her song.

Notoriety +50.

-"It's a Hob-Gob Life, For Us" mysteriously gains popularity among the monster tribes of the Feriv Forest near the Brack Kingdom.

-Moved by the song, +20% stats to Hob-Gobs in this area for 24 hours.

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Amelia g.r.o.a.n.e.d. "Give me a break already, we should stop her. We're earning Notoriety. She's spreading stupid songs. It's not a good thing." Notoriety was a stat that would make criminals and other shady organizations open up to you for quests, guild quests, and was also a good way to increase the pricing in shops and from other normal merchants. Sometimes you got it, but you didn't go looking for it. Spreading stupid songs seemed a far greater crime to her at the moment.

Aidan was smiling his slow smile. "Oh. I just thought of something really good." He began walking down the slope toward Raven as well. Amelia had a sinking feeling things were going to get bad again. It was the same smile he had when he was playing with the King.

Raven finished her song about the time that Aidan had made it to her, and the Hob-Gobs were sobbing or clapping enthusiastically. She was waving and bowing, grinning like a fool, but she did not miss Aidan's approach. She leaned down on her stump as he whispered in her ear. She nodded, nodded again, and her lips made an 'oh!' shape as if she had heard something really good. She straightened up, looked out, and immediately covered her face. Her shoulders shook and loud, and Amelia was certain fake, sobs started.

The Hob-Gobs jumped up, looking confused, but it was Aidan who began to explain. "I just had the unfortunate job of telling my friend that her dearest family," he paused for dramatic effect. "Was killed." He lowered his head amidst howls of despair from the Hob-Gobs.

"Timmy, Jimmy, Lenny, Penny, Freddy," Raven sobbed.

At least make up better names, Amelia thought.

"They were killed by Hob-Gobs!" Aidan cried out, he at least sounded really upset even if his story was implausible. He shook his head. "Hob-Gobs from this very region!"

The Hob-Gobs turned to each other and began shoving each other angrily. There might have been a fight if no more had been said, but it didn't end there.

"I thought we could be friends. Destiny says we must… be enemies." Raven cried. "I know in my heart we were always friends, but let us fight and settle this once and for all. Don't be sad. Fight well. Fight with honor…" She unstrapped her sword and pointed it at the tribe.

"You're kidding." Amelia breathed. This was the plan?

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Ding!

Lower Forest Hob-Goblet Tribe becomes Hostile.

The Tribe has decided that this is their destiny. They will be at war with humans and no matter how their hearts feel, they must be who they are.

Notoriety -50

-Status boosts from the song remain, +20% to Hob-Gob stats

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In the end, it had been a lot of build-up for what would have happened anyway. The Hob-Gobs did have a Chief, who went down with one strike from his new idol' sword, Aidan cast [Mass Electric Manipulation - Field], obviously not feeling it was necessary to resort to any tactics, and Forsythe was dismantling corpses and looting everything that died without bothering to fight. Once he even ducked under an axe blow to start taking a pouch off a fallen opponents waist.

"Ooh! Bard level get!" Raven smiled happily. She left her sword hanging for a moment so that the self-cleaning metal could finish getting rid of all the blood and then strapped it to her back. "Amelia is creepy smiling!"

Amelia stiffened and looked up from her Chronicler's book. She might have been smiling, but only because this was definitely something that was going to earn her some EXP in her Job. It hadn't been creepy. She had just been laughing a little bit when she was writing out the part where Raven had been listing a long fake number of dearly departed family members.

Aidan was laughing, and with a great force of effort, she ignored them all and continued writing about the encounter. Still and all it had been interesting to raise the stats of the enemy monsters before dispatching them, the experience gained from their defeat had actually risen to a great deal more than the experience they would have gained had they just slaughtered them wholesale. So status bonuses from Transients could be applied to monsters for this effect too? It was something to think about.

There didn't seem to be any mention of the song being taken away from the forest...