Spike of All Trades

by Ariamaki

Zero Hour: Part 8

The party dissolved as Spike began to approach, moving as quietly as he reasonably could. If he’d picked up a stealth-related skill earlier maybe he could do this more effortlessly... Wait. Sneaking up on somebody to start a conversation was more likely to cause problems than not! As much as this was likely to become a battle, he didn’t want to force a fight on them. It’d be better if he tried to find a way to get in openly, while still keeping a good position just in case things did go south...

Speaking of that problematic potential, information would help either way. Spike decided to cast both his enhanced senses and a dose of Observe at the Dogs before he approached out of the shadowed tunnel. One of the shorter Dogs looked somewhat familiar... They didn't exactly get any names the last time he'd been here, but if he had to guess, the one with the dusty red vest might have been present for Rarity's original unwilling visit.

Rover
LV 18

The complaining small Dog wasn't particularly recognizable or impressive: Spike was pretty sure that if a fight broke out? That one would either bail or try to pull something sneaky rather than get into a raw tussle.

Tony
LV 10

As for the guard... Spike was concerned about the guard. The armored Dog stood nearly twice as tall as the others, and well over twice as burly. On top of that physique he had a metal plate-body for armor, along with the helmet. Combining that with a proper weapon, and it shouldn't have been any surprise that he was going to be the trickiest opponent if this went sour. But what was still a surprise?

[One Of Many]
Guard Seven
LV 23

Observe didn't help clarify matters at all: The hulking figure had several strange statuses, ranging from a depressing note about infertility to what seemed like a collection of diseases plural. His (its?) stat distribution was completely unnatural as well, with single-digit Intelligence and Wisdom backing up triple digit Vitality and near-that-much Strength. Lacking Dexterity implied a lack of finesse or speed, and the Luck was bad. He'd seen worse Luck thanks to Applebloom, but Spike hadn't seen anything with such terrible mental faculties before.

At least there was a proper character sheet at all, compared to the little monster stat card he got when he looked over the insects from earlier. But those stats, statuses, and its tiny selection of entirely passive skills... All of the details put together definitely gave Spike some concerns.

Regardless of those concerns, first he had to try to approach the situation diplomatically. With no openings for him to approach, Spike decided to just... Walk up. Making sure his hands were very clearly empty and not posed to attack, Spike began to step out of the shadows. He walked with his feet extra-flat in order to avoid sounding like any kind of scurrying insect, and without the crackle of floating fire from back in the tunnels he probably wouldn't sound like a crawler either.

None of the dogs reacted initially, but in accordance with its small set of passive skills (which included something a bit like Sense Danger), the Guard was the first to notice Spike. The eyes beneath the helmet glared slightly, and the spear came into position with lumbering slowness.
"Intruder."

"What? I don't- Hey!"

The smaller Dog had started looking around frantically as soon as the guard spoke again, until he eventually spotted Spike. Tugging on his companion's vest didn't do him any favors, as the other Dog was entirely focused on moving the stone set before them: It seemed like they were blocking something up, now that he got a better angle. Eventually Rover turned and snapped at his fellow worker, frustrated with the interruptions and lacking assistance.
"WHAT!?"

"...I-intruder!"

Finally the (apparent) smartest of the three turned to look at Spike. For his part he considered giving a sheepish grin, but given the kind of teeth he had? Better not to risk it. Before he could even greet them, Rover shouted at the other two again.

"Well what are you waiting for? Attack it!"

The guard had been completely still ever since he first reacted, doing and saying nothing as the littlest Dog gestured for help. Yet as soon as Rover spoke, it sprung into action: One huge plodding step after another sent it right at Spike, while the other two drew their weapons.

I didn't think the immediate-diplomacy plan was going to work, but I at least thought I'd get to try...

Spike's first big problem with getting into a fight like this was pretty simple. Nobody else here could ignore injuries the way he did. Normally that would be an advantage in combat, but he didn't want to permanently damage these random Diamond Dogs who were probably just helping their tribe. Earlier was one thing, unintelligent and obviously-hostile insects. But now these foes were not ponies, but still people.

That meant that when the hulking guard made his way into close-combat range (with worrying speed for such low Dexterity), Spike decided to play it defensively and wear them down. Even if this dog had fifty percent more Vitality than him? He somehow doubted even that was enough to outlast a Gamer's Body. Heeding the system's earlier warnings, he decided to avoid using Slash for now and focused on parrying with normal movements, unaided by skills.

The first attack was a thrust, closer to a lance charge than anything a normal footsoldier would do. Spike dodged the whistling steel speartip and slapped it aside, figuring it would throw the enemy off their pace. Unfortunately, the guard seemed to have a plan for that: The giant dog turned the momentum around in order to bring the spear smashing towards Spike's head as if it were a club. He sidestepped that, only to nearly end up on the receiving end of a sickle swipe from Rover.

Earlier Spike had managed just fine in a two-on-one through a combination of surprise and a much sharper mind. That might not have cut it three-on-one, and now his enemies were proper thinking entities instead of just bugs. A stab from the trowel-wielding Tony came next, interrupting his train of thought as he hurriedly dodged. As their attacks kept coming at him, disorganized but still threatening, he felt the increasingly-familiar transition of Gamer's Mind calming him down.

Divorced from the adrenal rush and the moral implications of the fight, he had a lot more room to study and understand what was happening. It didn't exactly free up enough processing power for him to autopilot the dodging or anything, but he could start paying attention to things other than just sheer survival and not permanently hurting anyone.

Sense Danger wasn't going off at all, but Detect Bloodthirst was pinging periodically: The skill’s level wasn't particularly high yet, so it wasn't giving him a lot of forewarning... And the times it did remind him of an impending blow? It was late enough that he still got scraped more often than not. Better than otherwise, but definitely a priority for the future.

On reflex he started to hum, drawing out the mana to fuel 'Birthday Telegram'. The improvements were obvious and fast, between his defense becoming less exhausting and the hits taking off less health (which then recovered faster still) due to the adjusted Stamina and Vitality.

Things continued this way for an uncertain stretch of time. It was probably only a minute or three at most, but Spike could barely tell. He half-felt like he was in a meditative trance, with the other half burning brighter and growing more focused with each swing and strike. Confident in his own survival skills, he started to get more... experimental.

Actively shedding Dragon's Scales to act as ablative armor didn't quite work, but he had a feeling that could change with practice. Dragon's Heart let him stay within a few percent of full HP even after taking a direct hit, which was incredibly reassuring. It would be too weird to try Dragon's Hoard just yet, but he was getting ideas. Earthshaper might damage their tools and cause problems down the line, anything related to Breath or Stagnet was off the table... That also meant no Respire or EMC. One thing he could do, however?

Intimidate!

A guttural snarl ripped out of him along with bared teeth and abrupt movements, as if he were about to go berserk and start tearing things apart. The guard dog was unshaken, continuing to fight with full vigor, but both Tony and Rover backed off with wide eyes and gave him space.

With his sides open and a clear opportunity, Spike began to fight back. He didn't attack Guard Seven directly, instead focusing on attacking his weapon. Claws would reach out and try to catch his spear after each miss or even after the hits. He'd take a blow on purpose just to get a grip on the haft, throwing his opponent off balance while Spike got a feel for the motions.

Their battle continued, turning into a continual trade of disadvantage in return for knowledge. The trick was that Spike made profit both ways every time, widening the gap with every exchange. Eventually Spike managed to wrench the spear away from its owner hard, almost dragging the Dog down with it. As he let the weapon clatter to the ground, a notification filled his field of view.

A skill has been created through a special action! By stopping blows and binding foes with strong hands, the skill [Grasp] has been created!

Your newly-created skill is held in abeyance due to lacking an appropriate [Combat Discipline]
The skill may be used at reduced effectiveness, increased cost, and increased risk of counters.

In the moment where he backed off to check the messages and close them, a reflex that was always getting faster but not yet fast enough? Detect Bloodthirst pinged extra-strong from behind. Spike realized that one of the Dogs was literally about to stab him in the back, aiming high to hit his head. He swiveled his neck and began to shrink down with Dragon's Hoard, preparing to avoid the hit rather than tank it on a known crit vulnerability... But it turned out he didn't need to bother.

Piercing Ammunition dropped down from the ceiling, coasting on leathery wings. His descent was unnaturally fast, likely fueled by Night Guard or Pegasus magic... And as he came level with the ground, one wing flicked out mid-flight. The motion came with such speed that Spike couldn't see an in-between: There was only the starting and then the retraction. When the dust cleared? The blade that had been racing for Spike's head was flying across the cave.

In the silent aftermath, another box opened.

A skill has been created through a special action! By witnessing and comprehending the personal specialty of a disciplined fighter, the skill [Pierce] has been created!

Your newly-created skill is held in abeyance due to lacking an appropriate [Combat Discipline]
The skill may be used at reduced effectiveness, increased cost, and increased risk of counters.

Spike let out a relieved breath, even if he was pretty sure the blow wouldn't have knocked him out, much less killed him... But the following inhale turned into a much more confused sound when Rover spoke up, pointing at his now-shorter form. Thanks to the attempted dodge with the Hoard, he was almost identical to his old stature from years ago.

"Wait now! The rider of purple pony... You were there, the Day of the Shrieking Beast!"

It took him a minute to parse that, and he really had to work to restrain his laugh once he did. That only got harder when Tony muttered darkly about 'The Whining One'... This would be a bit of the story to keep away from Rarity’s ears just in case. What had been a tense standoff devolved into the Diamond Dogs jabbering at each other quickly, first in broken Equish and then in another language entirely... Meanwhile, Spike looked over at Mr. Ammo and shrugged.

"Thanks for the save: I guess you found your opening?"

"Literally and figuratively, yeah. Found the way down about halfway through your fight. I waited for the chance to make the most impact when I did come down."

Spike liked that: It was comforting to have backup that didn’t jump to save him at the first sign of danger, giving him a chance to show his skills. Which brought them to this point: Even thought Spike couldn't understand the Diamond Dogs' conversation, he could read body language well enough to tell when they came to a shared conclusion. It helped that his system backed that up with a clear announcement:

Enemy defeated! You gained 1,750 XP.
Enemy defeated! You gained...

The 'defeated' instead of 'slain' brought a smile to his face: He had proof that non-lethal combat could still yield XP. Looked like slightly more experience than he expected in the case of the guard dog: Maybe there was a factor related to how much they were involved in the fight? Might have been his relative strength. Or it could have something to do with their choice to concede defeat, rather than being 'properly' defeated...

Rover interrupted his musing by speaking up again, pointing at them each in turn.
"...You, small dragon. And scary flap-pony as well. Come speak to our leaders?"

Pierce yielded the floor to Spike, so he turned to them and made very sure to smile with as few visible teeth as possible.
"Sure thing! I am sorry about the whole ‘fight’ thing. Like you mentioned, we weren’t on great footing last time we met."

"Eh, better than pushing rocks. Not much injury and no problem. Good exercise, good story!"

"What he said! Maybe boss gives better jobs now."

"...Fight good."

Spike took the compliment with a much wider smile, and the guard dog shot back with his own: While a canine's canines weren't nearly as vicious as dragon teeth, sheer size gave them their own intimidation factor. After a few more pleasantries, exchanges, and a trade of names they started to follow the dogs down the tunnels. Heading towards what was likely their current home away from home.

Author's Note:

Chapter 89
Zero Hour: Part 8
- OR -
Still Sad Chapter 88 and Part 8 Didn't Line Up :V

Comments

[Jarimor]

i.chzbgr.com/full/7833223424/h9B82F64F/just-the-way-james-t-kirk-likes-it

[Moonlit_Stardust]

Territorial war then? No that doesn’t fit as the Bug clans are fighting each other as much as them.

Civil war? No the bug species are to different.

Resource war? Maybe, but unlikely.

Accidental war? Most likely.

Either that or some Erdrich Horror has been released as is want to do in Equestria.

[OddDreams]

Just change one of the earlier chapter numbers and cascade the change forward, nobody will notice! ;3

[Booster Spice]

Spike gained a nice lot of experience, not just XP equivalent there, extending his situational understanding as well as immediate? Being able to read your opponant and the field really improves your survival rate?

Spike only shrank as well, wonder if the leader theyre heading for is going to pick up on the possibility that if a dragon can shrink, it can GROW?

Guard 7 is a mangy fleapit?

[Greenhorn]

"Wait now! The rider of purple pony... You were there, the Day of the Shrieking Beast!"

Twilight won't like how other species view her as Spike's steed.

[HB_DS2013]

10740600
Lol! It's almost as bad as Spike being viewed as Twilight's servant.

[HB_DS2013]

I'm guessing this chaper is taking a page from Undertale, where it's possible to gain exp from non-lethal combat??

[JohnGaster]

10740624
You gain gold from being a pacifist.

Sadly XP can only be gained from killing a monster in Undertale. I think the inspiration might be more Mune than UT. Of course I'm not the most knowledgeable about it as I am about UT.

[Moon_Fire]

10740800
You're right, XP can only be gained by killing enemies in Undertale.

[Ranun]

10740624
No that happened in the original manhwa.

[HB_DS2013]

10741034
Oh okay- now I know what you’re talking about.

[Black--Soul]

But for now Spike has to master the art of one dragon army before he commands others.

[Detsella Morningdew]

10740624
I would like to point out that in various role-playing games, a good DM will award experience for non-combat situations to make them just as rewarding as combat ones. So this sort of experience gain didn't even make me blink. (It wasn't necessarily a given, though - video games often got their mechanics from the early adaptations of pen and paper games, and it is always harder to program experience gain through more nebulous means than simple combat.)

Undertale, that made a meta criticism of RPG games that neglect the more subtle nuances of a more realistic world, didn't have you gain EXP from peaceful resolution... but then changed what EXP and LV actually meant in the context of the world to enhance the story elements.

[Black--Soul]

'Dog is humans best friend' is the saying. Since human are not a thing... Perhaps Spike is the best friend for doggo?