《Insanity Online! The Forging of A TRUE NORD》 LAUNCH DAY IS TODAAAAY! *Briiing* ¡°Yaaaaaawn¡± Ah finally, third period over! ¡­ .. . Wait why did I bother waking up when I¡¯ve still got 3 to go? Plopping my head back onto my desk I let blissful darkness take over my world. *WhoosSlam* ¡­ Lazily opening up one of my eyes, I see some perfectly manicured nails with little snowman pictures drawn onto them with nail varnish a few inches from me. The delicate hand (With such smooth skin I must add) that smashed onto my desk seems to be trembling with a hint of anger, well a bit more than a hint I think. Groggily turning my head a bit, I travel my vision up the smooth arm and stop at a luxurious face with sharp blue eyes contrasted with her snow-white skin and plump red lips. Although her scowling face does destroy her lavicious image somewhat ¡°Ah Missy¡± ¡°Zaaach¡± ¡­ .. . Ah... Blasting out of my chair sending it flying back ¡°Oi watch it¡± I dash past Missy and zoom my way through the crowd vaulting over Jim¡¯s table and squeezing through Mila and Jane (Sadly it was not a tight squeeze but I don¡¯t have time for that now!!). Shouting ¡®excuse me¡¯ towards the entering classmates, I barge through (I say barge but I am gently guiding them out of my way. For I am a gentleman) and out into the corridor. Abruptly turning right, I sprint down the corridor getting a Doppler effect ¡° Don¡¯t run in the hallway¡¯s Jeesh¡± from Clara before I spot an open window to my left and with a great leap¡ªI jump over a duo of guys hoboing by it (What, you think I¡¯d leap out of a window? I¡¯m in a rush yes, but jumping out of windows has never been a good family experience). ¡­ .. . Oh god, Sorry I forget, you have no idea what I¡¯m talking about. Hmm where should I start from? Ah yes. Hi I¡¯m Zach (why does that never fail to sound mechanical) and I¡¯m just your average student in Djinn International (The founder was an old-school gamer so I dig the name). Ah¡­I see you are a bit confused as to why I am addressing you. Well in reality I¡¯m just mentally recording my life with the new Twwyb; some strange device that allows you to write with your brain as I am doing right now. Anyways, I¡¯m doing this so you can partake in my wonderful adventures¡­because I have nothing better to do with my time. Now that we¡¯ve got this 4th wall business sorted out¡­let¡¯s get back to me! I am Missy¡¯s personal bitch (Hmm, maybe I shouldn¡¯t make it sound so much like a fact). Well that¡¯s a bit harsh on myself, although she did step on me during class once and then called me Se?ior Bitch for a week as well as the non-stop errands. No, no, I really am her bitch. Speaking of which, that¡¯s what I¡¯m up to now; her lunch-time errand. It¡¯s not far to go to the canteen but the queues are truly horrendous. Well that is our Quality, us English love to make queues (Yes there is a queue for who is Missy¡¯s bitch, although I take and keep top spot for that. I¡¯m not sure I should be proud of that though). Anyways I¡¯m thinking you¡¯re wondering why the grand me would be a personal bitch to Missy, as well as there being a queue for it? Well there are two reasons. Rocket Breasts. Yes those 34E weapons of mass destruction wreak havoc in our school on a daily basis, much more so in the past few months since someone had to go braless to school and do her daily jog (You know those rumors about people almost dying from nosebleeds, well they ain¡¯t rumors, no siree). She has the reputation of having spilled the most blood in the school (even more so they the Crimson Trio, our so esteemed delinquents) and rightly so. I can with all rights say that those are both the reasons why I¡¯m her personal bitch. But I do actually have a sincere (non-perverted) reason: I¡¯m her long lasting childhood friend. It just sort of turned out that way mostly due to our Slave and Master play-acting (Oh bless my innocent young heart). Before I realized it, we were in middle-school and I was pretty much officially her personal bitch (I was even nominated such at our midschool graduation¡­I had mixed feelings about that). Now we¡¯re in the 6th form (last two years of school, finally) So it¡¯s been, jeez, 3 years since then? I¡¯ve gotten quite used to it (There¡¯s also some quite unexpected benefits to it too). Anyways enough blabbing about myself, I should really be concentrating on the road. Yes the road; I do drive (quite well, like all Englishmen) a moped; although so far its only uses have been lunch errands and free morning taxi (I certainly don¡¯t mind doing that). So per usual I¡¯m driving a marvelous 30 miles per hour (50Kmph) across town to Chorny¡¯s Bakery. Parking, I rush to the door and announce my greatness. Thump! ¡­ .. . Stealthily wiping away the image of my face from the icy door, I turn the handle. ¡°Ah hey there Zach, was wondering when you¡¯d pfft face me with your presence¡± ¡°¡­I was having a face-off with the door¡± Chorny¡­A young man trying to start up his own business using his name, a fatal mistake indeed. He¡¯s a nice enough fellow though and his bakery skills are pretty good. Honestly his bakery skills would take his store to a higher level but he¡¯s got a small problem: He¡¯s incessantly horny (His parents had impeccable naming sense it seems). This is a true problem because all his staff have left him in fear of the predatory beast he is and he does scare off the odd customer with a hungry look (He is a true predator; anything that moves is his prey). If you somehow look past that gargantuan wall you¡­you find he¡¯s an amiable guy. ¡°I would love to small-talk but time is of the essence, and I don¡¯t want to interrupt your hunt¡± Chorny is busy talking with a woman in her mid-forties (I guess, I¡¯m not experienced with that age yet so I¡¯m not a reliable age teller source) with his special eye-glint. ¡°Don¡¯t mind the twerp behind you miss, he¡¯s just fooling around¡± (And Sir may I ask what you are doing?) ¡°Now, here¡¯s you loaf and here¡¯s my number¡­My business card of course¡± (well Gigolo is a profession so it will have a business card I guess). With a somewhat confused expression, the woman thanks Chorny and leaves with a look like she had missed something vital. ¡°Chorny¡­that was pathetic¡± ¡°I¡¯ve¡­had a bit of a dry spell lately so I¡¯m a bit out of sync ok¡± ¡°And so the predator, starving, must feast upon the mildly rotted corpse in hopes that it will satiate him¡± ¡°Oy stop it with the commentary and sheesh she was only 52¡± (Wow I was waaaay off) Oh just for the record, Chorny is 31 ¡­ .. . Well who am I to judge, I¡¯m an official personal bitch (James gave me a sash with ¡®Missy¡¯s personal bitch¡¯ embroided on it last secret Santa, quite impressive sewing skills indeed). Getting back to the thought, I order those delicious meat pies (absolutely fantastic mystery meat) and scram back to school (putting on my protective gear before driving of course, safety first). Parking my bike in my own personal spot, I rush back weaving brilliantly through the masses who sit on the stairs and mill about in the hallways. Just for kicks I jump over the duo whom are still hoboing by the window earning a few half-angry shouts from them as I disappear into the crowds. Bursting into the classroom, I slide past Mila and Jane (damn the fates that stunted their growth) and after sending the box lightly into the air I roll underneath an empty obtruding table before catching the box deftly with my left hand (You can tell I have done this many many times). Ending my position on one knee, I hold the plain white box above my head as if offering to a goddess. Now, I have briefly mentioned the goddess that is Missy but without the full picture of what she looks like, I reckon it¡¯s quite hard for you to see just why the infirmary had to be remodeled to fit more beds in. Missy is a halfie; a Japanese American taking the best of the best. Her body is that of the famous hourglass with a well rounded rear as well as those Double E weapons. Coupled with her snow-white skin that is soft as a babies to the touch (Don¡¯t ask), her figure is deadly and every inauguration day, a good 20% of the new boys get a first-class tour of the infirmary (She does regularly wear black and red corsets and other similarly seductive clothing, which doubles the effectiveness). Also her face doesn¡¯t lose any points either; she has a small face narrowing at the chin with a smooth raised jawline and prominent cheekbones. Her eyes are a deep ocean blue but are sharp like a cats while her plump red lips give her a soft quality. Her impossibly smooth (again don¡¯t ask) long black hair is always tucked behind her small ears giving all a good view of her gorgeous face from all directions. She takes the box out of my hands and taps my head, releasing me. Letting out a ¡°phew¡±, I stand up and take my own lunch from my bag. Now you notice I didn¡¯t go the canteen like I mentioned waaay earlier. Well that was because the meat pies are good bargaining chips, and they worked this time. Unwrapping my sandwiches, I plop down on the floor (Tears forming in my eyes) and eat my sandwich while I talk about the classes I slept through with Missy (who, as always, has taken my chair). Getting the boring stuff out of the way, I drive the conversation towards the ultimate goal: Games!!! I love games with all my heart. Enough is said. Luckily Missy has heard of games before (though her father...it¡¯s complicated¡­so I haven¡¯t been able to officially invade her house with games yet). ¡­ ... ¡°So today is that special day, hmm, never thought I¡¯d be so calm given the situation¡± ¡°I never would have guessed¡± I catch her rubbing her ears slightly. What did I talk too much or something? It¡¯s not like I went completely crazy talking to her in the past half-hour about this new VRMMO called Insanity Online where there were more than 20 races to pick from and it is supposed to be the game with the greatest freedom; you can be whatever class you want to be and do whatever you want to do with no limits on what skills you can learn or how you play your game or where you play your game as everyone will play on the same server which sounds immensely fun as you can talk to people from other sides of the world however I have no idea how I¡¯m going to be able to talk to people if I don¡¯t know their language so I just assume there¡¯s some translation system in play which is completely astounding because to perfectly translate dozens of different languages to other dozens of languages is a hard feat even for most Ai¡¯s that have been built to this day; only Ai¡¯s of military caliber or more are able to do so much and I¡¯ve heard that this Ai runs the whole Online world which is absolutely insane because the processing power to do such a thing would be astronomical and I find it amazing that someone has made such a thing and its going to be used for a game and that makes me extremely happy because I get to play this game this afternoon on its launching day and play with a whole bunch of other people and make new friends while questing and fighting monsters with your own body which I¡¯ve really wanted to do so badly but only recently have I gotten the Black Box (the VR headset) so I haven¡¯t experienced the awesomeness that is Virtual Reality and there are so many questions I have about this beautiful game but I cannot answer them till I¡¯ve gone into the game and tried it out myself and I can¡¯t wait to log-in because then I can play to my heart¡¯s content. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. I felt that I was quite calm when talking about Insanity Online with Missy, albeit a little out of breath. After our little discussion, Missy walked off looking a little dizzy telling me she had to go to class, so I reclaimed my seat. Class soon started and with that I diligently threw myself to studying¡­not. I closed my thick math book and taking out a tiny pillow-sheet, covered it (My math-book is my greatest ally in class). Thus the sleeping commenced¡­ Or so it should have but our most lovely bas-Teacher flung an arithmetic question at me. Getting out of my chair, I direct my drained corpse towards the board and begun a most hellish lesson indeed (Jerry, the Math teacher doesn¡¯t like it when I sleep in class so he makes sure I¡¯m at the board the whole class. Hell I¡¯m writing so much on there I could be considered the teacher rather than him!) Thankfully, my double biology lesson is just another play around with insect¡¯s lesson so I get a good 2 hour kip. I do need this sleep because a gamers¡¯ working hours is the night! The minute the bell rings ending last period, I leap out the window (Before you ask, no, I did not commit suicide from excitement) and quickly rappel down the two floors using a hemp rope; which I had bought a couple of days ago (and yes it was specifically just for this moment, though I¡¯m sure it¡¯d come in handy for other things) and had stealthily tied it to the table foot a few minutes before class ended. Quickly hitting the ground, I give two tugs to the rope and Mickey, a good helper as always, undoes the rope for me and tosses it at me with a jealous grumble; I¡¯d get home before him! Almost flying, I spring towards my moped (and of course put on my protective gear) and then rev it up to head home. However Lady Luck somehow had me on her naughty list, so as I started to drive off, I see a benevolent goddess step in-front of the moped, her hands on her hips accompanied with a frown. Feeling a cold sweat running down my neck, I quickly stop the moped. ¡°Phew Viper, that was a close one¡± I mutter to my moped as I pat the front-lights. If I was careless there I¡¯d have to get myself a new moped. With an almighty sigh, I get off Viper and collect the black-flame covered helmet that is Missy¡¯s. Once helmeted, she sits and hugs me from behind. Damn, I don¡¯t mind the benefits but having to taxi her will make me lose the race. I had challenged Mickey to see who was faster to get home (I had the moped advantage but we both foresaw this coming) simply because we both are wannabe Insanity Onliners. Cursing at my foiled plan, I leisurely drive Missy home (no need to rush and miss out on the good feeling). Dropping her off at the door of a small two-storey house, she waves goodbyes and skips inside. Now that she¡¯s gone, I drive like a complete and utter madman overtaking cars and flying through speedbumps, weaving through that masses and ignoring the blaring of horns as I swing round the corners at top speed! ¡­ .. . If you haven¡¯t figured out that I was being sarcastic, figure it out now. I am a true bitch driver and have never once overtaken a car or gone over 30 miles per hour. Although, looking as though going 40mph has a chance of killing you if you fall/crash (although I¡¯m protected so a very small chance), I¡¯m driving at a decently dangerous speed already (It may just be that I am a complete and utter bitch when driving, but safety first!). Reaching the house, I park the moped and walk up to the door, where Mickey is standing quite out of breath. With a friendly smile, I knock on the door (He forgot his keys! Yes! It¡¯s not over yet!). Martha opens the door and we both non-chalantly walk in side by side with innocent smiles towards Martha. She closes the door behind us and leaves the vicinity. Bursting to the first step, I gain the advantage and silently rush up 2 steps before my feet are bogged down by Mickey, who with his superior strength holds me in place while slowly dragging himself above me. Twisting round, I push his shoulders keeping him in check. Suddenly he rolls to the right causing me to go to my side, let¡¯s go and thrusts himself up another step. Grabbing the banister I rise to my feet and leap up a few steps before being pinned down by Mickey¡¯s god damn strong hands! Keeping me pinned, he stays low and drags himself up to where I am and I try my best to peel off his iron-clenched fingers. Suddenly Martha starts coming out from the kitchen heading towards us and we both silently let go and rush up the stairs still pushing eachother lightly to get ahead on the way of course. ¡°Boy¡¯s you ok? Please stop banging around doing whatever you¡¯re doing, it¡¯s quite loud. By the way dinner is ready in a few minutes so get ready¡± Damn. We look at eachother to make a truce and both go to our respective rooms to change our attire for dinner. Opening the door to my room is like opening the door to a suspicious dungeon room: It¡¯s oddly empty with only a bed, wardrobe and bedside table. I say oddly empty because a growing man¡¯s room should be full of all kinds of things. However my room does not have any of that on the surface. Opening my wardrobe, I blow off the small layer of dust on my various piles of clothes. I used to wear my school uniform literally 99% percent of the time when I had to wear it. But now I don¡¯t have to so I wear my old school uniform anyways. I really have nothing better to wear. The last time I went shopping was literally so long ago I¡¯ve forgotten and I have quite the distaste for shopping, so I never willingly do it. Therefore my clothing choices at the moment are: School uniform, Suit (the whole works), Beach shorts and flowery shirt, Jeans and T-shirt and Pajamas. One thing for each occasion. Lasted me pretty much forever, so it¡¯s a good system. Anyways. I grab my pj¡¯s and a white t-shirt (I have a couple of those for layering since England is coooold sometimes) and head off downstairs. Sneaking a peek into Mickey¡¯s room, I see his lair is fully equipped with books, crisp bags, gaming consoles and I swear I saw a nice picture of some jugs in the corner there (no he isn¡¯t a pottery enthusiast before you ask). Trotting off downstairs, I go sit and nom on the spaghetti Bolognese that Martha cooked for us while playing thumb war with Layla. You may have noticed, but I don¡¯t call her mum. Well that¡¯s because she isn¡¯t. Long story short, parents moved away and since they wanted me to continue studying in England they set me up with some random stranger; Martha. Martha¡¯s quite a nice woman of 35 who has treated both me and Mickey with a lot of kindness, hell she even remembered my birthday which was truly nice of her. By the way, Layla is her daughter. She¡¯s 7 so she¡¯s quite a rascal but she¡¯s always a bubble of energy so it¡¯s nice to be around her, at times. However she is nosey beyond belief; she almost found my secret treasure once and I hid that pretty damn well. Mickey gallops downstairs and wolfs down his pasta. Noticing that, I crush Layla in the thumb war and then start golloping down mine too. We finish half our plate in a minute flat. ¡°Boys boys boys, slow down. What¡¯s gotten into you?¡± ¡°Insanity Online¡± We both say it synchronized in a robotic voice. That¡¯s why I like Mickey so much; he¡¯s simple, just like me. ¡°Oh why did the two lovely sons I temporarily inherit have to be such gaming addicts¡± Martha preaches to the sky with a cheeky grin ¡°Now now Martha, VR gaming is healthy for you¡± pointing my unused fork at her (Yes tis slightly rude but I can¡¯t just drop the fork in the bowl and wag my finger, no time!). ¡°Damn right, can¡¯t wait to chase after goblins and sully their insignificant lives¡± I don¡¯t think that¡¯d lead her to encourage us, Mickey¡­ ¡°Ah, well gamers will be gamers¡± She says sighing ¡°PWAH¡± Mickey releases the bowl from his grasp, licked clean, and sprints upstairs, stopping briefly due to indigestion. ¡°Haha¡± Seeing my chance I gulp down the last of mine and sprint towards him but indigestion too hits me, hard. Kneeling, I try my best to crawl to the stairs but by then he is halfway up, crawling too. Slowly but inevitably, I crawl up after him trying my best, but he started just too far ahead, not mentioning his room is closer too. He reaches his door and shuts it, and with that I concede my defeat at the top of the stairs. Remaining motionless in pity for a few minutes, I let the indigestion die down before I drag myself to my room. Flopping on the bed, I take my Black Box from one of my many hidden places and place it gently on my head. Checking the time I see 33 minutes are left till opening. However that is only 3 minutes in my mind because there was an announcement on the forums that the character creation would open up 30 minutes before release. Now, if you did hear within my short speech earlier, I mentioned that the Launching is today¡­and the company; Anubis, didn¡¯t give any useful information on how to play or anything¡­ So I know only the basic information and pretty much nothing else, as it should be. Waiting 3 minutes was oddly not as time-excruciating as I dreaded it would be. They passed in a flash and with 30 minutes on the countdown, I activated the Black Box. A small HUD appeared before my eyes and selecting the game icon I fell into a light sleep. Darkness overtook me. Character Creation!!! I¡¯m standing in a wide white space with nothing but some boxers on. Well¡­didn¡¯t know I¡¯d have to get forcefully stripped to play this game. But¡­no one else seems to be here, so it¡¯s not that embarrassing? Checking my surroundings; I am indeed alone, which is great for my personal privacy. However a blue window suddenly pops up in-front of me.
Welcome to Insanity Online. We are adjusting the final configurations of your game. Please feel free to get used to your virtual body meanwhile. Completion rate: 2%
¡­ I guess I¡¯ll take a jog around the place. Kidding! I immediately start doing Kung fu, well try to anyways. I at least have the ¡®Wai¡¯Ya!¡¯ Sorted out to the perfect tone, but my actual kicking and Kung fu level is well¡­non-existent. Thus begins my short training session with Masta¡¯ Bluwindow as I bow repeatedly to the window and try to reproduce some Kung fu I¡¯ve seen on all the great Chinese Kung fu films (I absolutely adore them). The best I can do is a side kick, which seems poor but is strong enough to send the window a large distance from me. ¡­ .. . Eh? What? Why¡¯s the window over there? That was¡­odd. Never thought I could interact with the thing. Jogging lightly towards the window and then taking a quick breather, I begin the second training session with Masta¡¯ Bluwindow. During this session, I found out two things: Firstly I can interact with the window with punching and kicking. Secondly, it has little resistance. The second thing was a problem because every time I hit it, it ended up moving away a decent bit. Thus the running fist came to be (I¡­had to run to it every time I hit the window)! The little resistance became a small problem at the end of my training session¡­Well it ended the session: I kind of did a mighty uppercut sending it flying into the air. It¡­hasn¡¯t come back down yet. ¡­ .. . I¡¯ve just broken the game, whoops! Well guess I better start crying while rolling in fetal position. As I am preparing myself in fetal position, I suddenly rise into the air a bit. Looking down I notice the window flat like a board beneath me. ¡°Aha, I am sorry Masta¡¯ but you are now beneath me¡± Sadly it seems the window had some feelings. So it flipped and dropped me on my butt and then almost pushed itself onto my face.
Welcome to Insanity Online We have completed the final adjustments Welcome to the world of Insanity Login?
Clicking the Login button with my hand, the window disappears and my world turns black, as if someone turned off the lights. I smile a devilish smile because I know that now, this moment is my time. ¡°Within the darkness, the blackness of the worlds, a being of no special power was born. They were normal, mundane among the magical and heroic of the world. They were not seen as worthy of holding the title of¡­Legend. However¡­this being rose to the challenge and tempered its muscles and will in the forges of battle. Thus it grew and became recognized by all as the Legend it had become despite what others had told it along the way. This being was not born a legend, but through their own fiery will, perseverance and strength they were made a legend! For they were¡­A TRUE NORD!!¡± Somehow, gloriously deep trumpet music along with beating drums of war started up in the middle of my speech which I only noticed just now; I thought it was just my imagination that my speech was being accompanied by some epic music. Perfectly in sync to my ending, the light flashed on and I find myself looking at a large line of spectacular beings of all kinds standing upright facing me, arms raised to skies as if beseeching the heavens (Just like me, and my god they look awesome!). Wow there¡¯s got to be a lot more than 20 different races here! The one thing that looked slightly out of place was the adorable looking blond-pigtailed girl who is vigorously jotting something down on a window. ¡°Um hello?¡± I question lightly She looks up with a deadpan face (her face is feminine so I believe she¡¯s a girl, but I do get these things wrong quite often so it¡¯s always a challenge) and she skips over to me with the window, swiveling it round to me. Raising my eyebrow at her, I look at the window¡­In complete and utter joy: Seems like she wrote down my short monologue word for word. I quickly grasp her hand ¡°Thank you, whoever you are? I always say something and then forget it and I would¡¯ve liked to keep this speech so that on my great debut I can say it with passion to all who would listen. And now I can!¡± ¡°It amused me¡­¡± ... .. . Well that just shattered my image of a cute little girl: Her voice is completely monotone, emotionless¡­not to mention her face is a complete deadpan. ¡°¡­By the way, who are you?¡± ¡°Allie¡± ¡°Allie¡­erm nice to meet you, I¡¯m¡­the name is undecided for the moment. So they seriously got an employee for everyone joining the servers today? Jeez that¡¯s a lot of people¡± ¡°Employees¡± (I believe she was confused?) she looks at me with her emotionless face before landing her fist into her palm ¡°I am the Ai who runs this world¡±. ¡­ .. . Pushing my mouth to a close, I try to get to terms with what¡¯s happening: She¡¯s the freaking super Ai which has the level of god-knows how many supercomputers and she is running this entire world! Well Anubis did release some stuff about the technology side of Insanity Online (aaand as a bit of a computer nerd, I did find this information about 3 minutes after it was released¡­¡­...). ¡°I see¡± My mind has had a little bit of a melt-down so I require a few seconds to reboot ¡­ Right, where were we-ah! ¡°Allie let us go and create my being!¡± ¡°Looking through the arithmetic sequence of probabilities of what race as well as skills you¡¯ll pick based on your words is mathematically obvious.¡± (I¡¯m amazed yet at the same time, I feel like this was just child¡¯s play to her) ¡°I¡¯ll pick a large male, human looking bezerker class¡± ¡°No errors in my calculation¡± She walks towards the line of strange races and then spins them round till she stops at the ¡®Barbarian¡¯ race: they look like big strong tough humans; perfect in other words. Picking the male, I begin to chisel his body, carving his abs and removing all fat from his body. He is pure muscle although lean muscle so his shape is very nice indeed. I add a few claw scars on his back as well as down past his left eye and onto his jaw. Making his hair grey, short but well combed back, he looks like a man well past his prime; If not for his chiseled jaw, strong eyes, thick brows and light stubble. Not to mention the fact that his body is completely chiseled too. Giving him crystal blue eyes, I make them radiate slightly. He looks like a complete and utter badass... The manly sweat which came from creating such a chiseled masterpiece drips from my eyes and I collapse kneeling to the floor. I feel a small hand on my surprisingly muscular shoulder (I work out, but not enough to have that much muscle) and notice Allie is standing looking at me with her deadpan face. I¡¯m not sure if she¡¯s comforting me or just unimpressed¡­ ¡°Well built¡± Aaah¡­only She could sum up this masterpiece in two unimpressed sounding words¡­ Holding back some slight choking sounds I muster my strength ¡°Yes¡­he is, but True Nords are not born, they are made¡±. And with that I cancelled the process leaving the masterpiece crumbling to nothing¡­ I stand up and look at Allie who looks at me without emotion(which is extremely unnerving). ¡°Allie¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡­Please¡­Show me the female characters only¡± ¡­ .. . Although Allie is an Ai with the ability of god knows how many supercomputers it still took her a whole second to process the information. ¡°¡­My calculations have faults¡± ¡°You heard me¡­a True Nord is not born, they are made¡± This was the penalty for defeat against Mickey. Yes we had a challenge and the loser would have to pick a female as their character (We can have 5 characters in total so it¡¯s not a complete death sentence). A True Nord keeps his promises and I¡¯m damned to want to uphold my new ideals. Because if I break them at the beginning there is no point to my existence in this game! Allie deleted all the male characters only leaving the females of each race. I spent a whole 25 minutes creating his perfect visage¡­and it was all thrown away because of my pride and ideals¡­ I sigh once and close my eyes. Then I reopen then and begin creating with new vigor. Swiping the races across one by one (figured that out by watching Allie earlier) I am put face to face with a number of interesting but grotesque figures. There were goblin women of almost a meter tall but there weren¡¯t any signs to show they were women. Also, there were rotting ladies who looked as ghastly as the Female troll. However there were pretty elves and alluring Djinns. ¡°Hmm, Allie is there a way to filter out options I don¡¯t want?¡± ¡°Yes¡± Going to tell me how or ¡­ .. . ¡­guess not then! Thinking on it for a few seconds, I decide to flick the Female troll to the sky and she flies in the air as if punted by a great force. Quickly her figure disappears in the distance. I am quite impressed with this. *Clap* Allie gives a single clap at my efforts, well thank you! I chuck a couple more; pretty much all of the classics (goodbye pretty elves) as well as the more grotesque (so pretty much all the undead, even vampire as I ain¡¯t a blood sucker, as well as all the beastmen; yep even the kitsune). The demon and celestial races went (I don¡¯t like the whole good and evil side thing these always have going on). Now all I¡¯m left with is the Fantastical races. Immediately flinging the fairies as well as all the elementals I now had some more human like things. I got rid of the weird ugly fantastical creatures as well as the mermaid, simply because I had a bad time when I read the true story behind the little mermaid. So after chucking a good 70 races into oblivion I¡¯m left with 4: Djinn, Iffrit, Satyr and Nymph. While Djinn and Iffrit were both alluring and great looking¡­they didn¡¯t have legs but clouds as feet so I had to sadly, dismiss them from the line. Now all that¡¯s left is a quite sexy satyress with small curved horns and a nice pair of legs (although full of goat hair). Also she looked mildly human which was a bonus. The nymph was slightly elvish looking however the only similarities was the slightly pointedness in the ears. The nymph was way more beautiful; she simply radiated, which made me cringe back in fear somewhat as no way in hell could I be such a beautiful woman; I¡¯d be ogled at for the rest of my gaming days. ¡­ .. . I am stuck, because I honestly don¡¯t know what to do with my character now that it¡¯s a female. It¡¯s just extremely confusing as to where I¡¯m supposed to go with this¡­ Huffing I play around with both, changing their styles, but to no avail after a good 10 minutes. Added with the 5 minutes of flicking races I have since passed the opening time, a shame. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°The ratio of upper to lower body proportions are mathematically implausible. The slang term for this is; pear shaped.¡± Thank you Allie for the helpful contribution, I knew I could rely on you to help me in my time of need¡­ ¡°I¡­I just don¡¯t know how to make a woman, like how are they supposed to be?¡± (I did make the nymph look like Missy but it was too brutal and I know I would be massacred if she ever found out, so my one idea is a definite no-go). Allie, who was standing beside me, put a finger on her mouth thinking (or processing data, just saying¡­ or telling me to shut up¡­) for a couple of seconds before she decided she came up with a good answer. ¡°Add masculinity¡± ¡­ .. . Tha-that¡¯s a brilliant idea?! I hug and twirl Allie around before dropping her again and restarting on creating my character. Creating a male-looking female satyr looks pretty nasty¡­so sadly, Whoosh! And¡­I¡¯m left with the too gorgeous to be true nymph. Oh Lady Luck, how you hate me. So I began with the simplest of things; cutting the hair to about shoulder length but making it a fiery red. I then lowered her chest proportions to a minimal and since it looked a bit weird, I added some curve on her hips (though the butt stayed small, no man would have a round ass, or shouldn¡¯t at least). The face I made less alluring by making the lips a little less red and by making her face slightly less angular as well as sharpening the eyes. I leave the skin a fresh white to contrast the red hair and blue crystal eyes. ¡­ .. . Falling to my knees in despair I bang the floor with my fist letting out wails of despair ¡°Oh Lady Luck is it my fate to be a trap? But not just a trap, I am a fake trap so those who fall for me will actually be rewarded by the fates. Why, why must the beginnings of my True Nord be a fake trap? Of course True Nords don¡¯t cry; they just sweat profusely from the eyes in hard moments. *Sniff* Allie turns her head to face me offering nothing but her expressionless face. It is the harshest fate a man can have; to be a man that looks so much like a women that other men will fall for them. A trap. And I have now joined the ranks, but as a fake trap; which just means I have no proper reason to stop their advances. Oh the sweat from my eyes just won¡¯t stop! But gradually they do, as I get accustomed to the brutal reality that is to be my gaming life. ... I stand up and with a decisive nod, I announce my choice. ¡°Allie, I wish¡­to become this fake trap of a nymph. For her who looks like a he that may be a her, shall be my beginning, my starting point and my untempered steel that needs to be forged in battle so that others will not look at her as a he that may be a her, but as a warrior, a True Nord. ¡° Allie jotted it down with ease¡­woo, that¡¯s 2 already! However the decision has been made and with it, the dazzlingly cute nymph, that I would be hard pressed to determine whether it is a guy or girl, (although I did some quick reconstruction on the face a second ago to not make her look so loli-like. She is about 14 at most it seems. WHY can I not make her look older?!) disappeared. Looking at my arms I see they have lost muscle and have become small slender arms with, when I touch them, soft and smooth skin, a beautiful white. Sweat reaches my eyes once again because I know just how beautiful I now look and because I know just how beautiful I look. ¡°Hmmm¡± I glanced to my right to see Allie eyeing me up; I instinctively hide my body (although there is nothing to hide). ¡°An appropriate adjective would be; delicious¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say such an erotic thing with a question-like tone, that¡¯s super creepy, much more because you look like an 8 year old!¡± I quickly notice that my voice is¡­well¡­my voice. Which is great. Except for the fact that I am in a trap so it feels off, really really off. Ah can I not even have my own voice, My Lady? I sigh to the supposed ceiling. I look down at Allie who is still crawling her eyes all over my body, as if looking for a flaw, even after I half-yelled at her. ¡°Umm Allie, we¡¯ve got a problem¡± Without stopping her scanning, she walks behind me and I suddenly feel very exposed. ¡°No problems in sight.¡± Suddenly I feel two little arms encase around my stomach and I stiffen in shock mostly, partially because Allie is warm like a human. ¡°0.83 hip to waist ratio which suggests either sex. Overall body figure does not suggest either sex. Also-¡° she somehow swivels to the front and grabs my face ¡°the face does not express either sex definitively. Hair adds to the ambiguity" ¡­ .. . I am impressed, don¡¯t get me wrong, but it¡¯s still¡­weird for Allie to say all that, especially with that monotonic voice of hers! I created a good trap because well¡­I¡¯ve read a lot of gender-benders back in the day. Pretty much every one of them that were out in the day. I¡¯ve racked up quite a lot of experience on what a perfect trap would look like, but to actually use that knowledge and become it myself? I am truly destined for worse horrors to come. Slowly removing Allie from my face¡­ ¡°Allie, Can I change my voice?¡± ¡°Vocal problems sighted. Will be sorted in 1 minute 2 seconds¡± She turns around and then windows start flying up and get discarded seconds later. After a minute and 2 seconds (literally on the dot) Allie closes all windows but one and turns back round to me. ¡°Voice configurator¡± ¡­Wow, that¡¯s just amazing, in one minute 2 seconds huh. I have got to meet her maker. Anyways back onto the topic. I check out the voice configurator and see it to have 3 separate sliders. The first is voice tone, the second pitch and the third is vibration. Now Vibration apparently makes quite the hell of a difference as those with a lot sounded like they were summoning the demons of hell (more so with a deep tone and pitch, truly frightening). After a good 20 minutes of playing around with the voice¡¯s I finally picked on a clear light pitched voice but with a tone set to ever so slightly masculine. To those who hear they will first hear the voice of what may be a boy but when added to this body, the ambiguity just oozes out. Satisfied (Sweat still coming out of my eyes) I nod to Allie and she whisks away the board. ¡°So what now?¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°Tone suggests male but sex is ambiguous when body is included¡± Looks like I made it right ¡°Moving on: Choose your resource; you have a choice between rage, energy and mana¡±. Hmm heard of ¡®em all before, used ¡®em all before. It¡¯s a no brainer. ¡°Give me the power that I feel at this very moment, RAGE!¡± ¡°1 calculation was correct so far. Moving on, you get to choose a weapon and some armor" A long list of weapons splurged in front of me, too easy. ¡°Hah, a True Nord only uses one weapon¡± without hesitation I click on the one-handed axe ¡°Another error; I calculated axe but 2 handed; for one handed only does a base of 9-10 damage instead of the 2 handed 18-20 which is a calculable difference.¡± ¡°A True Nord uses 2 handed axes yes, but not all, for we are a diverse bunch. As long as it is an axe whatever kind it may be, it is considered the weapon of a True Nord.¡± She passes the armor windows to me: There are 5 sets of armor: Cloth, leather, chain-mail, scale-mail and plate. ¡°Which armor gives penalties to casting spells?¡± ¡°Spells are not a part of my calculation¡± ¡°Ah that may seem so, but a True Nord always has the ability to use one spell, or he¡¯d never be able to fight against the Gods. But it is every True Nord¡¯s shame since it is our dream to use only our axes¡­but without this spell we cannot survive our reforging¡± ¡°Chain-mail will only give a small percentage of failure for arcane spells and heavier armor is not recommended. The calculated usual is either cloth or leather. ¡°I¡¯ll take leather wristguards, boots and some leather shorts.¡± ¡°¡­Helmets and chest armor are not present within your choices¡± ¡°Ah but you are still na?ve to the True Nord way. Allie, a True Nord truly needs no chest armor for they must bare it for the enemy to try strike it as they please.¡± ¡°Against all survival instincts and my calculations. Historical articles do suggest the bravest wearing less armor or even less.¡± ¡­ .. . She literally just looked that up?? Well to be honest i''m not that surprised since she is like a super Ai... ¡°Hah only scared children hide behind plate. Now Allie let me onto this world and spread these ideals¡± ¡°name¡± ¡­ .. . Oh right¡­I need one of those ¡°Iskadi. No last name¡± ¡°Meaning Dweller of the ice is based off Skadi the frost giantess¡± ¡°You know your Norse mythology well, well you are an Ai with god knows how many supercomputers worth of processing power so I guess finding this out will be easy for you. However the name in a sense means she who dwells on the ice¡± ¡°Logical. Nickname¡± ¡­ ¡°Kal¡± ¡°Gender neutral and almost translates to cold¡± ¡°It took a while¡± ¡°Kal¡­ one who was not born to be a Legend in this world but has the utmost desire to become a True Nord, I set you free upon this-¡± ¡°WAIT A SECOND¡± That monotone voice¡­ ¡°What¡± Allie looks at me deadpan. ¡°One, I do the monologues and fancy talks. Two¡­just no. and three, can I choose my starting place? Preferably someone where there¡¯s snow and cold. Fourthly what¡¯s the deal with classes and lastly how do I get magic. That is all my Goddess¡± trying to summon my most demanding tone was completely pathetic. ¡°Apologies. Classes: You stay a wanderer till you hit level 10 and then you choose your class then. Until then, Spells will be only gained through training by another or a skill-book. Until then you don¡¯t have any magic, unless you chose to begin with a rod. Finally you may soon begin in the snow and cold.¡±She is oddly descriptive when it comes to game terms¡­but then again that is kind of what she¡¯s programmed for. However I just picked up on something ¡°Soon? But shouldn¡¯t I be way behind everyone?¡± ¡°Time here is 3:1 with the real world¡± ¡­ .. . Ah, how that works eludes me but it¡¯s nice to know that I now have tripled the game time, makes me Ecstatic!! ¡°By the way how long did I take to make my character in the end?¡± Just some pure curiosity. I usually take a good 20 minutes per character ¡°25 minutes to make man, 5 minutes to discard races, a further 10 minutes to decide on the final two. 48 minutes 1 second on creating and finalizing Iskadi¡± Wow almost half the time was used on my voice. (it was 20 out of 48 minutes). With that I¡¯m quite satisfied with my hard work and as I count down the seconds I give Allie one last wave. ¡°May we meet again Goddess and may you hear of my growth into becoming a True Nord.¡± ¡°There were errors in my calculations.¡± Um¡­ok? Great?! With the final farewell my vision went bright white, like pure snow. I have a feeling we both missed something quite vital¡­ TO the Village and Beyond! Not... My vision returns and I find myself on a field of slightly glittering snow. Beside me are 2 other people: A tall muscular man with Golden braided hair and a thick beard wearing plate and carrying a Great-axe (So he must be a barbie then) and a male Satyr with Ice-coloured hair as well big curved horns atop his head. He¡¯s wearing a hoodless cloth robe and carries a staff with a blue crystal inside. So we have a barbie, me and a satyr frost mage. A pretty good composition then. Half expected all barbies but phew, got lucky there. All of us look at eachother checking out who we are. However, after they glanced my way they quickly look away for some reason. O...k? ¡°What¡¯s wrong guys?¡± ¡­ .. . Both massage their temples for a couple of seconds before they let out a loud sigh of¡­relief? I¡¯m confused. ¡°Wahahaha, is it just three of us mighty enough to try the tundra and snow? Then more killing for me!¡± Barbie swings round speaking with a booming voice and laughs grandly making his braids shake ¡°Please lower your voice. It poisons my ears¡± The Satyr to my right shows a displeased expression while he talks in an airy manner ¡°Now now you two, play nice. Or we¡¯re going to get eaten¡± I believe they were about to say ¡®just what do you mean?¡¯ But they figured it out quite quickly once they heard the growl. Turning away from eachother they face my direction and see a wolf growling as it looks at us from distance. Right now I¡¯m in a cold sweat. Not because it¡¯s the temperature of ice around me, it¡¯s because of that wolf. In RPG¡¯s the wolf is usually the first aggressive animal you¡¯d fight against at about¡­level 4 or 5. Also being a snow wolf their levels might be even higher. Thus our particular situation is quite¡­well, dangerous. The others quickly realize that too and the 3 of us back away from the wolf slowly. Damn, if we were all at least level 4 we might be able to take it on. But since we¡¯re just level 1, we try to escape the threat range. All in all 1 wolf against 3 people no matter the levels will end in our victory, but that¡¯s if it was 1 to 3. If the wolf calls his pack we¡¯re mincemeat. Oddly enough, even though we¡¯ve moved quite a distance, the wolf is still threatened by us and although it hasn¡¯t called its pack yet, I believe it can still take us out on its own. We get about 10 metres away when we hear another growl towards where we were going. I peek back to see another wolf waiting at the back. At that moment I guessed the others did the same to either side of me. Sandwiched between two growling wolves, we quickly knock our heads together. ¡°Let¡¯s just break through them, if we get to the starting village we will be fine¡± Barbie says in a gruff voice ¡°IF we get to the starting village you mean¡± Satyr points out. But Barbie does have a point. Letting Barbie lead, we turn to the right and begin charging towards the village I spotted a second ago. One of the wolves quickly bounds up to us and Barbie goes to intercept it. He tries to ward off the wolf with his large axe but the wolf breaks through his defense and rakes a huge gash in his armor. Seem like he¡¯s fine though, with his armor and all. ¡°They take about 40 health off with 1 clean swipe¡± He gasps We race up either side of him and aggroing the wolf with a strike of my axe I continue past it. 40 health for fully plate armored, I¡¯ll die if I get hit once (I¡¯ve only got 110 hp apparently). -2 (318/320) The wolf aggroes onto me before an icebolt pierces it right flank. The wolf howls and I see its health go down a massive 5 with that hit -5 (313/320) There¡¯s no way we¡¯re going to beat this thing. ¡°SLASH¡± Barbie¡¯s axe glows bright red and he swings it lightning fast. The axe slashes down at the wolf knocking it into the ground -20 (293/320) 20 damage! My god that is a skill and a half! It also stunned the wolf for a second and we all rush past it leaving it a few metres behind us. Turning with a howl the wolf begins to chase us, thankfully alone for some reason. The village is about 300 metres away, so we have a good minute of battling ahead of us. The wolf bounds up to Barbie, who is at the back due to his armor weight, and rakes a claw at his back. Taking the blow he doesn¡¯t stop running but he looks like he¡¯s on death¡¯s edge when I take a peek back. ¡°Switch guard!¡± I immediately lower my speed so that Barbie overtakes me and while running I look at the wolf keeping an eye on it. Quickly it bounds back up and pounces on me. Diving to the side I feel a sharp pain before I hit the ground, roll and get back up maintaining most of my speed. -42 (68/110) Jesus! And that was a glancing blow. I¡¯d definitely get killed if it was a clean hit! ¡°Switch Guard!!¡± I yell out as I increase my speed and overtake Barbie once more. Somewhat hesitant, the mage gets behind Barbie and looks at the wolf who is regaining speed. Ok 200 metres left. The wolf reaches the mage and as it pounces it receives an icebolt in the face stammering it and stopping its attack. Quickly gaining some ground we get a bit further away but it once again reaches us and the mage quickly shoots another icebolt to the face. 100 metres left. ¡°Switch Guard!¡± Out of mana? Damning my health pool I switch to the back since I think I¡¯m the only one who can take a glancing hit. Back to the rear, the sight of the white wolf zooming towards me is quite terrifying but I keep my composure or I¡¯ll die. The wolf pounces at me for a last time but I add a bit of strength to my legs and speed up getting only a grazing hit, although slightly deeper than last time. -66 (2/110) OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD!!! 30 metres left to town. I SPRINT AS FAST I POSSIBLY COULD AND DIVE INTO THE TOWN BORDERS just after the mage dives in and Barbie true to the feeling dives in with a heavy thud on the ground. The wolf skids a few metres towards up before stopping at the town entrance. With a low growl it leaves. Collectively sighing we lie in the cool snow while regaining our breath. If you¡¯ve ever tried to sprint 100 metres you¡¯ll know how tiring it is, now try a 300 metre sprint with a wolf attacking you! The huffing and puffing does go a bit quicker than I¡¯d expect though, probably a game thing. So once breath is regained, we stand up and check out our surroundings. We seem to be in a small village of sorts. I say village but really it just looks like a small collection of houses and what looks like a black-smith. The houses number 10 in total so this village is decently small. The town walls are meters high of packed snow which I don¡¯t think give any defensive value but a few guards are walking atop its walls in thick fur. One guard, a burly man with a thick mustache is looking down at us arms crossed. Making eye contact, he nods at us before returning to his duties (Well guessing the people here are going to be as cold as the land we¡¯re in). I didn¡¯t really get proper time to get used to the cold but I can now feel my goosebumps and hear my chattering teeth (Must be absolutely freezing). I check out the others and they seem to be pretty chilly too, especially Barbie since his armor transmits cold better (or doesn¡¯t keep heat same difference). ¡°Alright, best if we ask around town for some quests and the lowest level hunting spots¡± Barbie once again takes the lead saying a few smart lines ¡°Hmm that¡¯d be a good idea; also we may want to look for an inn or a place to rest.¡± The mage grimaces ¡°Hah! Are you still tired? We¡¯ve only run away, not defeated the beast¡± Barbie boisterously taunts the mage who is clutching his stomach. ¡°How about we check a couple of houses each and then meet back here in an hour?¡± I propose to the two ¡°Sounds good, I¡¯ll take these three¡± Barbie points a trio of houses lines next to the blacksmith ¡°Name¡¯s Husky¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take this lot¡± The mage points at the three houses to the left, opposite the blacksmith ¡°You may call me J?t¡± (Joot). ¡°And I¡¯m left with the dodgy trio over in the distance, great¡± My 3 houses are in the far side of the village, which is extremely close (maybe a kilometer at most). ¡°Kal¡¯s my name¡± I hear an audible sigh of relief from Husky. Hmm? ¡°Now let us me depart and meet once again in this place to continue our battle¡± We disperse and head off to our respective locations. I stroll down the snowy street. ¡°Status?¡± A status window thankfully pops in-front of me
[table] [table][table] [table]
NAME:
Kal (Iskadi)
TITLE:
(None)
Class Tree:Wanderer
Class:None
Race:Nymph
Gender:Trap (female)
Level:1
Experience:0%
STATUS:Remaining Points (0)
Health Points:25/110Hp Regen (out of combat):1sec
Rage:0/100Rage decrease (out of combat)1/sec
STR:10TGH:10
AGI:10VIT:10
INT:10MND:10
ATTK:Phys 11-14Extra:none
DEF:18M.RES:17
Satiety:90/100 (well fed)
SKILLS: One-handed Axe Mastery [lvl1] -Hack (Active) Leather Mastery [lvl1] Racials [Max] -Radiating Charm (Active) -Nature''s Safe-keeper -Nature Attuned -Man''s Desire ->Woman''s Desire
Oh racials. Completely forgot that I do get those. I am more than slightly worried about this man¡¯s desire/woman¡¯s desire (though I may(?) not mind that as much). Clicking on the skill¡¯s their respective windows pop up:
Sub-Skill:Hack [lvl1]
(levels increase with one-handed axe mastery) Gives a mighty hack with your weapon dealing 150% damage
Cost: 25 rage
Sub-Skill:Radiating Charm
Racial active cosmetic skill Makes the Nymph''s skin glow and radiate the Nymph''s beauty further. All within sight become entranced, focusing only on the Nymph
Cost: none, Duration: Sustained
Sub-Skill:Nature''s Safe Keeper
Racial passive skill The Nypmh is naturally trusted by nature, thus herbs picked and natural items collected will have a higher chance fo being more quantity and higher quality
Cost: none, Duration: Permanant
Sub-Skill:Nature-Attuned
Racial passive cosmetic skill The Nymph is one with nature and if staying in the same place for a while, critters and other peaceful animals may appear
Cost: none, Duration: Permanent
Sub-Skill + Derivative:Man''s Desire + Woman''s Desire
Racial passive skill Nymphs, with their superior beauty naturally take the hearts of those who see them. Usually it is limited to the opposite gender feeling desire for them but in this particular Nymph''s case, Women may also feel this desire towards the Nymph. Thus they will be friendlier towards the Nymph, no matter their status. This effect is stronger with Radiating Charm.
Cost: none, Duration: Permanent
¡­ .. . So basically all half my racials will make me stand out even more than usual and there is actually a skill that will help people feel desire for me. *Shiver*, I should not go to town, ever. At least it seems I¡¯ll benefit from doing herbalism and maybe mining. Sadly skinning doesn¡¯t exactly sound like nature¡¯s safe-keeper like. All in all I should find myself a cloak or I¡¯ll be constantly running away from animals of all kinds and races. I think? ¡°Oomph!¡± I land flat on my butt on the snow and with an ¡°Owwie¡± I look up at what I hit into. A large uncle (there¡¯s enough wrinkles on his face) with a shaven face and tied back black hair, wearing a large number of furs is toppling over me holding his stomach. Now I¡¯m not too small (only being 1 metre 58. Pragmatically small and cute) but this uncle is almost double my height: Thus I bumped into his stomach. The uncle rubbing his belly muttered slightly ¡°Hard-headed foo-¡° but stops upon gazing at me. With an audible gulp he extends a hand towards me ¡­ .. . I take his hand, out of courtesy, and I believe that was the wrong choice; the uncle with a fearful look in his eyes loosens his grip until it¡¯s light, like he¡¯s trying to lift a child. It¡¯s as if he¡¯s scared he¡¯d damage my skin. Pretending not to notice his slowly reddening face (although I can feel the heat myself) I thank him quietly and then move past him quite quickly. ¡°Ah¡­ah wait! Where you headed off to?¡± Well he is a villager so I HOPE he¡¯s not some serial-killer or creepy person (Although I can feel his intense gaze upon my back). ¡°I¡¯m just going to talk to some residents in those houses over there¡± pointing at my 3 designated houses. ¡°Oh that¡¯s perfect I was headed there myself!¡± He seems quite excited which gives me a shiver. I HOPE that I¡¯ll be all right. I look up to the sky seeing if Lady Luck still has me on her naughty list. No answer. So I begin to walk down the street with the uncle to my left as he carries a basket of something. Seems I bumped into him at the general goods store as I check and confirm the building with its signpost. ¡°Varg¡± Huh? The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°My name¡± Oh, got it. Varg, quite a masculine name. ¡°Kal¡± ¡­ .. . I stop moving and look back where the uncle had stopped and is looking deeply at the sky. ¡°Um¡­Varg?¡± ¡°A boy¡± He changes his gaze from the sky to me looking completely confused¡­ I continue walking because it¡¯d take too long to clear up the situation and anyways, if he thinks I¡¯m a boy his gaze might lessen, maybe. He takes that as a yes it seems and the gazes do thankfully lessen, but the conversation was killed from this point on. We walked in a pretty awkward silence down the street. There are a couple of people milling about but the streets are relatively empty. However this doesn¡¯t make much of a difference to me as all the males on the street are gazing at me with scary eyes while I swear I saw a dark-elf woman lick her lips as she glanced at me between conversations with a Dwarven woman. Quickening my pace some, I arrive at the first house but before I knocked on it Varg got in front and opened the door with a ¡°Honey, I have returned¡± Moving into the house behind him, I notice it is as pitiful as it looks outside (all the houses are 1 story and look very shabby on the outside, all made from wood and looks like they haven¡¯t been refurbished for years). Inside there is a fireplace embedded in the wall with a cooking pot over it. There is also a table and 4 chairs dominating the middle of the room while barrels and chests with furs and weapons sticking out line the borders of the room. There is however a separate room which I believe to be their bedroom. Coming from the bedroom is a slender human woman wrapped in white wolf furs. Her physique is slender but toned muscle is apparent in her legs and arms. The furs don¡¯t cover her whole body but is wrapped around her chest and thighs revealing much to the eye while keeping the most important parts hidden. I would definitely give her a high 8 on the scales of man even though her face sports some wrinkles it makes her face seem mature and wise. Her black hair is loose and drops over her shoulder and with a yawn she walks over to Varg. Hearing some¡­sounds(?) in front of me, I peek out from behind Varg and the woman jumps back in shock looking at me with curious eyes for a record second before barging past Varg (how harsh indeed, her own husband pushed out of the way for a stranger) and then hugs me tightly with a squeal. ¡°So Cuuuuute!!!¡± She keeps me in a crushing bear-hug as she twists around (taking me with her). ¡°Can, we keep him?¡± Wait a second here Varg just nodded. WAIT A SECOND HERE With a squeal of delight she lets me breathe once more and dashes over to a chest of furs and with a flourish, sets out a fur bed from a mesh of different furs in one corner of the room. ¡°You¡¯ll be staying with us for a while, you must! It¡¯s been so long since we¡¯ve had such a cute child in our house. Wait. What is your name?¡± ¡°K-kal¡± I don¡¯t want to go along with this¡­but it doesn¡¯t look like I have any choice in the matter¡­ ¡°Eeeeeek you¡¯re so cuuuute¡± She once again bear hugs me before I quite understand the situation. She squeezes the life out of me and whispers to me ¡°Kal, quite a manly name. I¡¯m Cindy¡± Umm thanks?? But I¡¯m not sure what to do in this type of situation!? She releases me once more but grabs my hand and drags me to the table where she sits me down and begins filling a wooden bowl in-front of me with some soup(?) Serving Varg as he quietly sits down, she plops on her own seat, watching me with her big brown eyes while holding her face with her hands I blow on the hot soup for a few seconds and then taste the meal (My satiety had dropped a bit from running so might as well take the free meal). It was a mix of a meaty taste with a peculiar herb-like after-taste. But nonetheless, delicious. ¡°Mmm delicious¡± I gasp as this soup is actually pretty damn good (also canteen food at my school sucks). ¡°Mmm yes it(you) is (are)¡± the two reply in unison ¡­ .. . I clean out my ears because I swear I heard something but ah, nevermind must be my imagination. I continue to eat my food with various ¡°Kyaaa¡± and ¡°Ahhh¡± commentary from Cindy as she watches me eat and smile at the deliciousness of the meal. After a short while my satiety reaches full again but I diligently finish my meal and thank Cindy for it. She just told me it was her pleasure. A good 40 minutes had passed since we had split up and I haven¡¯t really checked out even 1 house yet. ¡°So Cindy, Varg. Is there anything you need help with?¡± They both raise their eyebrows. ¡°Oh Kal, you cutie. You don¡¯t need to do anything for the bed and meal, it¡¯s on the house.¡± ¡°Uh, uh tha¡­thanks¡­ But I¡¯m an adventurer and am looking for some work to do¡± ¡°An adventurer? Ah you must be a wanderer then. Wanderer? Oh right my class tree. ¡°Why yes, yes I am¡± Wait a second¡­how do the Ai know about wanderers? Ooh I smell advanced Ai here! Cindy starts to clean the dishes while Varg looks at me with curious eyes. ¡°Level?¡± ¡­Did an Npc just ask my level? Well I shouldn¡¯t find that strange since I didn¡¯t really notice their Npc¡¯ness at all. They¡¯re exactly like a human being, quite scary indeed¡­but still, did not expect that in the least. ¡°I¡¯m level¡­one¡± It¡¯s not a proud level to be but I must start somewhere. Cindy drops but then quickly catches a bowl while Varg furrows his brow in concern. ¡°Not enough¡± ¡°Oh Kal, what are you doing here? This isn¡¯t any place for a level one such as yourself.¡± Cindy rushes to me and cups my face with her hands (wah, quite soft!) I did notice our starting monsters were around level 8 but it was only over the limit since there were only 3 of us. If there had been about 100 players spawning there we should have been able to fight them with only a couple of dozen casualties. ¡°What¡¯s wrong Cindy, Varg. Is this place too hard for me?¡± ¡°Hard? Kal its close to suicide what you¡¯re doing here, trying to train here at level 1. Especially by yourself¡± ¡°Ah I¡¯m not by myself. I have two friends who are with me¡­both level one too¡± The ray of hope that appeared in her eyes when I mentioned my companions left when I mentioned their levels. Varg meanwhile is still furrowing his brows deeply in thought. ¡°Accomplish what?¡± Varg really doesn¡¯t mince words does he? But neither do I. Standing up I puff out my chest and raise a fist to the air ¡°I WANT TO BECOME A TRUE NORD¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°Eh?¡± Cindy cocks her head slightly while Varg begins a staring contest with me, his eyes boring into mine as if searching my soul. I stand still fiercely gazing into his eyes pouring my resolution through them and after a few minutes Varg closes his eyes and unfurrows his brow(While I wipe off the sweat off my eyes, from forcing them to stay unblinking, I really hate staring contests). He stands up and moves next to me with one huge step landing his arm on my right shoulder. ¡°Train as warrior?¡± ¡°Yes¡± I guess so? With that he nods his head ¡°Six wolf teeth¡±
QUEST:Path Of The Warrior I
Varg has felt your resolve in becoming a Warrior of the North and thus has given you your first taks in becoming a true warrior; proving your resolve with action. He asks you to bring back 6 wolf teeth
Rewards: Unlock Path Of The Warrior II
Ooh a quest. And a chain one at that! I am EXCITED!! All except for the fact that I need to get 6 wolf teeth and the wolves are averaging level 8. That¡¯s a pretty insane level difference. Also this will be a lot harder when following my ideals. Damn, I hope the others found an easier quest. I nod to Varg and then look at Cindy with puppy eyes. ¡°Cindy can my friends stay here too, for I don¡¯t want to get split up from them¡± Apparently my eyes are super effective as I get crushed by her surprisingly strong hug. She twirls me around saying ¡°Of course you can bring them¡±! Gasping for breath, I am finally released and gulping air, I thank them both before leaving the house. Stepping back onto the street, I immediately feel a mountain of gazes turn my way. It seems the rest of the town has woken up now. It seems like we arrived at dawn in-game so only a few people were up. But now the streets are properly filled with a good 20 people, jeez maybe the whole town; who are milling about talking to each-other or heading out of town weapons at their backs. The town itself has a diverse number of races but all the men and some of the women look like walking packs of muscles. Guess this is a so called warrior town. Seeing as though I only have 15 minutes left, I quickly hop to the next house. Knocking on the door I hear a ¡°come in¡± and I walk inside. The house is almost identical in the interior with only a few personal changes such as there are two proper fur mattresses in the corners while there is no table and chair in the middle, only a white bear pelt in the center. On top of that pelt is a stout Dwarven woman with blond pigtails scrubbing the hair of a small child (who is in a wash-basin) with a pair of blue scaly wings protruding from his back. He seems unhappy about being washed and is trying his best to escape. However a second helper, A young girl wearing a one-piece fur dress with blue-scaled arms and a tail swishing from side to side, is holding him down. The Dwarven woman looks up at me with a confused expression ¡°You¡¯re that girl, what are you doing here?¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s just that I¡¯m an adventurer and I was wondering if you needed any help¡± She raises an eyebrow at me, seems like I do this a bit too business-like ¡°Well it¡¯s odd for someone to just walk into someone house asking for a job¡± She hints with more than a note of displeasure. ¡°Oh it¡¯s just that Varg has asked me to gather a few wolf teeth for training and since right now wolves are a bit difficult for me I was wondering if you had something I could do to level my-self up a bit beforehand.¡± Upon the mention of Varg giving me ¡®training¡¯ her face and attitude took a 180 turn and she smiled brightly at me (wow know thy neighbors never seemed so useful till now). ¡°Ah Varg¡¯s new recruit? Well hmm I myself don¡¯t have anything to do but if you ask my husband Jearth then he might have some work. He¡¯s the village blacksmith if you were wondering. I¡¯m Rodna Rollhous and these are Thandor and Shelly¡± She points at her two children which oddly enough both bow politely (even the kid who on the verge of tears from being cleaned, how polite). Thanking her I start to leave the house- ¡°Sorry, but I had thought you were a girl at first but I guess looks can be deceiving, sorry about that¡± Well I didn¡¯t do anything to show that I¡¯m a guy quite obviously, even though I am a girl right now. Maybe it¡¯s because of Varg; he only trains guys? That makes some sense? Well at least I know I¡¯ll get mistaken as a guy by the whole town eventually if rumors spread. That¡¯ll keep me safe from the men in town at least, I hope. Anyways I¡¯m running out of time here so I walk back outside and head into the last house nearest to the north exit of the town (there¡¯s the south and the north exit in the village. It¡¯s a very very small place. Inside is well, not what you¡¯d expect from a shabby looking exterior: The walls are completely black, as if charred and there is a large table in the middle filled with all sorts of alchemical devices and equipments. I can see about 3 things bubbling and fizzing slightly as they get mixed in different methods by some strange contraptions. A large collection of potted plants hang off the right wall of the building over the embedded fireplace. There are books littering the floor even though there are a small line of bookcases to the left, which are devoid of books. Inside this strange place is the Dark-elf woman I saw earlier. She has straight red hair let loose just passed her shoulder and she wears furs like the rest of the town, but her furs are black and looks like they¡¯ve experienced quite a few spills of dangerous liquids. The woman looks at me in curiosity before licking her lips she says ¡°Hello there, do you need help with something, do you need me to cure any ailments?¡± For some reason-nah can¡¯t be. ¡°Wh-why no, actually I am here to help you. You see I need to level up some so if you have a task for me to complete I would appreciate it¡± ¡°mmm, I do have a few things I need help with¡± She puts down a vial with red liquid she was stirring and moves closer to me with a graceful step stopping her face a few inches from mine. *gulp* I do get a good view of her fully black eyes as well as some intricate red tattoos lining her face and neck. Although I didn¡¯t get a chance at a full body evaluation as her eyes dig into mine with a strange expression. ¡°Well you see, Thalia here needs help gathering a few herbs¡± she holds my left cheek with her soft grey-skinned hand ¡°and as much as I love plucking beautiful flowers, I simply don¡¯t have the time.¡± She lets her hand drop from my face with a mischievous(?) grin and returns to her work-table. ¡°So if you gather 20 Snowberries as well as 20 Frost-grass I¡¯ll give you a¡­reward¡± The way she said reward while biting her finger was quite¡­terrifying because I just have this strange feeling that I¡¯m being¡­hunted?
QUEST:Gather herbs for Thalia
Thalia, the village alchemist requires a batch of 20 Snowberries and 20 Frost grass so that she may make some potions, what for she didn''t say
Rewards: 4 free minor healing potions Thalia''s ''reward''
... .. . Must¡¯ve just been my imagination. Quickly out the door I accept the quest and shut the door to her house stopping some odd gazes upon my lower back. I feel truly sorry for Missy now that I¡¯m slowly learning what it¡¯s like to feel someone¡¯s gaze upon your body. Shivering for some reason, but not due to the cold(?), I return back to our meeting spot to find Husky standing there with a mischievous grin on his face while J?t looks mildly sad for some reason. Both seeing me from a mile away, almost literally, because of 90% of the villagers gazes were focused upon me, they wave a greeting to me. Thankfully I arrived to the others before one of the more hungry-looking gazes advanced. I send them both friend requests and party invites. Accepting them both I see their names and bars appear under my Health and rage bar. ¡°So where do we start?¡± We all say unanimously. Hunting, hunting and guess what? rares!(and more hunting of course) Thinking ¡®hack¡¯, I feel my body readjust itself slightly as my axe flies down with a rewarding *thump* sound as it embeds itself on the rabbit¡¯s head. *Ding* Taking my axe back out I send a clap towards Husky who finally reached level 2 like the rest of us. Looking back at the body the usual window comes back up
Do you wish to reclaim this body for the Goddess?YesNo
A nifty little thing to get rid of game corpses without it being too fake. Pressing yes the rabbit¡¯s body disperses into particles and a small chunk of meat is left behind as well as a copper coin. Picking up the coin I hand the meat to Husky as it¡¯s his turn to collect and we continue to scour the land for more rabbits. Hmm, I think I got a bit ahead of myself there. Right, I¡¯ll go back to where we last left off then. ¡­ ¡­ After we all said the same thing, we decided to go round and pick up the quests the others had picked up. On Husky¡¯s side he had picked up a mining quest from Jearth the blacksmith as well as got a hint about a higher-level quest from the barracks next-door. He also found his two other houses to be a tailor and a skinner, but they weren¡¯t giving quests out yet it seems. He also found out a little about our location; we¡¯re right up north, like edge of the world; pretty literally nowhere near civilization. To get to one of the main 3 cities (Didn¡¯t catch their names) we¡¯d have to traverse across the snowy peaks they call The Ice Needles. So we¡¯re going to be stuck here for a short while I assume. J?t, on the other hand found his buildings to be the general goods store (run by Linda the wood-elf; this he told us with quite some excitement for some reason.) and the other houses to be locked, well J?t wasn¡¯t allowed entrance anyway. While talking to Linda he got a quest to collect rabbit and elk meat while he collected some history about the place. According to most of the villagers this place is the only remaining village in the North of The Ice Needles and this was due to conflicts with Ice-trolls as well as Carestia the reigning Ice-dragon of The Ice Needles. Thus most people in the north fled the cities and towns leaving them to be destroyed and populated by other creatures. This town was built from people who wanted to stay but had been forced from their homes one way or another. Thus Glacia the last town of the North stands alone. Don¡¯t know how I remembered all that, but then again I do love lore. The most interesting part is the fact that this world has history and seemingly we¡¯ve just taken maybe a tiny spoonful of it(and I somehow remembered it too). I think when I find a library I shall be a very happy man (I do enjoy lore in games and often read all of it spending many many more hours reading than playing). Anyways we walked around and got the quests (except J?t didn¡¯t take Path Of The Warrior quest) from their respective givers before heading out of town. And thus five hours after leaving and hunting rabbits we arrive at our present time. Now the reason Husky just got to level 2 while the rest of us were already so is because he¡¯s died 4 times. This is because-¡°AWOOOOO¡±. Guess I won¡¯t need to explain ¡°And here we go once again¡± With a sigh J?t starts to run ¡°This time I shall run faster and not lose to you Wolf!¡± Boasts Husky ¡°Just get running already¡± I say with a smirk as I activate ¡®Sprint¡¯ and start to run across the snowy fields. Ah right, give me a sec:
SKILL:Sprint [lvl4]
Active Skill [82%]
You have run many miles and thus doing so has become easier and you have become faster through training. When activated: +8% movement speed and 100% Satiety Consumption
Cost: none, Duration: Sustained
You can tell we have done this ¡®run away from wolves show multiple times already. Well this makes it the 52nd time. Almost every time we kill a rabbit, we run into a wolf because they are simply everywhere. Sometimes the wolf comes for us before we reclaim the rabbit so we¡¯ve had to leave our spoils of battle behind. Luckily we¡¯ve still been able to collect 45 rabbit meat so far (15 out of 20 needed for the quest) and since each rabbit gives us a good 4% to our experience bar we¡¯ve all leveled up to level 2 (I¡¯m almost level 3). However the wolves are a huge pain in our sides. Firstly they make us have to run back to the village each time (its only at most a kilometer run) and secondly on the rare occasion they manage to trip one of us and after that, well you don¡¯t need help to come up with what happens to the poor victim. Husky has died 4 times so far losing 20% of his xp every time he died whereas J?t has died 2 times but he¡¯s still almost half-way to level 3. Me, I died once so right now my xp bar is at 60%. I¡¯ve died the least because due to my lack of armor I have a bit better mobility so I can dodge better. But anyways, once again we are on the run from a wolf. However we all have Sprint (which is mildly depressing) and thus we get attacked slightly less than before, only once every 50 metres or so. Doing a few ¡®Switch guards¡¯ as we run away we have to let J?t remain in the front after his third icebolt because he¡¯s on the verge of death. Oh right, completely forgot to mention about that. J?t is a rage mage. Yep he uses rage to cast spells, but how does he get the rage? Easy, he stabs himself since its 1 point of rage per health lost and his icebolts take 30 health each. Pretty crazy yes, but hell! I like the way he does things (although stabbing one-self does not seem like fun at all). Without too much trouble this time, we make it to the village border and dive inside (it¡¯s become a thing for us; if we dive we¡¯re safe). Husky is the first to get up and brushes the snow from his shoulders. He isn¡¯t wearing any plate anymore for two reasons: one, the plate is just getting destroyed by the wolves and its quite expensive to repair and two, it lowers his movement by a substantial amount. So now there are two party members who bare their chests to the icy cold which seems so damn refreshing after these repeated sprints. We¡¯re in a pretty decent mood because we¡¯re getting better at running away from the wolves and we are getting somewhere with our quest. I mean the only problem we have right now is that it¡¯s taken us 5 HOURS to level once. Now if we were in our mid 30¡¯s then yes that¡¯d be a good time but we¡¯re level ONE so that is the most horrible leveling efficiency ever. If those damn wolves weren¡¯t there we would have finished this in 1 hour at most. But we can¡¯t complain at our own choices. After resting for a minute, we start to walk back out nodding at Gerard; a Golem who guards the north exit. We got acquainted with him through passing him 52 times already today. Anyways. We head back out and within a minute of scouting we find a rabbit hopping around in the snow peacefully. Checking for wolves. Clear. We move up to the rabbit and it just looks at us with its eye but does not do much apart from that. Fun fact is that passive animals such as rabbits don¡¯t attack unless attacked and even then- -9 (71/80) -3 (107/110) They¡¯re attacks are pretty poor so we can handle them with ease. While me and Husky rotate killing the rabbits J?t stands guard being pretty much useless because he kind of needs to kill himself to do anything, and with his spell being the only thing that stops a wolf utterly massacring us at times when running away, we leave him at full power. It¡¯s simply adorable to watch the rabbits jump and bite Husky as he laughs, grabs the rabbit and pops off its head. The game company did boast of its high degree of freedom, but still that¡¯s pretty terrifying. Anyways this time we get another 2 rabbits, reclaiming all before a wolf howls and comes for us. Time for sprint number 53. ¡­ .. . DIVE! ... Standing up and brushing off some snow I help J?t back up. Only 13 more rabbits to go. Finding another rabbit its Husky¡¯s turn to destroy it and he does so with vigor. *Ding* We both look at Husky who gives us both a maleficent grin ¡°I¡¯ve just gotten unarmed combat mastery¡± Well popping off bunnies¡¯ heads paid off? I thought for a second there he got a title such as the Bunny Beheader. That would¡¯ve been truly terrifying. But still it just means that he now is much better and killing cute bunnies with his hands. Anyways our bunny killing spree only lasted for another 2 hours and we only had to run away another 8 times (our bunny killing speed rose so we got more before a wolf came after us). After killing bunnies straight for 7 hours, we finally had all 20 pieces of bunny meat for each of us and my sprint had leveled up to level 5 in the process. With delight, we head over to the general goods and bought some bread. We¡¯ve had to spend all our money on food because out satiety dropped about 12 points each time we ran. So every 4 runs we had to eat 1 piece of bread to recover our satiety. However 1 piece of bread costs 2 copper and we only earned 1 copper per rabbit. Since we needed bread for all 3 of us our money pouches are light as a feather. Luckily we all started with 10 pieces of bread each but that was gone after about 4 hours and since then we¡¯ve had to spend literally half our earnings on bread. Then we had to spend money repairing our weapons somewhat and our equipment that must be repaired. We ended up opting to repair my axe and everyone¡¯s boots. Since Husky got used to only using his hands it got a lot cheaper for us. Now the three of us munch on some well earned bread while we inspect our party savings: 4 coppers. Thank god we have a place to rest for free. After filling our satiety bar with tasteless bread (I don¡¯t really mind the taste but after having that soup¡­) we get back up and trot back to the snowy plains. There is a few kilometers and a bit of plains all around the village and then there is a ring of forest around that. Usually in RPG¡¯s, forests will have harder monsters than plains so we¡¯re not going in there for a while. We scout for a few minutes before we finally see what we are looking for: An elk with soft brown fur (leather? Hide? I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s something!). The elk is grazing(?) in the snowy plains and looks quite majestic with its metre-long antlers protruding from its head. But we don¡¯t care about its supposed majesticness; we¡¯re here for its meat. Husky takes the left side which is closer to the forest while I take the right to block it off. J?t stays behind and looks out for wolves. We crouch and sneak up to it with just small crunches in the snow but once a few metres away the elk raises its head and looks right at us. We look at the elk with a smile because it¡¯s passive, so that means we can attack it first before it does anything. Well that¡¯s what the theory was anyway. Like with any good theory, there¡¯s always one who just has to come and smash it. This elk was the one, as it bolted away from us much to our surprise and dashed off into the forest. We could still chase after it, however we¡¯re a bit dumbfounded at its sudden action. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°I guess we gotta do a Hercules¡± I point out and they seem to understand. ¡°And I was thinking we¡¯d only have to run for the wolves¡± Husky whines but he still flashes a grin ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry we¡¯ll have to do that again inevitably¡± J?t our bag of optimism We just watch the elk run away just like our hopes of finishing this quest. Now what? We look at each-other for a minute wondering what we¡¯re going to do about it when a wolf growls at us, Damn it. ¡­ DIVE! Ok back in town. Heading back out. Finding a damn elk. Level 4 elk, let¡¯s kill. ¡°J?t¡± -33 (167/200) The elk elks (?, like a strange bleat) and then charges at us in anger. Aggroing, the best way to get things to fight you. Me and Husky run out in front of J?t, who takes up watch. Husky grabs the elk by the antlers and although is quickly taken off the ground he stops the elk long enough for me to slice one of its legs -7 (160/200) I quickly roll through its legs as it chucks Husky into the air and swings its head towards where I was. -9 (151/200) The elk turns towards me as I finish laying a thin line across its stomach and it tries to gore me with its antlers but J?t sends another icebolt into its face wrecking havoc Crit -66 (85/200) The elk stunned for a second after getting an icebolt to the face takes an axe chop to the head while Husky grabs one of its leg and snaps it -20 -16 (49/200) The elk aggroed onto J?t tries to hobble for him but when flanked by me and Husky, it experiences a swift death of axe and fist. Reclaiming the corpse, we get 6 copper coins, 1 elk venison and 1 antler. We almost break out jumping in joy but we hold ourselves back because we still need to find and kill another 14 before the quest is finished. However I am happy right now because I just got 10% xp to next level. MY GOD WE NEED TO KILL MORE ELKS! I am quite surprised how we worked well together although we didn¡¯t speak about our plans. Ah playing with real gamers is always the best. But back to the situation we decide to hunt for another elk avoiding any wolves we can see in the distance. Luckily no wolves decide to chase us as of yet and we quickly find another elk. We go with the same process of J?t aggroing with an icebolt, Husky tanking at the front while I take agro. It was going well till we got the elk to half health ¡°Awooooo!¡± Ah dammit. We all turn away from the elk and I get some antlers in my back (-43 health ouch!). The wolf starts bounding towards us and we start running the hell away. The elk chases us angrily and gets an icebolt in its face for its troubles. But the wolf comes up to it and steals our kill, along with all the xp. The wolf then turns to us who are running away and comes after us with a howl ¡­ DIVE! ¡°That wolf stole our prey¡± J?t ever so straightforward ¡°That bastard¡± ¡°I agree with you there, next time we take the elk at all costs¡± Husky demands it to the sky and I¡¯m inclined to agree. But we decide that battling a wolf is not going to help us much, it¡¯ll just get us killed. So we head back out, giving a wave to Gerard and go hunt another elk. We soon find one on the outskirts of a forest and this time we go all out: Critx3 -192 (8/200) I slice the elk while it is stunned ¡­ .. . I actually felt a bit of pity for the poor guy as getting 3 icebolts in the face looked extremely painful. Hell me and Husky were just looking terrified at J?t; who just shrugged at his overwhelming power, although he only has 20 health left after that strike. Dude¡¯s got some serious power¡­but he has to stab himself to get it, nasty but I respect his play-style. Anyways, we quickly reclaim it and almost cry at the 6 coppers on the ground. We move quickly to the next elk leaving pretty much all the work to J?t. ¡­ ¡­ With his help we finish off another 12 more elks with ease, but we ended up having to run another 16 times (Some wolves caught us before we reached an elk). Since J?t couldn¡¯t help us at all when wolves came for us I ended up dying another 2 times in sacrifice for the others. I lost a good 40% experience which put me at level 3 with 80% experience. J?t was 10% ahead of me while Husky 20% behind. However the fact remains: We finally gained another level. How long it took us? Ah only about 3 hours and a bit. It¡¯s 7:43 in game now and the sun is setting, it should be down in a short time. Usually the setting of the sun means a peaceful end to the day however for us it¡¯s not. Why? Because we need 1 more elk before night comes. Why? Because at night everything gets stronger and when you¡¯re in a place where everything is already too strong as it is, how would you feel if they got even more beastly? By the way Sprint is level 6 with 33% progress (as you can tell; too much running today). However our finances have improved dramatically: 44 coppers remain in our party purse after this ordeal. With silent tears of happiness in our eyes, we can finally sustain our bizarre amount of calorie intake as we¡¯ve eaten 20 pieces of bread today, 20. That¡¯s literally an insane amount of calories. Ok so back onto the task. We head out of town finding that Gerard is changing with an orc who looks permanently grumpy. Hmm watch switches. We go to the plains and find our last elk grazing in the snow once more just like any other elk. However it is not just like any elk; its hide is snow white along with its antlers and hooves even being bleached white. *Whistle* ¡°Damn, 1st day and we¡¯ve found a rare¡± Husky exclaims appreciatively ¡°I just hope it gives us that meat¡± I think J?t has gotten bored of killing elks (well I don¡¯t blame him) ¡°I reckon we should drag this one back and get its hide taken off by the skinner¡± What can I say, I¡¯m a pragmatic guy The other two grin at that¡­hehe, gamers will take any good thing they can. We go towards the elk and before attacking, I check its monster window.
NAME:Frishha the White (Rare) [lvl ???]
600/600
Wow a Rare elk, but its level ??? which usually means it¡¯s over 10 levels above us. Seeing as though level 8 wolves have 320 health this elk should be around level 16. ¡­ .. . ¡°Suicide attack?¡± I ask the guys ¡°I¡¯m pumped and ready to go, Valhalla here I come!¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t going to end well¡± With the supposedly unanimous decision we all charge towards the elk It raises its head and looks at us before turning away to run. But 3 icebolts fly across the sky to intercept it before it flees. ¡­ ¡°Eh?¡± The icebolts fly past, no, through the elk and we falter slightly as the elk wavers and then disappears appeared a good 30 metres away. We, of course run after it as fast as we could but the elk or the afterimage of it is far out of our reach. After a great 30 second run after it, we stop because there¡¯s no way we can catch the deer which leaves afterimages due to its speed. Huffing and puffing we take a minute break in the edge of the forest before we see an elk appear a short distance from us in the plain. However, a wolf¡¯s howl from behind distracts us. But this was not like any wolf¡¯s howl. No¡­it was deeper, gruffer and had a strong intent to kill; sending shivers down our spines. It was a monstrous howl indeed. Immediately we run across the plains, towards the elk of course and massacre it within a split second causing J?t to level up (health full, perfect) and we reclaim the elk quickly. From the trees comes bursting a Black wolf with blade-like hair and tunnel-like eyes. Its canines stick out of the wolf¡¯s mouth and are easily the length of my arm. Right I forgot, the wolf is the size of a horse.
NAME:Gannor the Black (Rare) [lvl ???]
1030/1030
¡­ .. . ¡°RUUUUUN!¡± I do appreciate my luck in finding two rares within such a short time of each other but still JESUS NO FREAKING WAY AM I FIGHTING AGAINST THAT EVER! We all sprint down the snowy meadow moving a 112% thanks to our ¡®Sprint¡¯ but that seems like nothing compared to Gannor who catches up to us within seconds and tries to take a bite out of Husky. Whoosh -1 (1029/1030) ¡­ .. . HAHAHAHAH WE ARE SOOOOO DEAD Gannor stops its attack for a split second as the icebolt touches his nose shattering on impact. It looks at J?t and he¡­smiles (Creeepy!) 300 metres left (oh doesn¡¯t that sound ironically familiar) 4 seconds flat, Gannor makes up 30 meters of distance and tries to pounce on J?t who retaliates with double icebolt to the face. -1 -1 (1027/1030) That does keep Gannor at bay for about 0 seconds before he grabs J?t¡¯s head between his jaw (it already looks like half of J?t was swallowed) and bites. Me and Husky run like we¡¯ve got the dough and the cops are on our tail¡­ FREAKING FAST! The snow flies up from behind us as we push our bodies to the limit moving at 112% but that still isn¡¯t enough as Gannor rakes Husky with a claw. Husky runs fora few more seconds before his body splits into pieces (JESUS THOSE CLAWS ARE SHARP!!). 260 metres left Gannor bounds and pounces onto me but I hit the deck and roll to the side dodging his claw by an inch. The snow erupts where he lands creating a small crater of grassland. Keeping my speed I run and run but only get another second before the sky goes black and I feel a really heavy pressure on-top of my head for about a second. -4021 (-3911/110) My world goes black. Lore time! and a love-NO HORRIBLE encounter... My eyes open to a light brown wooden ceiling along with the soft fluffy sensation on my back. Ah, I died didn¡¯t I. Sitting up, I see Husky and J?t sitting in their respective fur mattresses looking a bit shaken. I mean who wouldn¡¯t if you got one-shotted by a giant black wolf. Hell even I¡¯m a bit shaken up ¡°So how¡¯d it kill you two?¡± Ask J?t ¡°Sliced me up, did 483 damage with the one hit¡± Damn Husky I feel for you ¡°Landed on me¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°BWAHAHAHAHA, OH MAN DID NOT EXPECT THAT ONE COMING, HAHAHAHA¡± Husky seems to have regained his vigor, jeez too loud. And did I just see J?t smirk, that sneaky little¡­ ¡°By the way it did 4021 damage¡± That shut them up¡­for about half a second before Husky started rolling on the floor saying ¡°my sides oh my sides!¡± It sounds pretty silly, but actually feeling it was terrifying. I mean who gets overkilled by over 3900 points in one hit! Just how much does that freaking thing weigh?! Well at least we know the boss¡¯s final trump card; squishing us with its immense weight. Giggling a bit myself, I notice out of the corner of my eye J?t staring at me and when I look at him he turns away and looks towards another side of the room suddenly interested by something else ¡­ .. . Hmm what was that about? I have a feeling something bad happened¡­ Luckily(?) Cindy distracts me from my thoughts as she comes into the house, Varg behind, and rushes over to me ¡°Eeeek¡±ing ¡°Oh my darling Cutesy Kal you look absolutely adorable. I just want to gobble you up¡± My shivers return. I quickly escape the deadly bear-hug and make my way over to Husky, hiding behind him slightly. Husky raises an eyebrow at me before giving a knowing smile to no-one in particular. J?t just shakes his head. Varg stops Cindy, before she gets another attack, with a basket of supposedly their shopping and she huffs slightly before heading to the cooking pot (I sometimes forget she is an older woman the way she acts). The rest of us excuse ourselves and say we¡¯ll be back shortly. We exit the house onto the dark street, the only light source being the 3 moons illuminating the snow quite beautifully. We walk down the street and head into the general goods store. Linda; a petite brown-haired wood-elf of maybe 150 years (she looks 15 to be honest) greets us with a cheerful smile and waves at her goods before taking out a bread box, with a slight dent in it. ¡°I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re here for more. I know you¡¯re all growing¡­boys-¡± she makes eye-contact with me and smirks (well 150 years and you¡¯re bound to tell woman from man easily?) ¡°-but still to eat so much bread within one day has got to be unhealthy for you¡± ¡°Well Linda my darling worry no more, for your sake I will make sure we will eat other types of food, and I would be especially pleased to have one of your apples¡± Oh no, it¡¯s not me speaking. That¡¯s J?t. Yes it seems he has a thing for pointy eared creatures; He actually did quite a lot of talking and coercion to get Talia¡¯s ¡®reward¡¯ added to the rewards tab on the quest window (Apparently it¡¯s an extra¡­I am scared). And every time we stop for bread its J?t who does the bargaining with Linda. Why? Because he gets to chat up a young looking wood-elf while improving his ¡®bartering skills¡¯ as he put it (although we have not gained anything out of it yet, not even a single piece of bread). Wait now that I think about it¡­I touch my slightly pointed ears ¡­ .. . *SHIVER* I go over to the counter and haul my 20 pieces of rabbit meat and 5 pieces of elk venison to which Linda looks quite happy. ¡°Oh thank you, here¡¯s some payment for your help¡± She hands me 3 silver. 3 SILVER, IM RICH!! So of course I immediately spend 2 silver on buying 80 pieces of bread and 10 apples (because I need a bit of diversity ok). Husky, seeing the great reward trades his meat in too and gets the same number of bread and apples too. J?t mildly miffed about having his starting repertoire ruined, collects his reward and buys 50 apples, or tries to at least. ¡°I¡¯m sorry J?t but I¡¯m all out of apples today, come back tomorrow for some more ok?¡± It was quite pitying to see J?t¡¯s face drop and his body sink to the counter (guess he really did want those apples but alas that is the fate of one who flirts with many women?). He does send us a slight evil eye but he quickly recuperates and laughs it off with Linda promising he¡¯ll buy as many apples as he could tomorrow. With that we head back down to our temporary place of residence (well more like spawn point. Funny thing, apparently when Cindy set up a bed for us it became our spawn point). With bright faces as completing our first quest we each munch on a 4 copper apple each (I give J?t one so that he may join in). Actually having a taste when eating is such a reward and the three of us enjoy that apple to the fullest; our first tasteful food since the beginning of this game (I did omit to the others about my breakfast, but it didn¡¯t taste as sweet; didn¡¯t taste of satisfaction of a hard day of work). My satiety was at 3 by the way so I actually needed to eat it or I might have died on the way back but nonetheless it was still symbolic. We arrive back to the house and a lovely spicy smell comes from the fireplace. I love spice and it seems Husky does too by the way his eyes are almost drooling with anticipation. Sitting round the table, we silently watch Cindy roast a line of 5 rabbits. We all breathe in the spicy air that wafts from them and she makes sure they stay that way by continually crushing a brown powder above them (note to self, if see brown powder, pick it). Finally dinner is served and she serves us all, starting with Varg of course. We ravish the meal letting the soft meat nestle in our mouths. Ah Cindy¡¯s looking at me quizzically. I feel sweat pouring from my eyes. Ah damn even here Lady Luck continues to curse me. I am a lover of spice but I have one slight problem; I can¡¯t handle it, at all, like not even a little. So throughout this delicious meal I am continually sweating vigorously through my eyes as I eat. However no one really takes much notice because water is brimming their eyes too (even Varg, wow never thought I¡¯d see that face of his). Though Cindy looks completely unfazed when eating her dish¡­ Our meal ends quite quickly and after wiping my eyes with a ¡®cloth¡¯ (rabbit skin square really) I look a lot better. Although I hear a collective gulp around the table. Stealthily checking my face with my axe-reflection (hidden on my lap) I notice that my eyes are slightly puffy, however this doesn¡¯t make me look ugly. Nope it almost makes me want to hug and cuddle and console this cute slightly puffy-eyed person, almost. That¡¯s only because it¡¯s myself so I can deal with it (also the knowledge that I¡¯m a guy playing a girl who may or may not look like a very cute guy does sort of help me keep my cool). But it seems like everyone here is ready to console me to their fullest, how scary. I try to hide my eyes a bit with my hair and it seems like that lessened the effect on them as they did finally regain their senses¡­ After this avoided incident, Cindy starts to clean the plates while the rest of us sit around the table discussing what to do now. ¡°I¡¯m going to head off to sleep now, I¡¯ll take a quick kip for 3 hours and then when its morning we can start on one of our other quests.¡± J?t tells us with small yawn. ¡°Yeah that sounds like a good idea, but I might come on a bit earlier to do a bit of rabbit hunting to push myself up to level 4¡± Comments Husky ¡°Hmm you got a point Husky, you¡¯ve got a whole level to go while I¡¯ve got about 60% to go¡± I point out to Husky, maybe he should come on a lot earlier to kill things, although he should be fine. Due to Gannor killing us, J?t¡¯s on 0% level 4 while Husky is on 0% level 3. Me? I¡¯m 40% on level 3 so I¡¯ve got a ways to go. Ah thinking about Gannor¡­ ¡°Um Cindy, have you heard of Frishha and Gannor before? She looks back at me with a smile ¡°Do I know them? Why of course I do, everyone who¡¯s lived beyond The Ice Needles knows them.¡± She coughs and sits down as if signaling this will take a while. ¡°They used to be lovers or so the legend went. Frishha was a house-maid in the Alberaqui household, the Rulers of the Northern cities in that time. She was just one of many maids but she stood out due to her albino skin and hair which drew the gazes of many. However only one gaze truly stuck to her. A noble; Gannor of the Faren house got caught by her visage and his eyes never wondered else-where ever since. This noble was renowned for his constant black attire no matter the occasion earning him the name Gannor the Black. However that was not the only reason why he was called such. He was a known skirt-chaser in the kingdom and constantly searched high and low for a maiden of beauty for him to sink his fangs into. Those who had been conquered by him had a neck-scar of a ferocious bite, as this marked his territory. He was a wolf in his demeanor and in his conquering and like a wolf he had set his eyes on some new prey. Thus he was entranced by Frishha and tried his utmost to catch her. Days upon days, months upon months passed and Gannor met this woman day by day passing the corridor or catching her eye from afar. His gaze never left her and when he spoke to her his sentences were short. Not because he wasn¡¯t a talker, no he was known for his smooth tongue but he always had trouble speaking words to her. They got stuck in his throat and he ended up ending the conversation seconds after it started. The wolf had not found its prey but it had found a mate and before he realized it himself he had fallen in love with Frishha. Frishha was not idle either as she always taunted him with a slip of the tongue or a look in her eye as she led the wolf towards her but kept her distance as he tried to chase her. They were happy with their love even though it could not be blessed they could share a look or have a moment in the corridors as they spoke trivial matters. This was all they could do without being damned by the kings and their kin. However this could not last forever as time always takes its toll. Frishha finally succumbed to her sickness at the age of 18, 2 years after the two first met. She wanted him to continue chasing her because it made her happy but she did not want him to catch her so as to spare him the pain of losing her. However she did not fully realize how madly in love he was for her. On the eve of her death Gannor cut his throat that that he may follow the woman he loved in death. At the age of 30 Gannor the black died but his death was not reported until many years later to uphold the reputation of the house¡­. Now that is the legend of Frishha the White and Gannor the Black but it doesn¡¯t end with their deaths. Soon after Gannor¡¯s death was announced a hunter saw a glamorous white elk with white antlers and white hooves race across the forest with a gargantuan black wolf chasing after it. The hunter saw the elk stopping to let the wolf catch up but bounded away before it was caught. The masses speculated what they were, but an unknown figure in the nobility, who knew of the story of Gannor and Frishha, for it was known among some, wrote it down and had the story told across the kingdom making these two strange beasts the reincarnated spirits of Gannor and Frishha, forever chasing but never catching and becoming happy. There have been records of sightings of this pair over the past 2 centuries and it is said to this day, Gannor still chases after Frishha in hopes to catch her.¡± After that decently long story which was beautifully summarized, thank god, by Cindy who noticed poor Husky dropping off after the introduction of Gannor, we all had a moment of silence for the lovers who never were. It¡¯s strange how such a general story felt so emotional to me, maybe it¡¯s the game setting or maybe it¡¯s because I saw the two with my own eyes (and was killed by one too) but whatever the reason I felt this didn¡¯t just seem like lore or a hidden quest only found in special circumstances. No it felt like¡­history, as if it really happened and was not just words from a script. A question popped into my mind. ¡°Cindy, how many years of history does this world have?¡± ¡°Thousands, but only a bit over 300 years ago was any history recorded.¡± It didn¡¯t seem like they created a script for events. It seemed like they really did have that history happen and the world has actually gone through all those things? An odd thought, but I¡¯ll remember it. Shaking Husky awake he thanks me and I recap the ending beautifully: ¡°Gannor¡¯s a wolf chasing Frishha an elk¡± ¡°Eh why¡¯s Fishha an Elk? Isn¡¯t she a woman, elks are male right?¡± Husky replies half-sleepily ¡­ .. . That¡¯s right¡­and everyone around the table is doing a bit of soul searching wondering why Fishha a woman is an Elk and not a deer. Husky, quite oblivious to the atmosphere says bye and hits the fur mattress going still. He must have logged off. J?t, with a suppressed yawn shakes his pensive thoughts away and logs off too after resting his body on his mattress. Now they don¡¯t need to do that but I understand them, it doesn¡¯t feel much like a game, except for the obvious stuff. Following them in their footsteps I drop off onto my mattress and log off too¡­NOT Jeez, don¡¯t you remember I SLEPT THROUGH THE WHOLE DAY OF SCHOOL (minus that one maths lesson mind you) SO THAT I COULD PLAY THE WHOLE NIGHT! I make my way out the house as Cindy and Varg ready themselves for sleep(?), I mean one must wonder when they hear ¡°Oho, you naughty girl¡± come from a closed door. The selling point of the game is that it¡¯s a very free world but still, I wonder¡­ Shaking the thoughts away, I make my way to the north exit. Time for some night-time gaming. Heading out the exit I wave a greeting to the Orc on the snow wall and he grunts a hello back to me. Seems like he hasn¡¯t changed when looking at me so I guess I¡¯m safe in an Orc¡¯s eyes ¡°mmm good piece of meat¡± My ears twitch as they pick up the mumble ¡­ .. . NEVERMIND, maybe I shouldn¡¯t go out alone at night, or should I buy myself some pepper spray? Wait, what¡¯s the alternative to pepper spray in this world? Taking my axe out and holding it close, I feel slightly better. I¡¯d feel a lot better if the orc didn¡¯t ogle at me as I disappear off into the darkness. Jeez its strange to be in the dark and still feel a gaze on your back. It¡¯s quite dark outside but there is still a decent amount of moonlight so I won¡¯t be snuck up on, hopefully. Sneaking my way through the snow I find an elk grazing(?). The elk is a decent bit bigger than it used to be, as well as its antlers look a decent more sharp¡­ Hmm, maybe not a good idea to approach¡­but I''ve got to do it nevertheless. I start to slowly move towards it¡­ Obviously it hears me/sees me and bolts off in the other direction. However I do not bother chase it. Instead, I start to push the snow away from where the elk was grazing. And voila, I am a genius! Why you may ask? Well if you still remember, we had a quest to find 20 snowberries and 20 frost grass. However the quest didn¡¯t tell us where they are. Thus using my great powers of intuition and observation I figured that the elks would be eating frost grass since they were grazing. Seems I was right. A small bundle of grass with a blue edge sticks out of the ground and I, with care begin digging the earth around the grass. I don¡¯t pull it out directly like some amateur (I do gardening club at school so I kind of learnt how to treat plants right) and ruin the grass, but I slowly uncover the whole thing down to the roots and make the hard-packed frozen earth break off without damaging the plant. After a good two minutes of freeing up the grass I am left with the grass itself in perfect quality (I am an experienced green-thumb after all). A window pops up in front of me
Frost Grass x6 (High Quality)
A blade of grass grown in a frozen environment (crafting material) (consumable)
Oooh 6 of them and High quality too! Wahaha my many hours of being forced to pick potatoes and carrots off the fields for my dinner at my grandparents have finally paid off (They made me eat what I picked so I learnt to pick well or I¡¯d have to eat bruised food which just tastes wrong). But wow I¡¯ll only need another 3 of these and then I¡¯ll have finished half the quest. Also it says consumable but I don¡¯t want to waste a high quality for that, IF I make a mistake when picking I¡¯ll try out what it does. Feeling happy with myself, I almost miss the hungry howl from behind, almost (well it¡¯s kind of hard to miss a howl from nearby, more so when you¡¯ve had to run away from said sound 61 times in a day). Swiveling round to see the overgrown wolf (almost twice the normal size jeeesus) staring at me with blood red eyes my heart stops for a moment and as I regain my senses I¡¯m already running in the opposite direction. Running across the snow I quickly enter the forest with the wolf on my heels, but it seems it has lost a bit of speed due to its size; since it can¡¯t quite catch me as I weave around the trees. But I don¡¯t play around because I see it rip off half the tree¡¯s trunk with 1 paw. I am definitely not messing with that. I have to find a way round the wolf because if not I¡¯m not going to be able to get back to the village. So I begin curving my run as I go and am soon going parallel to the forest¡¯s exit with the wolf behind me howling as it smashes trees I barely passed a second before. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.Running for another minute, I feel by fatigue build up but with a giant ass wolf behind me I don¡¯t pay it much mind. I zig zag through the trees and see a flash of red by the base of a tree I just passed. Raising my eyebrows in delight I look more closely at the base of a tree and I soon pass another red dot by a tree. This time I grab the dot on the move. Feeling something in my grasp I have it dissolve into my inventory (pretty cool mechanic) while I continue to run round the forest. Sadly all runs must come to a stop, usually when you run into another wolf. And thus I died, brutally. The wolf opened its humongous jaws and bit me in half with ease. ¡­Wait didn¡¯t that happen already before with another wolf? Yes it did, and Lady Luck really does have me on her naughty list as I met Gannor again and he seemed extremely annoyed when he saw me or maybe that¡¯s just me seeing things? But I still died nonetheless. However¡­ when I respawn in the silent house (no wait someone¡¯s snoring) I take out my new item from my inventory
Snowberry x1 (Disastrous)
A berry which grows in the frozen environment. The quality is so poor that this is unusable but still somewhat edible (consumable)
The snowberry is a light crimson which I think makes it go with the snow quite well. However there is a slightly frosty exterior to the berry but that might just be due to the cold. I take the almost squashed berry and pop it in my mouth. Have your parents ever told you don¡¯t eat strange herbs and berries from the side of the road because they might be dangerous? Well I never listened to them and it seems like they were completely right. Never eat some random berry you¡¯ve picked up. -100 (10/100) + Poison
STATUS:Poisoned (mild)
Lose 1 health every 10 seconds till cured, natural healing is cancelled
Ah so I¡¯ve got 100 seconds left and I can do nothing but wait for the end. Well, might as well try out the Frost Grass just in case its poisonous too ( I did think they¡¯d be healing ingredients due to the quest reward being health pots but nevermind). Taking out my High quality Frost Grass I have a chew on one and feel slightly better
Frost Grass (High Quality)
A blade of grass grown in a frozen environment (crafting material) (consumable). Restores 30 health over 1 minute
¡­ Wow that¡¯s some good stuff (no I don¡¯t mean the taste I mean the health regeneration). So eating it will essentially triple my natural healing that¡¯s pretty good. Although I don¡¯t think I want to die now. I do like having xp and in case Gannor comes and murders me again I¡¯d like to have a little backup of xp or I¡¯m going to lose a level. ¡­Ah I can do that but is it really worth 20% xp? Damn it is because 20% is something we spend hours on getting so I don¡¯t want to lose that to some poison berry (Also dying to a poison berry is a bit pitiful). Sneaking out the house, I make my way two doors over and then lightly tap at the door ¡°Ah what suicidal lunatic is knocking at my door at this hour? Come in come in, I¡¯ll feed you my best poison.¡± Thalia opens up the door with a scowling face that magically transforms into her predatorial face (casual smile with a glint in her eyes and licking her lips. I think I should have just died). ¡°Oh hello there, Kal (she did finally ask my name when I went with the others) would you like to come inside¡± She didn¡¯t say it as a question, no it was more of an order, subtle but strong. Quite frankly I¡¯m terrified but sometimes one must step into the dragons¡¯ mouth to live (although that makes absolutely no sense to me). Walking inside the house, I find it to be unkempt as ever except for the fact that I can see a cleared path through the books on the floor. Subtle, yet perfectly leading towards her room. *shiver* Maybe I should get Chorny to play the game; I might have found his teacher. Thalia is sitting on her alchemy table and fills up my view quite easily; her body is delicate but well built in the right areas, as well as her being naturally skinny her figure is quite alluring indeed. Wait, no, this is just a trap of hers. Devious indeed but a trap still to make me look at her body. This woman is indeed dangerous! ¡°So¡­Kal¡­What is it you need, you know I can provide¡­anything¡± *Great Shivering* Maybe it¡¯s because its night but it seems like Thalia is sending me a really strong vibe. DANGER DANGER!! ¡°U-uh-uh right what I need. What do I need? Aha! I need an antidote¡± ¡°Antidote? Oh I have some but how shall you pay?¡± She flashes a predatory smile. ¡°Money, I have money to pay for an antidote for mild poison¡± ¡°Tch¡± She sways her hips as she walks up to me and stops a few inches from my face (I¡¯ve seen this before, I swear I have). ¡°Well I do have some, but¡­I¡¯ll need to administer it¡± Administer it? I¡¯ve only been to the doctors a few times and the last time they had to stick a needle on my butt to administer the medicine. The image of me having my pale perfect ass bared to Thalia as she administers the medicine is just too embarrassing and I start holding my head going nononono, feeling the heat rise. I see out of the corner of my eye Thalia wipe some drool that escaped her lips. Oh god oh god do I look that cute when I¡¯m trying to fight off an embarrassing image? ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it won¡¯t be painful, well maybe a little bit¡± She bites her lip slightly *SHIVER* ¡­All that¡¯s going through my head right now is the moment when the guy says to the girl: it¡¯ll only hurt a little bit then it¡¯ll feel real good. Oh god nonononononononono and I¡¯m in the girl¡¯s role too! Oh god oh god oh god. -1 (4/110) I gulp audibly and then I decide my fate by nodding my head. I do not want to lose that xp but what shall I lose in its stead, I fear. With a winning grin, she raises her arm above me to grab something from above the door and when she raises her body I get a good view as well as a fragrant smell which makes me feel calm, relaxed¡­ Too relaxed as I can¡¯t seem to move anymore and I suddenly drop down only to be deftly caught by Thalia. ¡°Oh dear, seems like your poison has numbed you, you may not be able to swallow the potion. But don¡¯t worry I have you covered there¡± She grins as she takes out a vial from her pocket (she had it the whole time!) and drinks it herself!?! That shocked me but it was nothing to what happened next. She lowered herself and her vision filled mine. I couldn¡¯t move my body but I could feel her warm lips on mine as well as a soft liquid pouring down my throat, being forced down by her tongue, which does a bit of exploring of my own on the way. ¡­ .. . Whyyyyyy? That was my firstttttt!!!! It was good¡­but AHH NOO! I spent so long saving my first and now some dark-elf lady stole my first by force! though I didn¡¯t really mind that. Wait what am I saying Nonononono WHYYYYY!!! ¡­ .. . After about a minute, I feel my body responding to my thoughts again but that was still a minute of Thalia ¡®administering¡¯ the antidote. I have never felt so embarrassed yet so good in my life. Just what she did with her tongue was soo. Aaagh wait this is so embarrassing, why am I thinking like this?? She let me go once she saw I could stand by myself and told me ¡°I¡¯m feeling generous; I¡¯ll give this one to you for free¡± For free? You already stole my first kiss! My precious first kiss!!! I was going to keep that safe and secured until the day Missy decided to stop making me her bitch and then I¡¯d be the happiest man on the earth by now you¡¯ve stolen my very first kiss, and I liked it is what¡¯s worse!!! Luckily/unluckily my face is still numbed, so I don¡¯t actually say anything to Thalia just look at her with my angry eyes which are being welled up with my tears at having my first kiss stolen, although I liked it, nonono I don¡¯t wanna like it! I feel my muscles fully regaining control and I open my mouth to let out my thoughts but Thalia beats me to it ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Well, that was easy? Wait what? ¡°I had mixed the antidote with a pheromone elixir so that you would like it, so I¡¯m sorry but I wanted you to like it¡± EHH? So¡­so it means I only liked it because she used a pheromone elixir? Ah¡­that¡¯s a load off my chest. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯d feel if I actually did like it¡­ But wait what if she¡¯s just lying to me to make me feel better. What if I did actually like it? Aah¡­I don¡¯t wanna but I have to I want to make myself at ease. Whyyyyyy? ¡°U-uh-ummm Thalia¡± ¡°What is it¡­Kal¡± ¡°C-c-can I......¡­Kiss you without the pheromone elixir?¡± ¡°W-well of course¡± she smiles sincerely this time Stepping next to her in two steps, I raise my head and with my trembling hand take the back of her head. I raise myself to my tiptoes getting closer to her thin red lips and I feel her breath on my lips. I draw her closer and closer until I feel her moist lips push against mine. She takes control sending her tongue and skillfully wrapping it around mine making me feel soo good. ¡­ .. . WAIT NONONONONO!! I back away from her with a thin silver threat left between us and tremble as the woman had stolen my second kiss too!! Ah god whyyyyyy? I feel soo¡­.good Aaaaah nononononono I don¡¯t wanna feel this way, it¡¯s just too embarrassing!! I notice her smile turn devilish ¡°You-you tricked me!¡± ¡°Well I never thought you¡¯d fall for that so easily, ah so naive and adorable. It makes me want to kiss you till you don¡¯t have the air to breathe. Ah that sounds goo-No! Horrible horrible horrible. Why am I thinking in such a way, what happened to me. Is this what they call-NO.NO.NO.NO.NO.NO.NO.NO.NO. Holding my head in my hands, I shake vigorously feeling my face burn and my heart beat loudly while butterflies seem to flutter in my stomach. Aaaagh whyyyyyy? She had to steal not only my first kill but my second too!! And now I¡­I think I¡¯m Nonononononono! ¡°C-c-can yo-¡± Her soft finger seals my lips ¡°Shh, you don¡¯t need to ask for what is already yours¡± And with that my third kiss was stolen from me. Whyyyyyyyyyyy? It felt really good but whyyyyy mee? I was only going to ask ¡®can you tell me whats going on¡¯ but instead she kisses me again whyyy? And I feel the butterflies in my stomach, is it because NOOONONO!! Kal, have strength for Missy¡¯s sake. Although you¡¯ve had your first, second and third kiss stolen in quick succession there is always a 4th and the 4th is the special kiss, it has to be. Thalia ends the kiss leaving me in acute shock as my brain has fried from the heat of embarrassment and thoughts that I¡¯m trying fervently to get rid of. She gives me a serene smile before leaning in once more. ¡­ .. . I feel no invasive tongue to give my stomach butterflies but I still feel her lips pressed firmly on mine. She withdraws after a second and with that comes a *ding*
You have earned a title for being the first player to have a woman swear devotion to you, whether it be verbal or physical:
The Conqueror
You can only have one title equipped at a time Since you have no title, this will be set as your default title
Conquered women will give you a bonus (only latest conquered woman will give bonus)
Thalia Dakrhart: +10% potion potency
¡­ .. . *Twitch* WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??? Oh god oh god oh god, whyyy meee? Although the bonus is absolutely amazing it¡¯s¡­it¡¯s just too embarrassing to¡­Conquer other women aaah! Why is she even doing this? Devotion? Do relationships move that quickly? Wait! why am I in a relationship? AAAAAAHHHH I DON''T UNDERSTAND!! I take my head out of my hands and go teary eyed as I look at Thalia and she just smiles and gives me a wink before she heads to her room ¡°You know if you don¡¯t want to go home¡­¡± She doesn¡¯t need to finish the sentence and I feel myself burning up once again ¡°AH-AH SORRY, bu-but I must go and train¡± ¡°Oh a shame, but my door is always open¡± Thalia sways back to me and drops a key in my hand. ¡­ .. .
Thalia''s House Key
The spare key to Thalia''s house
¡°Eheh eheh¡± I try my best to smile and with a burning face walk outside the house. *Thump* *PSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH* I can hear the snow melting with my burning face as I plant it in the snow. Must calm down, must lose the heat and must remain faithful to Missy. ¡­ ¡­ Phew¡­only about half an hour later¡­ Ok, I think I¡¯ve calmed down somewhat. Back to herbing then I guess. Something to occupy my mind, well remove the other occupants I mean. Stalking out into the field I meet and greet the Orc who ogles me for various minutes before I¡¯ve gone too far out of sight. At least he just looks¡­ I make my way round to where an elk is and gather another 6 mid-quality Frost Grass; my hands are still shaking from earlier. No wolves are in the vicinity though so I end up going to another patch and with utmost care, free the Frost Grass¡­5 this time, high-quality, good. A growl from behind, I¡¯m out of here. Didn¡¯t make a mistake this time and kept my front towards the gate. The wolf is behind me so I don¡¯t have a problem getting back DIVE. Ah that¡¯s feels better, though I feel the Orc¡¯s gaze upon me. Standing back up I go back out and go for another patch of grass¡­7 high-quality, good. No wolf so I head to another patch. Middle of freeing the grass and damn there¡¯s a wolf. Leaving the grass I sprint back to the town. DIVE. Ah another safe. Feeling hungry, so I take out some bread. Munch on it while sitting on the snow and feeling the Orc¡¯s gaze upon me. Get up get out back onto the snowy plains. Sneak back to where I left my grass. Still in one piece, good. Carefully remove the Frost Grass¡­5 pieces mid-quality, bah. Find another elk; find more grass¡­5 pieces high-quality. Wolf, oh damn. Getting out of here. Sprinting *Ding*, sprint level 7, nice. DIVE. Safe again Waving to the Orc whose gaze has turned from desiring to confused as I head back outside. Find another elk find some more grass¡­.6 pieces, high-quality. Ok I have enough for now. Look around, spot a bunny. Go fight it. I sneak up to the bunny and it turns on me with blood red eyes and canines. Oh Jesus. The bunny jumps at me biting my hand. -5 (105/110) My god the bunny hurts; a whole 2 damage more than in day. I take my axe and slash the bunny -10 (110/120) 40 health more??? Jesus this bunny is nasty. Thankfully I can just tank the bunny while I slash it with my axe -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 (60/110) -10 -10 -10 -11 -10 -15 -10 -10 -11 (13/120) -5 (55/110) ¡°Hack¡± -15 (-2/120) Sending my axe into the bunny¡¯s cranium I revel in the victory that is mine, along with the 2% xp that I got from the level 2 bunny (seemed it was a higher level due to it being night). Satisfied that my night is planned, I execute my plan. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Author''s Corner: Sooooo....That is happening...I do love how I just don''t know what i''m writing at times...and then when I reread i just kind of have a ...''well that happened'' moment ANYWAYS! Hope you enjoyed(?) it and see you next chapter :D -TRUE NORRRRRRRRRRRD Mind Games with Wolves part 1 ¡°Good Morning Kal¡± Husky seems like quite a ball of energy, his nap must¡¯ve been really refreshing ¡°M-morning¡± He cocks his head slightly ¡°Hmm, Kal you seem¡­different somehow, I just can¡¯t quite put my finger on it¡± ¡°Different? How? No no no I¡¯m the same as ever¡± He must NEVER find out! ¡°Ah must¡¯ve just been my imagination. So anyways how was your kip?¡± ¡°Kip? I didn¡¯t have one?¡± ¡°What really? Then wha-oh¡­you been in game for the past 3 hours?¡± (he¡¯s talking about IRL hours) ¡°Yep I¡¯ve had a good 9 hours to do stuff¡± (I¡¯m talking about in-game hours) ¡°Ah, so what did you get up to?¡± ¡°¡­Noooothing, just killing animals and such. Nothing special¡± There is no way the events of last night are ever going to escape these lips ¡°Ah ok¡± That¡¯s good enough for Husky it seems ¡°So when is J?t going to-¡±He logs on as if summoned ¡°Are you sure you aren¡¯t a wizard Kal?¡± Husky asks me in a half-joking tone ¡°Well I do dabble in a bit of this and that, I specialize in J?t summoning you know¡± I have a feeling this will come back to haunt me as J?t looks quite unamused. Anyways, we go sit down at the table to wait for breakfast and Cindy lays the table with fruits. I pick a Frozardo (An avocado looking fruit; it¡¯s quite bitter) Husky picks a Grapple branch (Its apples the size of grapes but they taste very strong) J?t picks a normal apple (maybe he really does like apples). After munching and filling up our satiety bar, we head outside into the cold world. The chilly wind blows over us causing us to shiver, but I don¡¯t shiver as violently as I should. Why? Because of this:
SKILL: Cold Resistance [lvl2]
Passive Skill [43%]
After spending so long in the cold without proper winter clothing, you have gained natural resistance against the cold 2% cold resistance
Cost: none, Duration: Permanent
That¡¯s right. After pretty much 24 hours in the cold with a small amount of clothing I gained cold resistance¡­.Thank god this is a game world or I probably would¡¯ve contracted hypothermia by now¡­ It makes a little difference but since I got it only 3 hours ago and it¡¯s gone up 43% since then (it started level 2) so this might level up ridiculously fast. The others haven¡¯t got it yet but seeing as though we¡¯re bare-chested they should get it soon. We head outside the gate, nodding to Gerard who stands motionless on the wall but suddenly nods back at us. He doesn¡¯t talk much but he feels like a good guy, also I don¡¯t feel any stares from him. We walk for a few minutes till we find an elk and after J?t annihilates it, I show them the Frost Grass ¡°Oh that makes a lot of sense, Kal you¡¯re actually quite smart¡± Husky says with a cheeky grin, he doesn¡¯t mean that. He knows I¡¯m a pure genius of course (I¡¯m being sarcastic if you haven¡¯t noticed). Although I¡¯ve shown them, I don¡¯t let them pick it because that would just ruin the quality. I free the grass slowly getting 6 high quality grass easily with 3 minutes of work. A wolf notices us and once again we¡¯re back to the whole running routine. 111th time back to the village because of wolves. We easily switch between me and Husky taking a bit of damage but staying alive before we reach the village and- DIVE. Ah safe. Synchronous diving into the snow is always fun. As I get up, I spot Gerard looking at us and I swear I saw a ghost of a smile there. Well my sprint hit level 8 about an hour before they came and the progress has really been slowing down. On the bright side I¡¯m now 16% faster when I sprint now. However that is still pretty useless in the larger scale of things. We do another 6 runs for the grass earning another 34 along with 36 copper coins and enough xp to get me 80% of the way to level 4 a mere 20% in front of Husky, while J?t is now 30% to level 5. Getting all our grass in a record breaking 2 hours we feel pretty good about ourselves, but the grass was the easy part. We head back out after diving from a wolf (118th time) and stop at the edge of the forest. You see I had a good 9 hours of the night to collect things but in the end all I did was collect 300 Frost Grass along with 30 copper coins from rabbits (as well as that sweet 60% xp). I tried to go into the forest to get my snowberries but that proved impossible. Why? Well I think you already know the answer. It¡¯s because of the Big.Black.Wolf. who for some reason has a grudge against me. I had walked into the forest a second time last night and after collecting 1 snowberry I had been eviscerated without warning. I thought that I was just having some bad luck and it was random coincidence that brought us together but I figured that wasn¡¯t the case. I figured it out when I walked into the forest a third time and got my upper half torn off half a second later. At that point I was a bit miffed; some supposed legend guy was killing me out of anger that came from pretty much nowhere. I felt that it wasn¡¯t angry at the icebolts that hit him but what else could he be angry about? Anyways, the three of us decide to not risk being massacred and stay by the edge of the forest. It will take a lot longer but this way is relatively safer. We move at the edge of the trees peering inside to spot the distinctive berries at the foot of the trees. Soon we find one right on the border so we got that bush as a freebie. Luckily they came in bushes and there were from 8 -12 in each bush. Of course due to my amazing green thumb I am able to obtain high-quality snowberries. The next bush of berries is a few metres in to the forest. We decide who goes into the forest to-Ah wait, I¡¯m the one who picks the damn things so of course I have to go. My party mates drop back the short distance of 100 metres and I sneak into the forest. Creeping a few steps forward, I¡¯m still alive so I¡¯m doing good so far. I reach the bush and carefully remove each one, 9 in total. I then with a sigh of relief stand up and turn around. My head gets ripped off by the ginormous black wolf that was waiting silently behind me ¡­ .. . I do not like this wolf. I really do not. Sighing, I head outside and meet up with the other guys. I wait, I wait, and there they are. Running for their lives with a ginormous wolf bounding behind them. 300 metres left. J?t¡¯s arm was ripped off and then he stumbled, causing the wolf to laugh(?) Before crushing him under a paw. Husky ran as fast as he could but could not evade Gannor for more than half a second. His body ripped apart and that was the end to the team. Waiting for them to respawn, I watch as Gannor mutilates their bodies quite angrily. It seems Gerard has seen and has started to call guards over. Gannor looks back up towards me and a wave of pure hate washes over me as he howls, escaping to the forest for the time being. Hmm why is it so mad at us? ¡°Maybe it¡¯s mad because it lost track of Frishha?¡± J?t somehow gained the ability of telepathy (I just think he was thinking the same thing) and he answered my question with a murmer. ¡°Ah that wolf is nasty¡± Husky whistled as he joined us Deciding we¡¯re not going to enter the forest ever again we being our favorite thing¡­Grinding! Now I say grinding but our efficiency level will make even noobs cry. Why? Because we kill about 2 elks every 10 to 20 minutes. Wolves keep chasing us and we keep having to go back to town and rest and recover. Oh, J?t seems to have gotten all 50 apples from Linda (he must really like apples). Anyways let us begin. Out the gates, find an elk, kill an elk, gather some frost grass Oh wolf, Run, change guards DIVE. Get up say hi to Gerard and go back out. Repeat this for a full 4 hours. ¡­ ¡°L-level 5¡­WOHOO!!!¡± Husky jumps into the air and we all give him a big high-five Yes, we have all finally hit level 5. I am about halfway up while J?t is at 93%. Our hunting has given us 258 copper, 18 antlers and another 233 Frost Grass. Ah it happened after I picked about 40 of them but:
SKILL: Herbalism[lvl 3]
Passive Skill [0%]
You have gathered multiple herbs and have learnt to pick them with fewer mistakes
Cost: none
Sadly it seems like picking Frost Grass doesn¡¯t affect my skill anymore because they¡¯re possibly a bit too low-level. However I picked my first 7 excellent quality and they had 5 health increase potency (so recovered 35 instead of 30). It was pretty difficult to get an excellent quality, but I believe the system doesn¡¯t allow you to get perfect unless you have a high enough skill level. Which I get and respect, but ALL my grass is perfectly collected so I do feel a bit meh¡¯d about the quality restriction (or it might just be that excellent is the max quality of the grass). So that was going well for me but because the guys wanted to, I let them pick a couple of herbs so they got the herbalism skill too. A True Nord can never have too many skills at their disposal! We had hit level 5 at about midday, so we head to town to relax on the snowy street while we munch on an apple. So time to check our assests: 3 silver 38 copper (me and Husky have an extra silver each) 19 antlers, 6 excellent quality Frost Grass, 468 high-quality grass, 11 mid quality, 93 poor quality grass. Overall we have a lot of grass. What to do with it? Nothing at the moment and we¡¯ll we¡¯re not going to go to Thalia¡¯s anytime soon (because we can¡¯t get the berries I mean¡­¡­but yes also because of that) So after we finish munching on our apple, we go outside but this time we don¡¯t hunt an elk, no, we hunt a wolf! We crouch down in the snow and make our way to a wolf which is patrolling around the snowy meadows.
NAME: Winter Wolf [lvl8]
320/320
Ay that¡¯s scary, but we¡¯re level 5 now so we should be able to do some damage. We¡¯re far away enough that the wolf doesn¡¯t immediately go for us so we prepare ourselves. Husky puts on his plate-mail (newly repaired, cost him his silver) and now he¡¯s fully armored like before. I pass around a couple of high quality herbs (I¡¯m not skimping here) so that we¡¯ve got a little bit of health regen if needed. Giving the nod, J?t shoots 4 icebolts at the wolf (How 4? He spent 2 points on Vitality so he¡¯s got 130 health) -200 (120/320) Woooah we can do this no probs. The wolf immediately aggros onto J?t and Husky puts himself at the front to intercept it. -40(70/110) The wolf crashes into Husky toppling him over but Husky grasps the wolf¡¯s legs locking it in place for me to attack it with ease. -9 -11 (100/320) I quickly hack at the wolf twice as it bites off another chunk of health from Husky; he¡¯s blocking the wolf¡¯s mouth with 1 hand while his other holds the two front legs (He¡¯s got some good strength Husky). -10 -11 (79/320) The wolf turns its head to me as it finally aggros onto me due to continuous hacking and I immediately jump away from the wolf. ¡°Awooo¡± It howls but not the usual angry howl, a pitiful one, a cry for help. ¡­ .. . "Ruuun!" Since I¡¯m aggroed, the wolf comes after me when Husky lets go but that¡¯s fine since I¡¯m alreadyx sprinting towards the village. The others two start sprinting after me and we soon sandwich the wolf between the 3 of us. ¡°AwoooooAwooAwoooo¡± The overlapping sounds of wolves enter our vicinity and we see another 3 wolves that must have been nearby come for us. 1 in front, one to our left and the other to our right. Ah damn I forgot; The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.wolves are pack animals. I roll on the ground getting 41 health taken from me and the wolf is still going after me. -50 (50/320) An icebolt hits the wolfs back causing it to falter and I turn around to converge on the wolf. -9 -2 -42 (-3/320) All of us attack the wolf murdering it with ease. ¡°Wahahah!!!¡± Husky and I laugh maniacally as J?t reclaims the body in haste. 3 seconds later the wolves pounce on us. ¡­ Opening my eyes to the familiar house and soft fur mattress, I can¡¯t help but feel elated. We did it, we killed our first wolf (all all died in the process but nevermind that). We all grin eagerly as we look at the loot J?t was able to collect: 12 copper and 1 wolf tooth. Oooh and when I check my xp bar and it has decreased by only about 5% as the wolves must have given 15% xp, wow. Husky¡¯s face drops a little when we check the xp, because he dropped a level but a few percent but we¡¯ll get that back easily. We exit the house and once again make our way down the street towards the exit. Gerard and a couple of extra people are standing there because after a ginormous black wolf came out earlier they¡¯ve been on guard (they don¡¯t know it¡¯s Gannor). Waving to them, we head out for an elk. Killing it within seconds, Husky levels up once more. Ok so back to level 5, we all hunt for another wolf and quickly find one pawing the ground (oh how cuute, wait what am I thinking?). J?t shoots only one icebolt at it while consuming some grass -50 (270/320) The wolf howls and comes at us. Husky blocks at the front swinging his axe at the wolf and with 20 strength it has quite an effect. -42 (228/320) The wolf smashes into the ground from mid-pounce and I immediately take advantage of that by hacking away at the wolf a bit -9 -11 (208/320) Getting up from the ground the wolf dodges away as Husky brings down his axe once again and then barrels into him clawing at his mail. -40 (70/110) Husky, on the ground once again, uses his axe as a shield while the wolf tries to bite him. I kick the wolf and then chop it vigorously -1 -11- 10 (186/320) -22 (48/110) The wolf aggros onto me, leaving Husky on the floor. I sidestep getting a small graze on my side and use the rage to trigger my hack -15 (171/320) The wolf turns back at me and I jump over to where Husky is. He kneels and swings his axe sideways. -28 (143/320) His attack was much less effective due to him being kneeling it seems, but that is enough for us. -50 -50 -50 (-7/320) 3 icebolts pierce the wolf a split-second after and the wolf dies without so much as a howl. ¡°heheh Hahah HAHAHA!!!¡± Letting out a devious 3 piece villain laughter I reclaim the wolf¡¯s corpse. Seems like J?t¡¯s theory we right. He had made a theory that the wolf would call allies when it was at 100 or lower so if we just killedit before then, we¡¯d be fine. It¡¯s a challenge only someone who can do an insane amount of damage; a mage, can do! With that we collected another 12 coins and a bountiful amount of experience, but no tooth this time. For the first time, we sit down outside the village and have an apple as a reward. Letting those sweet juices of victory fill me up I glance around for some new prey. J?t spots one and we head over to it, wanting to kill another one, to get revenge for having to sprint back to the village 143 times in the past two days!! The wolf enters J?t¡¯s range and J?t stabs himself a little¡­well a lot actually. We watch his health bar deplete by 100 before he actually casts his icebolt ¡­ .. . or not?? The ground beneath the wolf suddenly erupts with spikes impaling the wolf and causing it to yowl in pain -86 (234/320) Me and Husky stand there a bit dumbfounded until J?t knocks up over the back of the head ¡°It¡¯s not going to last forever¡± Oh right! We start charging the wolf and with it being immobilized we start to hack it to pieces -10 -44 -11 -11 -42 -11 (105/320) We abruptly stop after 3 seconds of mercilessly hacking the wolf to bits so as to not trigger its call for help. Husky moves to the range of the wolf¡¯s jaws and lets himself be bit while J?t remainsconcentrating on the ice, his rage is about 10 left (another 3 seconds it looks like). Husky which took 83 damage activates his ¡®Slash¡¯ skill and slams his axe on the wolf¡¯s head Crit! -162 (-57/320) Daamn that¡¯s nasty. The wolf, its head severed in two, dies and we happily reclaim its corpse. No tooth this time either. We figured out quite a while ago that crits are not random chance; they¡¯re when you hit weak spots, usually the head or neck. Seems J?t suspected this when he was getting constant crits against the elks. After we finish our battle, I look straight at J?t ¡°When did you get a CC spell?¡± He smirks ¡°Just trying out a little something. Read the staff properly and seems like it¡¯s not just limited to icebolts¡± No idea what he meant there but it seems like he can use cc now and a pretty good one at that. Almost 10 seconds incapacitation as well as a good amount of damage at the cost of 100 rage (but J?t has to channel it seems). With that new addition to our arsenal we begin to have a lot of fun ¡­ Another 3 hours pass and we hunt another 32 wolves (Not running away once either) with ease due to J?t¡¯s new CC. With that we got another 18 teeth and 384 copper. But that wasn¡¯t the greatest part. The greatest part was that we leveled 3 times each, 3 times! That¡¯s the best leveling we¡¯ve done in days (literally)! However seeing as thought the wolves were higher level than us as well as us being not even in double digits we are still leveling way too slow. I¡¯d imagine the average level for a gamer right now would be close to 20. However, we are level 8 (Husky is about 20% in im 40% and J?t is about 50%) and that is soo great. It seems that because J?t was a bit ahead of us, he got some decreased xp gain. So we¡¯ve evened ourselves out a little bit more. And now that I¡¯m so high level, time to check my character sheet
[table] [table][table] [table]
NAME:
Kal (Iskadi)
TITLE:
The Conqueror
Class Tree: Wanderer
Class: None
Race: Nymph
Gender: Trap (female)
Level: 8
Experience: 42%
STATUS: Remaining Points (14)
Health Points: 110/110 Hp Regen (out of combat): 1sec
Rage: 0/100 Rage decrease (out of combat) 1/sec
STR: 10 TGH: 10
AGI: 10 VIT: 10
INT: 10 MND: 10
ATTK: Phys 10-11 Extra: none
DEF: 2 M.RES: 17
Satiety: 80/100 (well fed)
SKILLS: One-handed Axe Mastery [lvl5] -Hack(Active) Leather Mastery [lvl2] Sprint [lvl9] Cold Resistance [lvl3] Herbalism [lvl3] Racials [Max] -Radiating Charm (Active) -Nature''s Safe-keeper -Nature Attuned -Man''s Desire ->Woman''s Desire
Ah sprint level 9. We¡¯ve been using sprint every time we move because it honestly feels more natural for us. So we end up having to eat a piece of bread every hour or less. Also cold resistance went up 1 more and the others got theirs starting at level 2. You may have noticed that I haven¡¯t put any points anywhere. Why? Well simply because I don¡¯t want to waste them. It appears we only get 2 stat points per level which is horrifyingly small. Thus I¡¯ve decided to hold onto my points till I figure out what I¡¯m going to do with them I¡¯m a random character at the moment which is truly horrible for gamers to see and be but these points are precious. Don¡¯t want to waste them on extra health or a bit more damage. You¡¯d be thinking I¡¯d put them all into strength, agility and vit. Well I should but its honestly not going to make much of a difference to my character and it won¡¯t really help the party. I¡¯m quite the freeloader here if you haven¡¯t noticed. The others already know how they want to play and Husky went for full strength putting 10 into STR and 4 into Vit for an increase in health. J?t went 2 Vit, 10 Int and has got 2 points floating around in wonder where to put it. That extra 10 Int adds another 10 to his max rage pool as well as increasing his spell damage by 10, not that it needs an increase in damage anymore. Skills wise we¡¯re doing pretty good too; Husky has level 2 for his two-handed axe with level 5 for his unarmed. Sprint level 7 too. J?t has ice-manipulation level 8 and he¡¯s got 3 sub-skills so far; Icebolt, Ice spikes and Rain of Ice. Now¡­the rain of Ice he decided to cast in an earlier battle caused quite a ruckus¡­ Husky and I were fighting the wolves, when a whole bunch of mini-icicles fell from the sky and literally rained on us. I mean the spell only lasted 3 seconds only dealing 20 damage per icicle to us but it strikes once a second over a large area. I got hit by 3 icicles and died along with Husky who got hit by his 3 too and died. J?t got what was coming to him and got massacred by a very annoyed wolf and then when he revived we had some sweet revenge. I mean the spell is pretty damn good, don¡¯t get me wrong But it¡¯s dangerous to use in a party, my god. Although now J?t has a single-target, a CC and an AOE spell. As a mage he¡¯s fully loaded. Oh another scary fact. J?t¡¯s dagger mastery is level 7. He has to stab himself about 24 times each combat so the number he¡¯s stabbed himself is literally ridiculous. I am actually terrified to count that number. Anyways, since we can fight wolves 3 on 1 without a problem now we haven¡¯t gone back to the village for a while (except for when we died of course). Thus we¡¯ve been moving around the outskirts of the forest calmly looking for snowberries. Why? Well we still have that quest to complete and J?t still has to pay for earlier. We quickly find some snowberries in sight and leaving J?t to it, me and Husky sprint the hell back to town. J?t watches us leave and as we go into the village he heads into the forest. An exact 40 seconds later, we hear a scream and a few seconds after that J?t says hi as he exits the house. He did collect 8 snowberries and we are satisfied with that. So our revenge is swept under the rug. Seeing as though I have another 5 in-game hours before school we decide to finish this snowberry picking. Since we¡¯re all good friends we decide to die in turns. Sadly first on the list is me. However before I go and commit collecticide, we hunt another 4 wolves to counter the xp penalty from death. So as J?t and Husky sprint to the village, I walk into the forest and with the care of an ogre rip the entire berry bush out collecting all 12 berries. I wake up in the house a few seconds later. Ok we have 37 berries between us now. Only 3 or 4 more trips. We go kill another 4 wolves letting J?t immobilize it before we hack it to pieces gaining a bit of proficiency. This time its Husky¡¯s turn and we watch him enter the forest and about a second later he screams. Husky walks back up to us from the house and shakes his head. Hmm apparently Gannor¡¯s smartening up. Racking our brains we head out and kill a couple more wolves. J?t¡¯s turn this time. However we find two snowberry bushes so that way at least one of us gets the berries. And that one of us is definitely not me, as Gannor walks out from behind a tree as I step in and just grins. That bastard. Why do you hate me so much?!? Thankfully J?t gets a good 8 berries. Finding another 2 bushes, Husky and J?t go. Screams from J?t confirms the location of Gannor and Husky, running the hell back to town, does a splendid dive at the entrance. We are doing this smartly by finding 1 berry bush either side of the village so that unless Gannor flies through the village he won¡¯t catch both of us. Gerard gives us a quizzical look at he notices us constantly dying in the forest (The Npc¡¯s here don¡¯t really mind us dying since we¡¯re ¡®wanderer¡¯s¡¯ so it seems they actually know that we revive and are technically immortal, which is nice?). However we don¡¯t tell them that we¡¯ve somehow pissed off a ginormous black wolf that is surprisingly bastardly. I don¡¯t think that¡¯d go down well with the villagers. But continuing on, Husky and J?t go for another run with J?t being massacred pretty much instantly. I mean we don¡¯t try to run from this guy because we can¡¯t. It seems though, according to J?t, he does give you a few seconds to regret your decisions before the murders you. ¡­Ah it¡¯s my turn now ¡­ .. . Of course I get massacred and Husky runs scot free. At least we now have 61 berries. The whole process only took an hour which is pretty good for us but still I¡¯m stuck on 42% while Husky just got above 50%. J?t is hitting the 60¡¯s so I¡¯m the lowest right now. That sucks a little bit but I¡¯ll catch up to them eventually. Now to head back to town --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Corner: Sorry I haven''t posted in like forever, but I will make it up by posting 2 more chapters over this weekend? Possibly? ALSO Thank YOUUUU to whoever reviewed me? thought i''m not sure as to what part of my fiction they thought was so awesome it deserved a five.............(Welll more review are in order it seems :D?) -TRUE NORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD Mind Games with Wolves part 2 With the sun starting to lower itself we head to Thalia¡¯s first, reluctantly, very reluctantly. Why? Well because I have no idea what will happen to me when I enter that dangerous zone. Also with these two beside me, I may have to do a lot of explaining which is SO embarrassing. I really don¡¯t wanna! We knock on the door and once she tells us to come in, we walk inside (I¡¯m hiding behind Husky of course). She gives us all a look and smiles as we enter. Though the smiles towards each of us differ quite a bit; J?t and Husky receive a welcoming smile and as she send them past her she licks her lips at me. *Gulp* Taking us to her alchemy table, she continues working on stirring some shock-blue liquid which smells, familiar ¡­ .. . I shouldn¡¯t ever come here alone. ¡°So what are you lovely men doing in my house?¡± She asks us coyly ¡°Of course to bless our eyes with your visage but also to give you the procured materials¡± J?t transformation happening right in-front of us is pretty strange indeed. ¡°Oho¡± She does seem to like getting flattered (although it¡¯s a bit of a strange flattery but whatever) ¡°Good that you got them for me, I was running low on them¡± We take out our herbs passing high quality grass and our, poor quality snowberries (Thankfully it wasn¡¯t disastrous when we took the whole bush). She looks impressed at our grass and quite unimpressed by our berry picking. ¡°Ah there¡¯s a huge difference in quality here but it should still work¡± With a thankful nod she passes us both 2 minor healing pots (recover 55 health per minute? Wohoo!) and we take them graciously. J?t does a little eyebrow wiggle which seems to say, what about your personal ¡®reward¡¯? She grins at the quite eager J?t and gets close to him before flicking him on the forehead. ¡°Eh?¡± we all stand there a window open in-front of J?t. As J?t gets engrossed in the window Thalia makes her way to me and I prepare my forehead, closing my eyes in anticipation. ¡­ .. . Her soft lips press onto mine and I open my eyes in decent shock (well I¡¯m not too shocked, I¡¯d entertained the possibility and seems like I was right, but still!). Thalia retreats after a second with a sneaky smile on her lips.
Thalia Dakrheart has given you teachings of a new skill You have earned a new skill: Alchemy
SKILL:Alchemy [lvl1]
Passive Skill [0%]
This skill will allow you to create potions of all kinds. Success of creation will be dependent on skill level and personal level
Recipes Known: Minor Healing Potion Minor Antidote Potion
*Twitch* Ah so this is how you learn skills off other people. Interesting but I¡¯d prefer it if I didn¡¯t get kissed. Especially when I glance as Husky who is to my right and grinning wildly with eyes staring at me almost saying ¡®nothing happened huh?¡¯. It¡¯s a misunderstanding Husky!!! Don¡¯t believe this predator, I¡¯m just a victim here!!! Thankfully J?t is too engrossed with his window that he doesn¡¯t notice the situation. I wonder why he¡¯s still so engrossed? ¡­Ah that¡¯s why. I click on the Minor healing potion recipe
RECIPE:Minor Healing Potion
Recovers 50 health over 1 minute
Ingredients: Frost Grass x2, Snow berry x 1
Instructions: Boil Frost Grass Crush Snowberry and then separate moisutre of berry through evaporation Collect moisture and mix until blood-red with boiled Frost Grss
Hmm, so I actually have to do basic chemistry to make a potion? Well at least it does give me an inkling of an idea that I can make multiple potions from the same types of herbs. Checking the antidote potion, I see that to be true as the ingredients are the same but the snowberry is boiled while the Frost Grass is crushed. Thalia, seeing we¡¯ve all read our new skill (Husky asked for it and Thalia gave him a small flick for his troubles, so yeah he got the skill too) gives us a small demonstration of how to use them. She fools around with her alchemy equipment and we watch her slowly create a health potion. Within a minute it¡¯s done. That was pretty easy. She shows us the minor health pot and we see its medium quality giving 55 health per minute. She then gives us all the necessary ingredients and has us fool around one at a time with her equipment. The results? Well Husky dropped his vial and J?t burnt his grass. I did slightly better until I mixed it too vigorously and made the potion go orange. Thalia just giggled behind a covering hand and had us retry the process a few times¡­ After a few tries Husky finally made a medium-quality potion while J?t made 2 so far. I only made one but it was medium-quality too. As we fooled around Thalia had us use different quality ingredients showing us that the potion quality is affected by that. Apparently, making a mid-quality potion was the max we could get because of our ingredients. Also if we made a slight mistake but still got the potion made the quality was lower, which made sense however the opposite was still true and when she gave us a poor and a mid quality ingredient we could still make a mid quality potion. After we did it manually for a bit she had us do it automatically. Because we had the necessary ingredients (She did give us vials to use), we had the option of just clicking a ¡®create¡¯ button that appeared under the recipe window. This gave a poor quality potion which restored 50 health per minute as it said on the recipe but it was instantaneous. So there¡¯s up¡¯s and down¡¯s to both methods but if you need to mass produce you can. Another interesting fact that I didn¡¯t remember (Well I didn¡¯t want to because it kind of made me remember of that time and aah nononono); I get a 10% bonus potency to my potions. Which means my poor quality is the same as a mid quality which is extremely good. I mass produce mid quality potions which I am extremely happy about. Of course I don¡¯t mass produce the potions and show of my quite broken skill bonus¡­because then I¡¯d have to explain to the others¡­ I don¡¯t want to do that, no siree(Although, Husky kind of already knows in a way?). All in all, it was quite a good time learning how to make potions (took a whole 2 hours, jeeesus, but we did level up our alchemy once by making repeated failures). As we left Thalia told us we could come anytime (*Shiver* she put too much emphasis on anytime there) and make potions with her equipment. Grateful, we bow and exit. All happy with our new skill, we notice its getting close to sunset. Deciding we shouldn¡¯t go hunting, we pop in the blacksmith and repair our weapons and armor for a shocking 5 silver! (Husky¡¯s full body plate took 3, the rest of our armor took 1 and the weapons took 1 too). Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. With that, our party purse once again dropped down to: 4 silver and 22 copper (me and Husky paid with our personal bank of 1 silver too). Still seeing as though we had 44 copper by the end of an entire day of hunting yesterday, this is a huge difference. However it is still not enough to buy anything from the blacksmith. We do, however spend 3 silver on a pickaxe since we¡¯re going to need it to mine for our quest. Speaking of quests, we go back to our temporary home and get greeted by the usual ¡°hello, how was your day¡±, as well as the deadly bear hug from Cindy. Maybe I should increase my toughness or I really might get crushed one day. Varg isn¡¯t here at the moment so we relax at the table taking in the gorgeous smelling food that wafts from her cooking pot. She once again puts some spicy flakes into the meal furthering its delicious aroma. We wait for a good 5 minutes chatting about what our favorite food is (Pineapple rice if you were wondering, absolutely gorgeous) before Husky suddenly stands up and heads over to Cindy (who is cooking dinner if you were wondering). ¡°Cindy, can I help you with the cooking?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± We all raise our eyebrows at Husky wanting to try cook. No offense to the big guy but he¡¯s almost 3 metres! Just saying it may be a bit difficult for him. Cindy however, quickly regains her composure after being directed the question (I think she¡¯s having the same thoughts as me) and with a grin has Husky stir the soup. She quickly grabs a stool and has Husky sit on it (so he¡¯s at least able to cook without looming over the pot) while she stands behind and starts to direct him how to stir soup. ¡°First you stir it 13 times clockwise and then let it heat for 30 seconds. After that you continue stirring clockwise for another 12 times before letting it heat up for 30 seconds. Then you continue with this for another 11 times.¡± Surprisingly detailed? Also when Husky stirs it counter clockwise he gets a chop to the head as she tells him off. Apparently it ruins the texture if you do that. So we watch Husky cook our dinner and although the aromatic smell lessens substantially it¡¯s still pretty good. Also, when Husky finished cooking the meal a window pops up in-front of him and he smiles happily as he dismisses it. Varg came in about a minute ago and gave Husky a curious glance before taking his place at the table. Now it¡¯s a small table for 4 people, and we have 5 (2 of them are giant too). So how do we all fit around the table? Well Varg, J?t, Cind and Husky take up a side each and I am next to Cindy on a stool. Cindy originally told me to sit on her lap but I fervently declined the offer. NO way am I doing that. It¡¯d be too embarrassing and she¡¯d probably feed me as well Ohh soo embarrassing! Anyways. Husky serves the meal and once again sweating profusely through my eyes (A True Nord does not cry), I eat the spicy meal. Throughout the meal Husky asks Cindy what the soup is made of. Unsurprisingly it¡¯s quite basic; Venison and a couple of veggies. Pretty simple but still quite delicious ¡­ ¡°Ah! Cindy, where¡¯d you get this spice¡± A brilliant thought that came into my head ¡°Oh that? It¡¯s just crushed antler¡± ¡­ .. . For some reason I feel quite barbaric seasoning a meal with crushed antler. I¡¯m not the only one either; J?t and Husky both raise their eyebrows in mild shock, but then again, we are in the middle of nowhere so we shouldn¡¯t be surprised. Still finding out that crushed antler is actually spicy is an odd thought indeed. Is it the same in the real world? Pushing back the question, I finish my meal on time with everyone else and we, ¡°aaah¡± as we sip the last of our soup. Nothing like a warm meal after spending hours in the freezing cold. After dinner Husky shows us the new cooking skill he got and we immediately ask Cindy to let us cook tomorrow for dinner as payment for staying (as well as getting the cooking skill of course). Once again I say that one can never have too many skills. Once the plates were gone and the table cleaned, we all go do our own things for a short while: J?t heads off to chat to Linda while me and Husky (I half-forcefully drag him) go to Thalia¡¯s for some alchemy practice. ¡°Sooo¡­.¡± Husky gives me large grin I¡­laugh nervously ¡°It seems she likes me¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have guessed. Hah!¡± Thankfully I don¡¯t need to explain the situation as he takes that as an explanation, but for some reason he¡¯s looking intensely over my head. ¡°So what¡¯s with The Conqueror title?¡± ¡­ .. . I open and close my mouth a couple of times ¡°A-ah it¡¯s just that¡­I got this title when she¡­um, you know¡­¡± My face starts heating up, nono don¡¯t do that, face! Husky lets out a short laugh before giving me a pat on the back (sending me face-first to the snow) and he puts a finger on his mouth saying he¡¯ll keep it a secret before laughing his way down the street. Once my head cools in the snow, I catch up to him and enter Thalia¡¯s. She is reading a book, one of many of the scattered books and when we enter she just motions to the table saying ¡°go ahead¡± while giving me a wink. Shivering, I head to the table. Me and Husky take turns creating potions (because it¡¯s more fun that way) and after an hour and a bit we have successfully made 21 potions. All are mid quality and 10 are mine, giving 61 health per minute whereas 11 are the normal 55. I of course keep my secret because even though Husky knows of the title, he doesn¡¯t have to know about the quite impressive bonus. Or he might try and conquer someone himself (Actually I think he¡¯ll try to conquer someone just to get the title itself). But we improve our potion proficiency a good 60% and are now officially almost broke. Why? Well we had to buy some vials (10 copper per one, so 21 was 2 silver 10 copper) and then some snowberries (because no way we¡¯re going to go find some with Gannor out there. It was 1 silver for a stack of 10. So another 2 silver 10 copper for 21 of them). We were careful to not make any failures so we took slightly longer with each potion. However because of that we¡¯ve got all mid quality and no failures. However our party purse is at 2 coppers. (also we only used mid quality grass so 42 of those are gone) The whole party purse thing is just that I carry all the money basically due to me being leader(?) (and also because it¡¯s easier with one person keeping count of all the cash). They trust me, because well¡­there¡¯s nowhere else to go so I can¡¯t run away and I did get them free lodging too. Anyways So now that we¡¯ve made our potions and now that we¡¯re pretty much broke, we leave the shop (Thalia did offer a discount if I paid with kisses but I HASTI-Respectably declined, much to Husky¡¯s amusement). Returning back to the house Husky gives him half his potions while I get to keep all mine (because that way I¡¯ll be a walking healer with my potions. They agreed to the idea). With that done, we bid Cindy and Varg goodnight and we all log off while lying in our furry mattresses. Childhood Stories...I was so naive Opening my eyes to see nothing but darkness, I stifle a yawn. I may have slept through most of school but I¡¯m still a bit sleepy. Checking my clock, I see it is 6 so I sit up, open up my schoolbag and do my homework (still need to do work, wouldn¡¯t do to fall behind in class). The homework is just the usual repeat answers from memory and splurge textbook knowledge onto the page, so it¡¯s nothing complicated. After 2 hours, I finish it all off and start to get ready for school. Getting off of my bed, I grab a towel that¡¯s hanging from my door and head to the shower. 1 2 3. That¡¯s all I need to clean myself. People always say I should stay in the shower longer but it takes me like 30 seconds to wash myself with shampoo and soap. No need to stay under the scalding water any longer is there? Well anyways I dry myself (I am squeaky clean) and return to my room to put on my school-uniform. Checking my alarm clock as I put on my pants I see it to be 8:06. I¡¯ve got plenty of time. Strolling downstairs, I retrace my steps to Mickey¡¯s room. Knocking twice, I hear a groan. Ok he¡¯ll be up soon. Actually going downstairs this time, I pick up a piece of toast and my lunch before saying goodbye to Martha and head to school. Munching on my toast as I drive (I use my mouth to move the toast up so don¡¯t worry I¡¯m driving safely). I arrive at Missy¡¯s place in 10 minutes. She waves as I come to a stop and she straddles on the back. Her weapons don¡¯t feel as effective today, I wonder why? Perishing the thought, I drive to school taking another 10 minutes and then parking, I sprint up the stairs. Luckily I¡¯ve got quite good stamina in real life as well as the game so I can easily run up two flights of stairs and down a couple of corridors to arrive at my classroom at 8:29 with 5 seconds to spare. Waltzing proudly to my desk, I get out my maths book, pillow case it and nod off as the teacher comes in. 3 periods pass in the blink of an eye and I wake up due to my alarm (good thinking me) and make my way down to the canteen (running of course). Clara (the hall monitor if you had forgotten) yells her usual ¡°No running in the hallways, oh never mind¡± and I get that great Doppler Effect as I whoosh past her. Squeezing past multiple people I quickly make it past the hungry crowd and get to the queue only 4th in line! Some people rush for the food but most queue up perfectly happy. It¡¯s an English thing. Getting some Lasagna (since Thursday is lasagna day) for Missy and Mickey, I quickly thank the lunch lady and precariously carry the food back upstairs. Djinn International is nice enough to give us food costs within the term fee so food for us feels like it¡¯s free. Anyways, I head upstairs and I find Missy already sitting at my table. I pass her the lasagna and with a thank you she begins to dig in. I go to Mickey¡¯s seat (right at the back of the class) and plonk him on the head waking him up. With a groan that quickly turns into an ¡°mmm¡± (he smells the lasagna). Waving the plate in his face I take it back over to my spot. Mickey jumps out of his desk and quickly joins me and Missy; He sits on the floor with me quite happily. As we eat (I had some sandwiches remember) I ask Mickey about how his first 2 days in game was. ¡°Oh it was sooo cool. Like I started in this village, didn¡¯t ever get its name, but it was quite a nice place with bunnies and all sorts of cute animals everywhere. Of course slaughtering bunnies was all the rage and we did so en masse. I haven¡¯t partied yet but I might soon. I mean playing by myself is quite fun but we¡¯ve had a couple of dangerous rumors going around¡± He leans in as if to whisper, as if it were terrifying to speak the rumor ¡°There is a certain being which we call Rered Rumeht. Apparently he was massacring tigers with his bare hands. Now this rumor started about 20 minutes after the game started, so that was pretty terrifying in itself. They say if you see him you¡¯ll be killed so I¡¯m thinking of finding a party for safety sake.¡± After he told us the rumor he went on about some of the basic quests he went on and how he¡¯s learnt mining so far. According to him he¡¯s level 18 right now and he¡¯s about to head off into one of the main cities once he reaches level 20. He didn¡¯t quite catch the name. He logged off about an hour before I did so he did a bit of checking on the forums. So far the highest level is 25 and about 100 people have gotten that far so no point mentioning them. According to that I am probably the lowest level player by a long-long way. Mickey said the leveling got a lot slower after level 10 so that just further emphasizes how freaking far behind I am. Oh by the way, while we¡¯re talking complete game nonsense and about how skills and crafting works, Missy is listening intensely. She does actually understand it all but she can¡¯t exactly participate since she hasn¡¯t got anything to input. Noticing her burning stare at wanting to be included into the conversation, I reluctantly stop my analysis with Mickey about finding skills. ¡°So Missy, when are you thinking of getting the game?¡± I pull her in to our world. ¡°Don¡¯t joke around Zach, we all know that isn¡¯t going to happen.¡± She replies pouting slightly. The breaths of many boys stop at Missy pouting as it doesn¡¯t make her look like ugly, quite the opposite in fact. Her pouting is quite sexy(?). ¡°Well why don¡¯t you just ask your dad?¡± Questions Mickey. Oh he is too innocent, too na?ve. Me and Missy share a moment of pure terror as we remind ourselves what happened the last time we tried to ask him for something ¡­ .. . Oh you want to hear about it? Sure I¡¯ll recount the horror that is her father (I mean that in a nice way...totally). It was 4 years ago when I last entered Missy¡¯s house (I haven¡¯t been back for a good reason). I remember that I had snuck in my two PSP¡¯s (so that I can always play with a friend) and I officially introduced Missy to the world of games. I had been to her house before that pretty much every other day to play master and servant most of the time (Yes we still played that at 12 years old. It was still fun(?) though). But anyways, we played Monster Hunter for a few hours and when I left I made sure she kept my backup PSP. A few weeks passed and the master and servant play reduced while the Monster hunting increased (It was a win win situation(?)). If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I also slowly introduced her to a couple of computer games (which I snuck in of course) such as Diablo, Tera and a couple of other RPG¡¯s. I have pretty much tried every MMORPG out there so I had a lot for her to play. Back to the point. After a month of gaming she became pretty much obsessed with it (It is very addictive) and on one day when I was round she was sighing half-heartedly: ¡°I just wish I could play all day¡± ¡°Well why don¡¯t you?¡± This does explain a lot about me¡­ Playing all day is a completely feasible idea to me(gaming marathons are just normal days of gaming for me in summertime). ¡°Well I need to ask my Father¡­¡± ¡°What wrong with that. Look if you want I¡¯ll ask for you¡± Oh, so na?ve so innocent I was. May my 12 year old heart rest in peace. ¡°Really? Oh thank you!¡± I remember her giving me a hug. Now let me tell you a 12 year old Missy was still decently well endowed. My na?ve mind thought I¡¯d been given a great reward. It was not worth the cost, even if it was Missy giving me a full body hug. Why? Well I¡¯ll get to that in a sec. So I, of course full of confidence, and slightly embarrassed from the hug earlier, go to the living room where her father is sitting watching some Japanese style mafia (Yakuza is the word isn¡¯t it, huh) show on TV murmuring ¡°that¡¯s not how you break a man¡¯s nails, jeez, what kind of Yakuza are you?¡±. He¡¯s not kidding there. He knows his stuff. I go up to him and when he sees me I tell him to allow Missy to play computer games all day. ¡­ .. . That sounded like a convincing argument to me at the time. I just shake my head at the memory. So you can tell he just laughed and told me no¡­well he should have. Instead he said ¡°You want to play games? Sure but play one with me will you¡± Na?ve, so na?ve I was. I was ecstatic and said yes, asking what game we would play. ¡°The interrogation game¡± Now I was used to Missy¡¯s master and slave game so I just thought this is her Father¡¯s version of playing house¡­¡­Just how na?ve was my 12 year old self? SO I was summarily interrogated in his office (which had a single light on a table in the middle of the room, it even looked the part). He just interrogated me about my habits and my thoughts about Missy and other things concerning his daughter. Now that I think about it, the interrogation wasn¡¯t really about games that much. I was na?ve yes, but I did finally understand the situation once I was in it. He was a professional and before I knew it I was spilling the beans in a cold sweat. You¡¯re thinking who is this guy? I was too. Missy just dropped the bomb on me later when I saw her at school the next day saying she¡¯s not allowed to play all day. Apparently her dad¡¯s an Ex-Yakuza. You know when I mentioned earlier when he was watching Yakuza on the TV and he was calling out untruths in the show. He knows his stuff because he¡¯s got firsthand experience of it. By the way her father is Japanese while her mother a model American (Celebrity model, not the gun-blazing yehaaing overweight stereotype). That was the first time I finally realized just how dangerous a situation I had been in¡­a small break in my naivety. So that¡¯s the reason I haven¡¯t gone back to that house for the past 4 years. That and because playing master and slave in her bedroom now takes a whole different meaning in my mind (and hers too I think, I hope(?)). My number one rule when hanging out with Missy is to draw the line clearly for myself. Because I fear that if I cross a boundary I may fall into a grave somewhere in the middle of nowhere (Her dad may off me). That¡¯s why I¡¯m fine with being her bitch, because it¡¯s as close as I can get to her without being killed (for now at least). Returning back to the present the moment ends and we both shake our heads at Mickey¡¯s suggestion. We steer the conversation to what¡¯s been going on in class (because neither Mickey nor I have an idea) and Missy takes the role giving us our homework (damn I hate homework). Lunch finishes mid-way through the mini-lecture about third period and Mickey and I head off to our respective beds, seats I mean (but we do go to sleep anyways). The rest of the day goes by nice and calmly with me sleeping all 3 periods (yay no math) and driving Missy home. At the door, her father (Yotsuba is his name, completely forgot to mention that. It¡¯s not that important but one must always know their killer¡¯s name) is waiting for us. Letting her off, I have a staring contest with her dad¡­not. I immediately shy away and feel his burning gaze trying to bore through my helmet. It lessens slightly as Missy gives him a kiss (on the cheek you pervs) and heads off inside. He sends a last challenging gaze towards me before he follows her inside. With a sigh, I look at the house for a few minutes. It¡¯s an obstacle I must pass for my love to bear fruit. Ah that¡¯s why I felt that story was emotional. I remember the story about Frishha and Gannor is half like mine. We don¡¯t explicitly express our love and maintain a friendly relationship. However I want it to be more but I have no idea whether she thinks that way of me. Also there¡¯s the fact that she isn¡¯t going to die of a disease or anything soon as well as me not being a skirt-chaser (nope, not in this life). Though their tale ends in both of them dying so I¡¯d rather not link my wannabe love-life to theirs. I don¡¯t want the same ending and I¡¯m pretty sure Yotsuba will be more than willing to cooperate in making that ending (on my side at least) come true. While I¡¯m comparing similarities and differences, I return home and spot Mickey entering the house (oh he remembered his keys today). Heading inside after him, I quickly change and head downstairs to dinner. Layla is there and is playing the naming game with Mickey who is severely losing (he¡¯s just fooling around). I sit down and we munch on the hearty curry that Martha sets out in front of us. We do take our time, learning from our indigestion of yesterday and only eat at triple speed. Feeling indigestion creep up on us we slowly walk up the stairs saying ¡°Good Gaming¡± to eachother before heading for our respective rooms. Putting on my headset, I log myself back into Insanity Online. Meeting Some More Residents Waking up on the soft fur mattress is like always, extremely nice. Although it usually consists of me just dying mere seconds beforehand but it¡¯s still a nice feeling. I look around but don¡¯t see either of my two new colleagues ... .. . Nevermind. I see the two of them shine into existence, lying on their mattresses. So they died huh. ¡°Ah Kal! We were just checking something out¡± Says Husky as he spots me ¡°Gannor?¡± It¡¯s the only thing that will really pose a threat to two of us, well even all 3 of us together The two of them nod. Well I won¡¯t say it out loud, but that¡¯s what you get for going without me (though I thank that you did because I don¡¯t want to lose any more xp here). They quickly fill me in with the details how Gannor is still laying about in the forest. They logged in a couple of minutes ago themselves so they haven¡¯t been up to much. We all find it a bit strange how Gannor is still stalking the forests as he really should be chasing Frishha ¡°Maybe he lost her track?¡± Inputs J?t. ¡°You may be right but that doesn¡¯t explain his grudge¡± I muse ¡°Well we did try to kill his woman¡± Suggests Husky ¡­ .. . Nah it can¡¯t be that he¡¯s hanging out here killing us multiple times because we tried to attack his love¡­That actually sounds like it may be the reason, scary. We entertain that possibility but that doesn¡¯t do much for our certain situation; we¡¯re stuck on the plains for now. We¡¯ve finally gotten to the level needed to hit the forest and there¡¯s this rare mini-boss guarding the borders. That¡¯s not good for us at all. ¡°So what¡¯s our plan for today?¡± Asks Husky while he scratches his head ¡°Grind like crazy?¡± I suggest ¡°Since we can¡¯t get through the forest, might as well¡± J?t answers ¡°How about we try take on 2 wolves¡± ¡°What, you take one, Husky and J?t take the other? I mean I¡¯ll probably be more useful herbing¡± ¡°True, although you do no damage you¡¯re good meat¡± J?t says quite apathetically ¡°Nice you think of me that way¡± I smile at him sarcastically Well it looks like we¡¯ve decided then. Since we get 11 in-game hours before night comes we should hit level 10 no problem. We walk outside and say another hello to Gerard. Wait a minute. I stop the others and take them back to the village. We make our way over to the skinners first (I figured out we may be high enough level to learn skinning too). Inside is a huge tanning rack that takes up a whole side of the house. A table laid bare is in the middle of the room and a large chest full of furs is over in the corner. There is a woman (I hide behind Husky) working on the tanning rack; a short and petite figure wrapped thickly in fur. From the back I see her green-tinted arms as well as her short brown hair. Upon us entering she puts down her knife and turns round to face us. Oh, a goblin¡­female? The woman(?) in question is a small goblin with a claw scar taking up the right side of her face. ¡°Who are you? Looking for some leather?¡± She(?) says with a gruff accent I¡¯m being serious here when I say I¡¯m not too sure she¡¯s a woman. The only thing that gives her away is the red lips, but apart from that her face is very¡­wrinkly. It¡¯s almost impossible to tell what gender she is just by looking. Her deep voice doesn¡¯t help the distinction either. ¡°Bezia, we¡¯re here for some work, if you¡¯ve got anything that is¡± Husky walks over to her with a raised hand in greeting (he was the one to meet her before) ¡°Ah, big¡¯un¡­Husky was it? Hmm you look strong enough, but who¡¯s the pipsqueaks over there?¡± she points towards us ¡°Oh my fellow warriors of the snow, Kal and J?t¡± He got a bit dramatic when introducing us! After the introduction we move forward with a ¡°hi¡±. Bezia looks us up and down once and me twice *shiver* (I swear she stopped at¡­nevermind). Seemingly pleased she nods her head ¡°Well I was running out of some of them Wolf furs but I heard there was a big black one out there. Wouldn¡¯t want to mess with that one I heard. SO if you could bring me back about 30 wolves then I¡¯d be set for a few days.
QUEST:Bezia''s Furs
Bezia has asked you to deliver 10 wolves to her doorstep. She also warned you about a dangerous large black wolf that was rumoured to be about
Reward: 4 silvers
¡°We will get right to killing those wolves for you!¡± Announces Husky as he leaves ¡°Just wait a second. Bring them back you hear, don¡¯t reclaim them.¡± Well at least we don¡¯t have to run away from other wolves with a dead wolf in tow¡­.not Waving her off we leave the place. Hmm that was oddly uneventful. I¡¯m not sure if I should be glad or not. Anyways, we move next door and walk inside (there¡¯s a signpost since it¡¯s a shop, so we can walk in normally). Inside is well¡­fabric hell. That¡¯s a good description of what is in front of us; The entire place is littered with bolts and bolts of cloth. There are a rainbow of colors stacked on top of one another and I had to squint my eyes at the gaudy sight. I cannot see any tables or anything, nope, all there is, is cloth and a lot of it. ¡°Hello hello?¡± A small cutesy voice appears in our vicinity. ¡­ .. . We all look at eachother before we all shrug. I guess no one knows where this voice came from (at least we all heard it so I wasn¡¯t going mad, phew!). ¡°You three!¡± The voice gets a little angry, but it¡¯s already sonata so it just makes it sound cute rather than angry We all point at ourselves a bit reluctantly; we are hearing voices so we¡¯re a bit weirded out ok. ¡°Yes. Can you help me out of here?¡± ... .. . ¡°Umm, where exactly?¡± Husky asks looking confused (Wait a second didn¡¯t he already visit the place?) We all look around to try find a bulge in the piles of cloth, but the whole place looks like a mountain range so it¡¯s pretty impossible. ¡°I¡¯m under here. Just follow my voice¡± We listen to her small voice and it seems to come from the right side of the room. ¡°Oh oh wait, stop!!¡± She hurriedly says, I think she forgot something important ¡°Don¡¯t touch my cloth please, but come over quickly¡± We look at the mountains of cloth in front of us. Not a speck of the floor is left uncovered. Riiight, we won¡¯t touch a thing (That is not feasible, sorry). Shaking our heads we do some spring (although its eternally winter here) cleaning. We start to move the bolts of cloth to the sides of the room packing them in small pyramids, by color. We don¡¯t talk about it but we all know that this room was too gaudy, made our stomachs churn at the sights. We also all may be a little OCD as we end up putting the colors in order of the rainbow on the left side of the room while the other colors by their palette brethren (so Turqoise with Cyan etc etc). After a good 4 hours (Yes, we¡¯ve just spent a whole 4 hours cleaning up an entire room of cloth. We took a quick snack break in the middle though. However there were around 200 bolts worth of cloth so we did it in good time) we finally sort out and stack up every bolt of cloth, except for the last corner with a very irritated voice coming out (She does have all the right, we did take two hours to get to her) and asking us to be quicker. We consider just leaving the voice covered but we want quests so we reluctantly take the bolts away *Zip* A small bright thing just flew past us with a ¡°Yipee I¡¯m freeeee!¡± and we all look up in shock to see¡­a Tinkerbell??? Ah, almost. She is a fairy at least but the similarities end there. She wears an omni-colored dress (AAH MY EYES!!!), no I¡¯m serious, it¡¯s omni-colored. Every color possible is on that dress. I don¡¯t know how she wears it without feeling the need to barf but apart from the extreme gaudiness it¡¯s quite a well made dress. Even though all the pieces are different there¡¯s no obvious stitches and the colors mix (although horribly) into one. ¡°Ah to be free at last! Phew, I was stuck there forever and-¡± She suddenly stops her relieved smile as she looks around the room in complete shock We put flash our proud grins and stand grandly to show it was our hard work ¡°WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°MY MASTERPIECE, HOURS AND HOURS OF HARD WORK¡­all gone!¡± She zips around the room and then turns back to us with tears in her eyes. With a ¡°Aaargh¡± (which sounded and looked quite cute indeed) she charges Husky headbutting him beautifully (Although she is literally the size of his forehead, so it wasn¡¯t effective). ¡°Who are you?¡± WAIT A SECOND THERE HUSKY. You came to this place; shouldn¡¯t you know who she is? Maybe she hit him harder than I thought? ¡°I¡¯m Izzy of course¡± She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world while she rubs her head in pain. ¡°OH, IZZY!¡± Did he forget or something? ¡°So that¡¯s who you are¡± Nope, he never knew her. Make up your mind will you Husky. ¡°Wait how do you know me?¡± Wait didn¡¯t she just act like everyone should know her a second ago?? ¡°Rogzad told me¡± ¡°Oh Roggy! So you¡¯re here to see him?¡± ¡°Well we¡¯re just looking for something to do¡± Husky just shrugs ¡°Oh, perfect. I was needing someone to¡­¡± She looked around excitedly and then once again fell into shock (Did she forget that she was shouting her head off about her masterpiece already?) ¡°My-my masterpiece¡­¡± ¡°Um, sorry(?) but we had to clear it up to reach you. By the way why were you under there, did you get trapped?¡± Husky rubs the back of his head with an ¡®oops¡¯ face ¡°I was putting the finishing touches and one of the bolts fell and caught me. I¡¯ve been stuck there for days now!¡± As she exasperates her former plight I lean over to Husky and whisper ¡°Didn¡¯t you come here before?¡± ¡°Nah, Rogzad stopped me at the door saying it¡¯d be closed for a day or two.¡± Izzy has gone and zipped over the mountains of cloth bolts sniffing sadly as she sees them all color coordinated. J?t is pretty speechless right now; actually he hasn¡¯t moved an inch for the past minute or so. Looks like he goes for fairies too then? Now that you mention it¡­I take a look at Izzy as she scampers around and do notice the well shaped body emphasized by the sleek dress; her proportions are quite good (although technically they are still tiny, just saying). After about a minute she flies back to us tears in her eyes (wow, cute¡­oh god, is this what I look like when I¡¯m tearing up???). ¡°WHY? Why did you have to destroy my maste-¡± Her eyes fall on me and she immediately goes silent (Wow, did she just notice me?) *Shiver* ¡­ .. . I think she took some lessons from Thalia because I swear I just saw a tiny tongue lick some tiny red lips. DANGEROUS¡­ok well not that dangerous; I didn¡¯t shiver with the same intensity when she licked her lips as when Thalia did. Guess she doesn¡¯t have hundreds of years experience (Wait that¡¯s a good point; just how old is Thalia???). She shakes her head vigorously and the continues her berating ¡°You know how long I spent doing it? 3 years, 3 whole years building it! Day by day, month by month, I even had to throw Roggy out last month because he was getting in the way. And you guys just ruined it all. I was so close, when I was about to finish my masterpiece!¡± She pants for a second regaining her breath but before she begins again I quickly divert her mind ¡°So are you and Rogzad married?¡± I mean kicking him out of the house for a month, ouch that¡¯s got to hurt. ¡°Pfft no, he¡¯s just a work partner, quite good at his job too¡± She flitters about showing off her dress (Izzy I think you¡¯ve got to see an optician, but still the dress is still quite high quality). Ah ok so it¡¯s not that bad for him then (although still kicking him out of the house for a month is still pretty cruel). ¡°Good to know. So tell me what was this masterpiece you were making?¡± ¡°Y-you didn¡¯t see it? I thought you would at least see what you were destroying but alas!¡± She pretend faints in the air ¡°I saw a lot of mountains¡± J?t speaks up finally, recovered from his daze it seems. But mountains? Well there were mountains upon mountains of cloth everywhere. ¡°Oh, I had given up hope there! Seems like you did see it, well part of it at least¡± Wait, mountains and she say¡¯s correct? Was she making a map or something? ¡­ .. . ¡°YOU WERE MAKING A MAP?? OUT OF CLOTH???¡± I think I yelled a bit too loudly there, although it looks like J?t already figured that out..or he just did(so he was just saying there were mountains of cloth¡­) ¡°Yes of course! What else would I be doing?¡± She once again has that ¡®it¡¯s obvious¡¯ tone. ¡°Just what do you do? I thought you¡¯re a tailor?¡± ¡°No, Rogzad¡¯s the only tailor in town, he told me himself¡± Husky inputs shooting down my idea she¡¯s just a wacky tailor. ¡°I¡¯m a clothtographer¡± Cloth¡­tographer? So cloth + cartography??? Well at least I¡¯m not the only one confused as we all synchronously cock our heads to the right. ¡°So you make maps out of cloth¡­interesting¡± J?t had a tone clearly suggesting he thinks she¡¯s a bit loony. I¡¯m there with you J?t. ¡°Yes it¡¯s an extremely fun job! I travel around the country creating maps bit by bit with cloth. Over the years I was creating my masterpiece, the map of the entire frozen kingdom; North of the Ice Needles. But now, it¡¯s all gone. All my hard work destroyed by a trio of strangers¡± ¡°I was wondering Izzy, how would you create your map because I didn¡¯t see any distinctive features, except the mountains of course¡± Seems like J?t actually became interested in this bizarre person (Or he¡¯s just turned into his elf-lover, well elf/fairy-lover persona). ¡°I used different colors to mark specific locations that I would have Roggy sew the details I¡¯ve collected into¡± And here I was thinking she had no eye for color (well I still think that but it at least seems she had a reason to make it look so gaudy). Husky and J?t actually looks quite impressed and I think I am too although mildly concerned for the possibly loony Izzy. Who spends 3 years building a map out of cloth that can get destroyed in hours? Well it was our fault how could we know that the massive piles of cloth were actually mountains and that, I¡¯m supposing, the blue cloth marked water (I think I¡¯m wrong there, she probably made yellow or something water...). ¡°Well¡­what will you do now?¡± Husky, please play your cards better. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know. I guess I¡¯ll have to travel round once more and spend more years travelling through dangerous forests and the harsh cold to find where everything should be once again. Hic¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Husky made a fairy cry (Well we¡¯ve already made her emotionally unstable, although it seems she¡¯s mentally unstable too. Why? Have you not seen the way she just changed her attitude? It¡¯s like a switch!). ¡°Don¡¯t worry my dear Izzy, we shall scour these lands for you, don¡¯t worry your precious little heart¡± J?t valiantly exclaims I lean over to him and whisper. ¡°Umm J?t? Have you forgotten about our little situation already?¡± ¡°¡­I have a plan¡± I do not trust you in the slightest with that hesitation of yours my friend. ¡°Oh really you will?!¡± She gives us some giant puppy eyes (I just noticed but her eyes are Huge! Comparatively of course) and J?t immediately says ¡°Of course!¡± while me and Husky shrug our shoulders with a ¡°Why not¡±. We are hopefully going to travel around the place, might as well have a reason for it.
QUEST:Izzy''s Masterpiece
Izzy Cinn, a Fairy Clothtographer has been creating a map of the land north of the Ice Needles. However it seems you dismantled teh map and thus forced her to start over again. However you have asked to do it for her and she willingly accepts. She asks you to build a rough map of the country and the locations of everything and bring it back to her once it is completed.
Percentage completed: 0%
Rewards: Izzy''s trust and faith
¡®rough map¡¯ huh. Seems like the system doesn¡¯t think we will make a good map which is a bit mean, I¡¯m not that bad at art. However it does have a point. ¡°How are we going to do this? None of us has the cartography skills¡± I point out to the others and they nod ¡°What are you talking about? You use Clothtography of course!¡± ¡­ .. . Damn, I did say one can never have enough skills but do I really have to pick this one up? Izzy zips over to each of us and places her finger on our forehead.
Izzy Cinn has given you the teachings of a new skill You have learned the skill: Clothtography
SKILL:Clothtography [lvl1]
This skill was derived from the mad tailor Drenk Jenshin who decided to create a map from cloth. Many tailors followed Drenk''s teachings and became clothtographers. However the profession quickly lost populairty due to it being practically useless since cartographers did things quicker and better.
Clothtography allows you to create maps using cloth. The skill level will improve the quality of the maps created
Wow, even the system said this skill is useless. I cannot do anything but shake my head in woe. I guess I should make one can never have too many skills the fifth rule. I let out a sigh ¡°So I guess we should buy some cloth for our travels. How much is a bolt Izzy?¡± ¡°50 silver¡± ¡­ .. . We ran out of that store like our butts caught fire. We are not doing this quest for a loooooong time! Why? Well if it cost just 50 silver it wouldn¡¯t be too bad but Izzy¡¯s map had around 200 bolts worth of cloth. And that was just for landscape, the cloth to be sewn in for details would be god knows how much. So simply, this quest costs a minimum of 100 gold to complete. No siree. Shoving that quest to the recess of our quest journal we head out of town. After spending 5 whole hours in town (wow that was quite a long time for just two quests) we finally make it to the fields and being our grinding. So first on our list is collecting wolves. While Husky and J?t massacre wolves one at a time I jump around collecting Frost Grass where the elks are grazing. At my third collection stop I hear a growl as I finish up and I immediately sprint towards the others who literally just two-shotted a wolf (If you count the 4 icebolts as one). I arrive at their location after narrowly dodging the wolf¡¯s pounce and Husky takes up the vanguard. -40 (52/150) Stopping the wolf with his axe, Husky pushes the wolf away before activating ¡®Slash¡¯ Crit -161 (159/320) The wolf is stunned for a second as the axe embeds itself in its head (how it¡¯s not dead, only the game knows). But within that time I turn round and slice the wolf in the flank -9 (150/320) The wolf regains its senses and starts to claw Husky who blocks as best as he can with his axe handle -23 -17 (12/150) I barrel into the wolf causing myself more pain than to it but I interrupt its flurry of attacks. -5 (105/110) -2 (148/320) Husky slashes the interrupted wolf once more with his skill although only hitting its flank this time -86 (62/320) ¡°Awooo¡± The wolf calls for help before pouncing at him before he can raise his axe -38 (-26/150) ¡°Ah damn, guess we can¡¯t fight against 2 yet¡± Husky spews out some wise words before he dies and disintegrates into light. The wolf finishing its kill, turns to me and I sprint away. -62 (53/110) It only grazed me but that damage! I sprint away towards the town with the wolf chasing me and J?t running behind. The other wolves luckily appear from behind us and slightly away so they will probably only get 1 attack before we get to town (although I¡¯ll die from one attack). -60 (2/320) An icebolt flies into the wolf¡¯s back and it yelps but doesn¡¯t die. -2 (0/320) However the wolf turns round and immediately gets a dagger in the face. J?t without stopping grabs the head and starts running with the dead wolf being dragged behind him. A true loot whore, but then we¡¯ve already had to leave one behind; we don¡¯t want to leave both our kills, that¡¯d just be terrible. However this slowed him down a bit and about 100 metres from town the wolves pounce onto him dragging him under. Thanking him silently for the sacrifice I sprint to the village DIVE-OUCH I seemed to have face planted on something extremely hard. Oh its Husky¡¯s plate mail boot. Man that¡¯s hard. Rubbing my nose I get back up to see Husky looking angrily at the wolves as they devour the corpse of their fellow wolf (nothing gory, it just disintegrates where they bite it). Guess they¡¯ll even eat their own kind out here, nasty. Waiting for half a minute, J?t joins us again and we give Gerard a wave as we head back out. As a full party this time we pick off a couple of wolves one at a time and when we had killed 6 we sprinted back to the village unceremoniously dragging the wolves back to Bezia¡¯s. She collects them and tells us to get more. With pleasure. We head out again and repeat the process another 5 times before I level up and the others reach late 80¡¯s in their xp bars. It wasn¡¯t really eventful killing since J?t and Husky pretty much just murdered them. So since I had nothing to do I took a page out of J?t book and started hacking myself. It felt a bit strange for the first hour or so but I got quite into it after 3 hours. Yes once again we spent an exorbitant amount of time on a small number of monsters. Our fights only last about 3 seconds now but we then have to rest for 2 minutes to regen health and then spend another 2 finding another wolf. Not to mention running back to the village (ok about a minute, maybe 2 if we¡¯re dragging the wolves) as well as taking snack breaks every 30 minutes to keep our satiety up (sprinting everywhere really consumes a lot). But all in all we¡¯re doing good time. And finally after 3 hours of hunting and dragging wolves through the village, causing more than a few stares (although most were focused on me, damn I¡¯d almost forgotten the feeling), we finally finish the quest¡­not. Once we gave her all the wolf pelts she asked us inside and now we¡¯re skinning the things. All 30 of them (10 each so not too bad). The skinning itself isn¡¯t too difficult but it feels more like a minigame rather than skinning an animal; there are illuminated lines you need to trace with your knife. The more accurate the trace, the better the quality. I found it quite fun and we had a little in-house competition as to who could draw the best face on the wolf¡¯s stomach (that pelt¡¯s quality was so bad it didn¡¯t even have a rating). Turns out Husky won with surprisingly delicate finger and artmanship as he made my J?ts face with a tongue sticking out (Did not suit him at all). I made J?t face grinning for the record (He looked like he¡¯d gone mad) and J?t drew his face as is (normal with little expression, oddly suitable). I don¡¯t know why we all drew J?ts face, just some bizarre coincidence. Anyway that earned us a small clubbing from General Bezia. I dub her as such because she¡¯s going round us telling us how to skin with her deep, gruff voice making each sentence sound like a command. Also after our face trace game the name stuck in my mind: ¡°DO you think this is funny? This is a war between you and that corpse, between you and the enemy!¡± I respect her passion of skinning but still to liken it to war is a bit over the top. Well then again she does have a scar from a clawed beast? Maybe it revived on her and clawed her or something, or she tried to skin undead? Thinking that was it could most definitely be likened to war. Continuing on. We finish off our wolves after a good half an hour but all we¡¯re left with is 30 square sheets of wolf hide. It was strange that when we skinned the wolf it got reclaimed and it left 3 of those hidesquares behind. Just for the record only Husky got medium quality hide, the rest of us had poor. I can tell we¡¯re not going to be skinners. BUT¡­we still take the skill anyway as we get our 4 silver reward and she clubs us giving us the skill. Bezia Gan has given you the teachings of a new skill
You have learnt the skill: Skinning
SKILL:Skinning [lvl1]
This skill allows you to skin animals and collect their hides. Quality is increased with skill proficiency
One can never have too many skills. But I can sure have a bunch of useless ones. Oh wait, this is actually extremely useful! I take a knee before Bezia ¡°Bezia please teach me how to turn these squares of hide into something of use¡± ¡°And why should I?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯d like to wear the skin of my enemies as a reminder of our battle together as well as a trophy of my victory¡± I don¡¯t wear it as armor. If I did I¡¯d be wearing some body armor so that I actually have some defense. ... .. . She muses for a bit before conceding to my honorable intentions ¡°5 silver and I¡¯ll train you¡± Goblins always make a profit. Dammit. Luckily we still get the copper coins after skinning the wolves so we have enough. The other two take a knee to Bezia and ask for the skill too. I think we¡¯re just becoming skill whores honestly but I must emphasize once again: rule number four; one can never have too many skills. She does allow them to train in it too seeing as though it¡¯d look bad if she denied them for no reason (especially when she was being paid to teach). And so all three of us start learning how to leatherwork (once we pay almost all our money to the goblin). It wasn¡¯t that difficult but it took a decent amount of time; First we had to tan the hide by stringing it up and rubbing salt over it. Then we brushed a gooey liquid (I¡¯m just going to call it tanning oil because I missed what she called it) onto the hide. The hardest part was here; we had to wait. Because they are only small squares we¡¯re told it¡¯ll take about an hour for it to become leather, however we¡¯d need to reapply the oil and salt until it reached the right softness. However Bezia told us that she¡¯d do the reapplying this time. So with nothing to do for an hour we decide to hunt 5 more wolves and spend 1 silver 20 copper on repairing our slightly damaged items (8 copper left in the purse, how terrible). Returning to Bezia¡¯s we find the hide has gone extremely soft and Bezia tasks us with creating a couple of pieces of leather armor. Because the hide (well leather now) is so soft it¡¯s easy to meld the leather and we easily make bracers, boots and helmets. Getting a needle and thread, we are told to cross-stitch our pieces while she cuts one of our squares into strips. After we stick the leather somewhat she has us bind the leather more strongly together with the leather strips. After a short while the leather seemed to harden naturally and a window popped up saying our armor was complete. All in all, our first batch turns out pretty nicely. A bit over-sized and crappy looking but it¡¯s a start. Even Husky is pretty bad at it. Bezia looks at our work and gives it a ¡°pass¡± to which we rejoice slightly. And so all three of us get another club to the head (just a meaty fist but it hurts a lot more than her small fist looks like it could do).
Bezia Gan has given you the teachings of a new skill You have learnt the skill: Leatherworking
SKILL:Leatherworking [lvl1]
You have learnt how to turn simple hides into pieces of clothing and armour suitable for use
That lesson took 2 hours which is a fair time for the price of only 5 silver. Also nothing strange happened. I mean she did gaze at me a bit more often than the others but that was because I was usually messing up slightly here or there. Leaving Bezia¡¯s we see the sun is slowly setting and we head back to our home. Playing rock paper scissors on the way back home with J?t, I of course lose. Going inside I fail to dodge Cindy¡¯s bear hug and after I finally get loose, I regain my breath as the rest of them sit for dinner. J?t however does the cooking while being instructed by Cindy. Today is roast elk. J?t does a decent job and the elk is thoroughly cooked (By the way Varg came in a couple of minutes before dinner was ready and sat down with us. Just what does he do all day?), If a little burnt around the edges. We all eat it happily though because it is a warm meaty meal that makes me sweat quite profusely from my eyes (Oh spice why must we have such a bad relationship?). Finishing our meal, Husky and J?t go to their beds and log off telling me they¡¯ll be with me in the morning. Varg and Cindy head off to their room and I¡­get out of there preemptively. I step outside into the chilly night. ¡°So what should I do now?¡± ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Corners: Aight, so for people who read my other fictions. this is just a downtime things not feeling the Joat/L1ONS vibe, so this''ll have a couple of updates today to pretty much finish this arc. -TRUE NORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD Night Adventures with NO Adventures Walking out of town I once again feel the gaze of the Orc who stands guard at night. His gaze travels down my back which makes me shiver a little (or maybe it¡¯s just the cold). Making my way out until his gaze disappears I then go look for a nearby wolf. I soon find one strolling about. Giant and menacing looking the night wolves are. Also their canines grow quite a bit. I really shouldn¡¯t go against them because they look terrifying. However I still get close to it.
NAME:Winter Wolf (Night Variant) [lvl12]
480/480
Eeek! level 12. I really really shouldn¡¯t screw with this guy. However I still do because I have a chance to beat the wolf¡­I think. I stand up and sprint to the wolf and it aggros on me. Turning and pouncing in my direction I jump to the side swiveling in the air and swing down on the wolf. -5 (475/480) NOPE! The wolf has a higher defense it seems but lower agility to I was able to dodge it. Problem is that it¡¯s now between me and the village. Snarling it turns back towards me and this time bounds towards me raising a claw as it reaches me. I immediately dive to the side getting a graze on my upper back -98 (12/110) Rolling to a stand I start to run in the village direction and with a 113% movement speed I reach the village without the wolf reaching me. DIVE Sliding on the snow a bit I rest in the snow till my health gets back to full. Standing up I brush myself but am not able to brush the Orc¡¯s gaze from my back. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to be able to beat this wolf normally, so I need something to help tilt the scales in my favor- ¡­ .. . Damn do I really have to? Cursing my thoughts I head back out of town and to the forests edge. Sighing, I walk around the outskirt till I find a snowberry bush and then sprint inside. Taking my sweet time chop the berry bush from its stem and have enough time to hold the thing before my head seems to slide a bit. Waking up on my mattress I head outside and with care remove the berries from the bush. 10 berries, all mid-quality (guess chopping the bush stem rather than ripping it out was cleaner and makes a difference). With the first regret of my night done I take a quick walk two doors down and¡­pull out the key Taking a deep breath I unlock the door and go inside. Entering the dark, house lit only by a slightly glowing potion in the midst of the equipment I am greeted by Thalia who is wearing a black embroided gown (Wait where¡¯d she get that from? I thought she just has that messed up fur clothing). ¡°Coming in at night, one may think you¡¯re up to something¡­naughty¡± Biting a finger coyly she leans against the door frame revealing her smooth grey leg from a natural cut in the dress. ¡°U-uh no I just wanted to do something with you¡± ¡°Oh¡± she begins to walk towards me (oh no) swing her hips as she comes ¡°shall we get started?¡± Shea reaches me and grabs my face pulling me towards her- ¡°ALCHEMY¡± She stops and with a ¡°tch¡± lets my heels touch the floor once more. Phew (Wiping that sweat off my brow. That was a close one) Following her to the alchemy table I watch as she slowly removes her works in progress and places them safely in a corner. ¡°So what are we doing?¡± she doesn¡¯t sound angry so that¡¯s good, I guess. ¡°I need some help creating a poison. I¡¯ve got snowberries and Frost Grass but I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s going to be heavily reliant on the berries right?¡± She nods and then moving behind me she starts to instruct me on how to make a poison potion. ¡°Now first you take two berries and crush them, here let me help you.¡± Her hand grasps mine and helps me crush the berries *Gulp* ¡°Good, now pour the juices into a vial. Now taste it, good right?¡± I take a taste of the berry juice, surprisingly sweet and no poison ¡°but mine is better¡± I drop the vial my face explodes into an inferno and my heart forgets to beat for a second, but no crashing sounds are heard. ¡°Be careful there, wouldn¡¯t want me to get wet now would we¡± I feel her breath caress my ear (nonono) ¡°oh wait¡­too late¡± *Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump* Nonononononononono this ain¡¯t happening, not again. She places the vial on the desk and procures another one, placing it into my hand and then grasped my hand gently from the back ¡°Now you take the skin of the berry and place it in this vial¡± ¡°Good, next you add some water and then set it above an open flame letting it melt in the heat¡± ¡°As it melts make sure to stir but be gentle, or I may get¡­excited¡± Her hand calms my shaking one but nonononono I don¡¯t wanna be gentle, wait, nonono, I don¡¯t wanna! Also didn¡¯t you forget a ¡®t¡¯ please tell me you left out that ¡®t¡¯ accidentally. *Shiver* ¡°Oh you¡¯re shivering¡­let me warm you up¡± Nonononono but I don¡¯t get a choice as I feel her entire body press against mine. Ohh that¡¯s a nice feeling, wait nonononono. ¡°Now keep shaking, mmm just like that. Oh you¡¯re very good at this¡± It doesn¡¯t sound like I¡¯m shaking a vial! Nononono, get out of my head image. But I can¡¯t because I have a veeery good feel of her body and warmth spreading on my back. Aaaah whyyyy? The potion soon went blood red. ¡°Now add the two vials together to finish your poison¡±
Congratulations! A new recipe has been found: Mild Poison potion
Mild Poison potion
Ingredients: 2 snowberries
Deals 1 poison damage every 6 seconds until cured with an antidote
The potion I made was low quality but well¡­. ¡°Oh that¡¯s good, would you like to make another with me?¡± ¡°N-no I-I¡¯m good. D-don¡¯t worry about me. T-thank you¡± I slide around the table and she lets me go. Half-running I go through the door and dive into the snow *Sizzle* Oh god, oh god. I never should have asked her. Oh god. At least I¡¯m still intact and I can feel her heat on my back where here b-Nononono. I quickly turn onto my back cooling it with the snow. The heat finally recedes from my face and I stand up still intact. Never¡­ask¡­again. Too dangerous, waaaaaay too dangerous. Must stay pure for Missy¡¯s sake. Yes for Missy. Regaining my standings I head outside the gate and get a longing gaze at my back but after¡­y¡¯know¡­the gaze had little effect. I quickly scout a wolf and I take out my poison pot. Now what? ¡­ .. . I hail mary the pot and it crashes on the wolf¡¯s head causing the vial to smash letting the contents spill on the wolf. A ¡®poisoned¡¯ symbol appears on top of the wolf. Ok, step 1 complete. Step 2 commence. I SPRINT THE OTHER DIRECTION. The wolf with a howl comes after me but I am a couple of percent higher than it. I diligently run around the village with the wolf in tow. Usually the agro range of a monster is limited to a certain range, which just so happens to be the whole plain around the village (since it¡¯s only about 4 kilometers to full circle the village). After about 38 minutes (yes I¡¯VE BEEN RUNNING FOR 30 MINUTES STRAIGHT AND YES IT HURTS!!!) the wolf gives a howl and guess what? A whole 3 other wolves come running after me (thankfully they all started behind). RUN RUN RUN LIKE YOU¡¯RE BEING CHASED BY A PACK OF WOLVES, OH WAIT I AM!! *Ding* huh?
Sprint leveled up Sprint reached level 10 Sprint changed into Speedy Due to leveling up sprint to Level 10 it has derivated into a new skill called speedy
SKILL:Speedy [lvl1]
Active Skill
You have run so much that not only your feet have become faster but your entire being has sped up. +20% movement speed., +5 attack speed, +125% satiety consumption rate
Cost: none, Duration: Sustained
Great. More speed I do need that actually!! Another 10 minutes pass and I hear the death howl as the wolf finally dies but I don¡¯t celebrate due to a small pack of wolves still coming after me. Getting no time to reclaim my goods I sprint for another kilometer till I reach the southern entrance DIVE¡­Safe Phew. The wolves stop chasing me immediately losing interest at the sight of guards on the walls. Panting I lay on the snow only rolling over to uncover my mouth. Taking a loaf of bread from my inventory I ravenously eat it to get my satiety back up from 28. A whole 72 satiety gone in just 48 minutes. Hmm this doesn¡¯t seem like a good method. For two reasons. The first is pretty obvious; 48 minutes continually sprinting kills. The second reason is that the wolf calls its buddies and then I can¡¯t reclaim it. Also it¡¯s pretty cowardly to run away for 48 minutes till the wolf succumbs to poison. But still! I have defeated a wolf all by myself. I lay in the snow for a good 5 minutes before my sides stop burning like hell. In that time I have a couple of thoughts on what to do ¡­ .. . I can¡¯t seem to escape this fate of mine. Dammit. I need to go for another sexy alchemy lesson. Whyyyyy? Shakily standing up I make my way over to Thalia¡¯s and as I unlock the door once more I find her back against the door frame of her bedroom and her back arched emphasizing her twin peaks (they are nice and-Nono, get that outta my head) ¡°Back for another¡­lesson?¡± ¡°¡­Yes. I need to make a paralysis potion¡± She walks up to me ¡°Now why do you need that? I¡¯m already willing¡± *Shiver* Danger Danger She giggles and takes me to the alchemy table. ¡°So what¡¯s the ingredients you have now?¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Ah you see I need to get that paralysis thing you used on me when you¡­¡± ¡°When I what? Did you forget? Do you need a reminder?¡± ¡°NO no no I remember¡± My face is burning up right now, calm Kal you can do it. ¡°Hmm we¡¯ll I¡¯ll be willing to give it to you but these things don¡¯t come cheap¡± ¡°¡­How much?¡± ¡°1 gold per herb¡± Aaaaaaaah why so expensive?!? ¡­ .. . ¡°H-how¡­do I pay?¡± *Shiver* her predatorial smile looms over me ¡°Tonight is quite chilly and I need something to keep me warm¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°¡­I-I¡¯ll¡­ be your¡­teddy¡± ¡°Oh I¡¯ll be sure to cuddle you¡± *Gulp* Help somebody please! ¡°J-just cuddles!¡± ¡°Well if you ever want more¡­¡± *SHIVER* ¡°B-bb-b-bbut first I need to make this potion and make a few of them, 6 of them¡± ¡°Ah so you¡¯ll be paying for 6 nights to be my¡­teddy?¡± ¡°¡­Yes¡± Missy I still love you, but I just sold my body for herbs. I do what it takes defeat my enemies¡­but still¡­.I really Don¡¯t wanna! Noooooooo. Ah so embarrassing. Why¡¯d I have to say teddy!!! Whyyyyyyy? As I cover my face in my hands I feel myself be dragged and as she presses herself against my back (Ohh that¡¯s a go-nononono) she takes me hands in hers. ¡°Now we¡¯ll begin with straining this Shock-Rock Leaf for the paralyzing agent is in its pollen, which sticks on its out layer¡± ¡°Oh you¡¯re verrry good at this¡± Her hot breath tickles my ear (Nonononono, CONCENTRATE!) ¡°Next you shake the pot to mix the pollen with the water. Don¡¯t hesitate to use force. Because it turns¡­me¡­on.¡± Her tongue licks the outer rim of my ear. (¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­..blip¡­¡­¡­..blimp¡­thump¡­thump) My heart stopped for a looong time there, NOnononono I don¡¯t like using force, I don¡¯t like using force, nonononono.
Congratulations! A new recipe has been found: Strong Paralysis potion
Strong Paralysis potion
Ingredients: 1 Shock-rock leaf
Causes paralysis for 2 minutes
Mid-grade potion, 2 minutes 12 seconds paralysis. I can assure its effectiveness¡­ Quickly producing another 5 of them (all mid quality, flasks I¡¯m getting for free¡­well not really since I¡¯ve sold myself so it¡¯s just extra). I slide out of her grasp ¡°I¡¯ll¡­.come back once I¡¯ve finished what I¡¯ve planned¡± With an alluring smile she walks off to her room ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting¡­my teddy¡± Whyyyyy? So embarrassing!!! DIVE. *SIZZLE* Burying my head deep into the snow I hear the loud sounds of sizzling as I melt through it. Turning onto my back to get rid of that grea-nononono horrible! feeling, I let my heart and head cool down. I did what I had to do to beat the enemy. Getting up after I cool down I head out the exit waving hi to the Orc who ogles my back once again. Finding a wolf decently quickly I take out one of my precious paralysis potions. Moving into agro range I let the wolf howl and come at me. It pounces and I smash the bottle on the wolf¡¯s nose causing it to immediately stiffen up and land in front of me. Taking out my axe in glee I repeatedly chop the wolf¡¯s head causing continual crits Crit x48 -10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10¡­..(0/480) Within 72 seconds the wolf dies without a single howl because it¡¯s vocal chords are too paralyzed. Ripping out the wolf¡¯s massive canine (half-hand to elbow length, a good 20 cm maybe) I put it into the inventory after confirming it as a wolf tooth. I then try my best to skin the wolf with my axe (In short, disastrous) and after collecting the half-destroyed pieces I reclaim it for 12 copper (so no extra loot, just extra difficulty and xp). Looking around I find my next pray. Everything gets easy for me now as I smash the potion on a wolf¡¯s head and nose area every time they charge at me. Thus they get paralyzed and I leisurely chop them with continual crits. After every kill I rip off a canine, skin it (horribly) and then reclaim it. After repeating this another 4 times I end up with all 6 wolf teeth (3 left canines, 3 right. Doesn¡¯t make any difference I think). Also I gained a sub-skill:
After getting many continual criticals you have derived the new axe mastery sub-skill: Critical strike and it has replaced the sub-skill: Hack
Sub-Skill:Critical strike
Levels up with One-handed axe mastery
You strike in a vital area causing a large amount of damage. 200% damage
Cost: 25 rage
Ooooh. 200% damage. Exactly like a two-handed axe¡¯s ¡®Slash¡¯ then. And also seeing that I can still crit with it¡­that¡¯s 400% damage! That¡¯s amazing! Although compared to Husky I¡¯m still way behind on damage, but to other one-handed axe users I¡¯ve got a 50% damage advantage to them. Well this is what I get for 288 continuous crits (it popped up at 200). Returning back to the village feeling completely ecstatic I wave to the Orc and then stop¡­Oh god. I¡¯ve just remembered. Aaaaaaagh nooooo. My rule is that I keep my promises, however¡­embarrassing they are. Unlocking the door I enter the house *Gulp* I walk inside and see the subtle opening in the books littered on the floor. The road leading to the bedroom. *Gulp* Stay strong, I¡¯m just there for warmth. I belong to Missy and Missy alone. Thalia appears in the doorway and moves behind me pushing me ever so gently into the room. Inside is a bed *Gulp* with a smooth mattress and a fur duvet that is scrunched up leaving a space where some pillows are. ¡°Can you take your things off? Or would you like me to help?¡± WHA-nononono, I forgot you wear less clothing to bed, nononono. Also why does everything make my face flush?! *Gulp* I un-equip my boots and bracers and¡­finally my shorts. ... .. . I wonder if I can change my boxer colors in the loading screen. Wait¡­boxers? But I¡¯m a girl. Well I don¡¯t think anyone would be in their underwear often. That calmed me down a bit ¡°Now how about you hop right in and warm it up for me¡± ¡°O-ok¡± I..climb into the bed and feeling quite revealed I curl up slightly. ¡°Just stay there and warm that spot for me. Don¡¯t peek while I undress ok, well I wouldn¡¯t mind if you did¡± *Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump* NO, HEART STOP!! Nononono calm down Kal, calm down. Missy Missy Missy. It¡¯s just cuddles and she¡­she¡¯s going to be nnnn-nake- NONONONONONONO DANGER!! I almost jump right out of bed before I remember she¡¯s right there¡­undressing¡­Noooo, I¡¯m cornered. *Gulp* I hear her slip in behind me and then¡­I feel¡­Nonononononono. Don¡¯t think about it, don¡¯t give in. She doesn¡¯t pull the covers over me but I¡¯m burning in this cold night. Breathe, breathe. Her leg slides on top of mine trapping me BREATHE, BREATHE. Her hands curl around my body, one below my neck and the other above my side. So soft¡­Noooooooo Her hands slowly make their way downwards, her touch sending butterflies to my stomach. WAIT. I GRAB her hands as they reach my belly button. Phew that was close. BREATHE Kal. ¡°Don¡¯t you like it? Don¡¯t you want it?¡± I feel her move slightly rubbing against me and it feels so-Nonono, Grass and Ponies! Grass and Ponies! I do-NOT want it, NO Kal, you don¡¯t want it. Well I do but NO NO NO I DON¡¯T NEVER. I BELONG TO MISSY! Her hot breath tickles the back of my neck. RESIST!! Her hands intertwine around mine and she pulls me closer squishing me aga-NO PONIES AND GRASS PONIES AND GRASS!!! Her lips dig into the side of my neck and I feel the heat remain when she pulls back and puts her head back behind mine. ¡°Good night my Kal¡± ¡­ .. . OH LORD JESUS THIS IS ONE OF YOUR SONS WHO¡¯S NEVER BEEN HOLY BEFORE BUT NEEDS DIVINE INTERVENTION OR HE MIGHT FALL FOR THE DEVILESS THAT IS BEHIND HIM WITH SOME GREATFEELING-NONONONONO. BREAAAAAAATHE, THINK PONIES AND GRASS, PONIES AND GRASS. ... .. . I THINK I have regained control. Although *Gulp* I am still in deep danger. She¡¯s fallen asleep but if I fall asleep and she wakes up¡­Nononono. Keeping my eyes peeled I think of the most eye-opening thing I can think of; Gannor. Yes Imagine Gannor coming to this house and coming to eat me. I must stay awake or she¡¯ll eat me¡­She, NO, well yes BUT NO he, HE will eat me. I wonder¡­ Slowly I turn my head back to check if she¡¯s asleep. ¡­ .. . ¡°Oh naughty boy trying to get a peek, Can¡¯t you feel me well enough¡± And she begins to rub me. NONONONONONO I¡¯ve been TRICKED. DANGEROUS!! I keep my eyes looking to the black wall thinking of Gannor and not those soft and large- NO GANNOR, GANNOR, ONLY GANNOR. ... .. . This is the start of a very long night. Actually Getting Somewhere! ¡°Morning stranger¡± Husky hailed me from afar as I stand by the north exit. ¡°Yo¡± J?t¡¯s here as well it seems ¡°M-morning guys¡± ¡°So what you get up to last night¡± Husky wiggled his eyebrows knowingly ¡°NOTHING¡± I ROAR at him ¡°ABSOLUTELY NOTHING¡± ¡°Woah, calm down there, what happened to you?¡± Husky says with a smile, he suspects!\ ¡°GANNOR¡± ¡°Oh him? What, did he come at you again?¡± ¡°ALL NIGHT¡± ¡°Ouch that¡¯s not good, how many levels you dropped?¡± ¡°NOTHING¡± ¡°Really? What kind of crazy night grinding did you do¡± ¡°LOTS, LOTS OF GRINDING BUT STILL NOTHING!!!¡± They seem to have gotten the idea, the wrong idea (in a good way) but I am still a bit out of it. And yes I am still pure!!! But I fear for tonight. ANYWAYS, perishing the thought! ¡°Husky. J?t. Let me finish quest. Warrior quest¡± ¡°Hang in there buddy, don¡¯t turn into Varg. Get well soon¡± J?t has been really quiet through the whole conversation, mostly because he had no idea the inner conflict me and Husky had begun with. So we head back into Varg and Cindy¡¯s house and luckily Varg is still relaxing at the table. *BAM* I slam my 6 large canines on the table and everyone gives me a wide-eyed look, even Varg. ¡°Boy. Night wolves?¡± I nod once ¡°Kal, honey you¡¯ve barely been at it for 3 days, what did you do to defeat those night wolves¡± Cindy rushes up to me while holding my hands ¡°I sold my body and soul¡± Never have my word been so heavy. The words affect all who hear as the cringe at the thought of what suffering I went through. THEY KNOW NOTHING AND THEY WILL NEVER KNOW. Still, Varg takes my teeth and gives me a pleased grin ¡°Next. Forest. Snow Lynx. 4 teeth¡±
QUEST:Path Of The Warrior II
You have successfully gathered the wolf teeth and thus Varg has now asked you to collect 4 teeth from Snow Lynxes
Rewards: Path Of The Warrior III
Good. I am sick of wolves. Hunting something new sounds like fun. With a new quest in my hand I¡¯m considerably happier. ¡°To the forest!¡± Husky declares ¡°Have you forgotten about Gannor? J?t counters ¡°Well about that I do have a plan¡± I tell the others. I mean I did have a whole night to think of things. To keep me awake. I quickly tell them my plan and it looks like they think it¡¯s pretty good. Even better when I lose at rock paper scissors. Dammit. We split up, me heading for the north exit and them to the south. I move through the snowy meadow until I reach the forest edge. We¡¯re in position-J?t The message appears in a little window in-front of me, how cool. ¡°YAAAAAAH¡± Sprinting through the forest I run as fast as I can through the trees and before I know it¡­I¡¯m dead. Well I gave you guys 3 seconds head start. Reviving I sprint out the door and through the north exit again. Sprinting through the fields I burst into the forest and continue running like a mad man. 1, 2, 3¡­I¡¯m still alive. Ok the plan is working so far. Running straight out for a good 3 minutes I then abruptly turn to the left and head that way. I haven¡¯t heard any failures from them so it looks like the plan succeeded. Running for another minute I feel a tingle and hit the ground rolling. Yaah A White spotty blur passes over my curled body and springs towards me as I¡¯m standing up once more. Quickly slinging myself around a tree the sound of ripping wood come from behind. I continue running keeping an eye out for my pursuer¡­oh great; it¡¯s a snow lynx
NAME:Snow Lynx [lvl 16]
600/600
7 levels above me (well technically 15 since I haven¡¯t spent any points yet)! SNOW LYNX I scream a message (voice transcript, me likey) to J?t Grabbing a tree I hug it tight feeling a large wind behind me as the lnyx had pounced at where I was. Pushing off the tree I get a small burst as I run to the right of the lynx but in no time it catches up to me making me push on a tree to change my direction but I still get grazed -68 (42/110) Strange, they do about the same as wolves. -113 (0/110) However much faster. Much much faster. I die as the lynx quick turns after it lands and re-pounces on me, catching me this time. Miffed, I wake up (respawn) at the house but surprisingly I¡¯m not alone; Both Husky and J?t are sitting on their mattresses with grimaces ¡°Snow lynxes, who¡¯d believe they¡¯re nasty little back-stabbers¡± Seems like a lynx caught J?t by surprise and then finished Husky off soon after. Well that put an end to our plan of escaping to the forest, but at least we know how difficult the lynxes are now. Heading outside we give Gerard a wave and find a wolf. -60 (260/320) Agroing it with an icebolt, Husky and I move up to take care of the rest. -27 (123/150) We do the usual with Husky taking the initial block before he slams his axe into the wolf and I attack it¡¯s flank -42 -10 -10 (198/320) The wolf regaining its sense after getting axed to the floor (though the crit missed) slides to the right dodging Husky¡¯s second attack -40 (83/150) The wolf clawed him on the side leaving a gash on his armor. I sprint towards the wolf running my axe across its flank -10 11 (177/320) -60-60-60 (0/320) Immediately 3 icebolts fly out destroying the wolf completely. Hmm so we can take on one fine. Quickly we find another wolf. -50 (100/150) -50 (60/110) -120 (10/130) Stabbing/hacking/punching ourselves we lose enough health to activate our attack skills. Running into the wolf¡¯s agro this time, it turns towards us and pounces at Husky -60 (260/320) An icebolt interrupts it mid-pounce as it flies into its flank. The wolf lands and skids to the right of Husky. Critx2 -42 -43 (175/320) Stepping out from behind Husky I land two quickly blows on the wolfs face earning two crits and a momentary stun which his long enough for Husky to swivel round axe it now -85 (90/320) -60 -60 (0/320) The wolf died in about 3 seconds flat. Much better. Healing up we go find two wolves that are close to each other this time. -50 (100/150) -50 (60/110) -120 (10/130) Husky runs towards one while I sprint towards the other. My wolf pounces at me and I duck feeling a chill run across my back and into a yelping wolf. Crit -120 (200/320) Slicing my axe at its legs I twirl round and use the momentum to strike from above embedding my axe above its nose -21 crit -41 (138/320) Pushing off the wolf I jump to the side before 2 *thud* sounds appear in the wolf. Crit -120 -60 (0/320) Turning round I look at Husky who is sitting on the wolfs neck, his axe embedded in its face, punching it continuously behind the ears, causing mini-stuns -10 -10 -10 -10 -10¡­(0/320) A stunned wolf is a dead wolf. With a satisfied grin Husky steps off the beaten down wolf. We just beat two wolves with ease. The crux of our attacks is the beginning crits. If Husky gets a crit with his axe then he blows the wind out of the wolf giving him a second to pile onto the wolf. My axe doesn¡¯t do as much but J?t¡¯s crit icebolts are enough for a momentary stun. So with this strategy we¡¯re able to take out two wolves. Question is; can we take on three? No, not yet anyways. The three of us continue this double wolf hunting (which increased our hunting speed considerably) for 5 hours racking up 56 kills and as much xp. I¡¯m at 39% while the others at late 40¡¯s. The wolves just don¡¯t give any experience any more (1% per wolf). However we¡¯ve gotten a couple of things out of this past 5 hours¡­We¡¯ve learnt how to fight against a pack: -24 (77/320) ¡°Awoo¡± -23 -11 -5 -5 -11 -24 (0/320) ¡°AwoooAwoAwooo¡± A trio of wolves appear close-by and bound towards us Running up to my wolf I spin to the left dodging its initial pounce and slice it on the side -10 (310/320) I finish my spin as it turns round and using my momentum I send a kick directly to its face Crit -2 (308/320) Yelping the wolf retreats a step and I do a lunging hack with my ¡®critical strike¡¯ Crit -72 (236/320) Its head crashes to the floor for a momentary stun and I pull it towards me with my axe. Sending an arm around its neck I swing myself round to its back and grab my arm sending it into a chokehold. My legs lock on its front paws and I send us to the floor -5 (55/110) Keeping the wolf in a chokehold I stop it escaping as it furiously tries to writhe out of my grasp but its arms are held by my legs and its breathe is running out. 30 seconds later the wolf stops moving, haven fallen into the unconscious state. Rolling the wolf under me I grab my axe and hack away at it leisurely. Wiping my forehead I see that the other two are busy skinning their wolves. Yes that¡¯s right; we can take on one each. How? It¡¯s simple really. J?t uses his new chains of ice sub-skill to lock his wolf in place and then radically stabs away at it. The chains of ice costs 1 rage per second and he¡¯s got 120. The cost goes up to 2 when he builds a muzzle. Soloing a wolf is easy for him now. Especially since his dagger mastery reached rank 10 giving him a 10% bonus damage and 5% attack speed as well as the new skill triple stab, but it uses rage so he doesn¡¯t use it. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. I asked him where he got the dagger from and apparently he was given it for being a rage mage (wow even the system was making him stab himself for spell power, scary). So that was J?t sorted. Husky did his usual straddle on the neck of the wolf and then just leisurely beat the wolf into submission. His unarmed has reached rank 9 and the proficiency increase seems to be really slow at that point. I don¡¯t have as much strength or weight but I still am able to beat the wolf. How? Well since I get a grip from behind it and have it go legs up in the sky it doesn¡¯t have a hold to try get free. Much more so when I lock its front paws at the elbows. This way I don¡¯t have to have more strength, I just stop it exerting its full strength and thus I beat it in those terms. Though I did die 2 times learning how to do it, and a further 5 times J?t had to send me an icebolt to help me out. However¡­we have finally all beaten wolves 1 on 1. Well it was originally a pack of 4 (we ganged up on the first wolf, and when it called the others we solo¡¯d them). The only damage any of us have taken for a while is from damaging ourselves for rage. It¡¯s quite scary how efficient we¡¯re getting with our attacks, dodging the wolves pounces and claws (if it ever gets one in) without taking any damage. Well we have fought almost 200 if not so. Anyway, we skin our wolves and with delight we head back to the village eating an apple in commemoration of killing our first pack of wolves. I gained unarmed mastery during the past 5 hours but its only level 2 so far. Just so you know. So we head back into town to well¡­repair our weapons. Our armor is doing oddly fine, and Husky has once again taken off his plate mail, for sakes of moving faster. Their sprint hasn¡¯t reached level 10 yet but it¡¯s still at level 8, so it¡¯s getting there. We have it activated constantly so that¡¯s 2 loafs an hour for us. Making our way to the blacksmith we actually have a look around the store. Why? Because we finally have 7 silver and 16 copper. Enough to buy a better weapon, hopefully. Peering round we all have a look at our respective weapons. Luckily the only one we can afford is a one-handed axe that looks like a smaller version of a wood-chopping axe (so decently similar to my current one).
NAME:Hunter''s Axe
11-14 damage 40/40 durability +1 AGI, +1 VIT
Cost: 5 Silver 32 Coppers
¡­ .. . BUY BUY BUY We all look wide eyed at the entire level of bonus stats the weapons give and without hesitation we buy it! Holding my new axe we all look proud at our first buy. Although the damage is only 5 points better the stat bonus has a mountain of value for us. They don¡¯t mind in the slightest that I¡¯m getting the weapon because it¡¯ll soon be their turn. So it seems like equipment will give us stat points. That explains quite a lot, like how freaking difficult the wolves are, even though we¡¯re a higher level. Well to be fair we all are still wearing our beginner armor with beginner weapons. Only J?t has been able to increase his damage because of his ice-manipulation Skill (level 7 right now). With our new weapon and a lighter purse we head back out into the plains, our goal is to reach level 10! ... .. . Thankfully we do reach that level, but it still takes another 4 hours to take out 61 wolves. *Ding* ¡°Congratulations. HI FIVE EVERYONE!¡± Husky goes round giving a high-five to us both. I finally level up and with that our whole party reaches level 10. Only after 42 hours of grinding (counting hours in town. Also for me it¡¯s 69 hours jeesus) have we finally reached level 10. The efficiency and speed, well lack thereof makes us all get a bit of water in our eyes. It hurts¡­ But anyways, we all are finally level 10 but that doesn¡¯t make much of a difference to us. Why? Well because to get a class we need to visit a city and a trainer respective to our wanted class. Problem is, we have to get passed The Ice Needles, which is quite a way off, hell I can¡¯t even see it. Well we aren¡¯t worrying about that. We¡¯re worrying about getting through this forest first. Ah let me have a look at my character sheet shall i?
[table] [table][table] [table]
NAME:
Kal (Iskadi)
TITLE:
The Conqueror
Class Tree:Wanderer
Class:None
Race:Nymph
Gender:Trap (female)
Level:10
Experience:0%
STATUS:Remaining Points (18)
Health Points:120/120Hp Regen (out of combat):1sec
Rage:0/100Rage decrease (out of combat)1/sec
STR:10TGH:10
AGI:10(+1)VIT:10(+1)
INT:10MND:10
ATTK:Phys 11-14Extra:none
DEF:2M.RES:17
Satiety:100/100 (well fed)
SKILLS: One-handed Axe Mastery [lvl7] -Critical Strike (Active) Unarmed Mastery [lvl2] Leather Mastery [lvl3] Speedy [lvl3] Cold Resistance [lvl5] Herbalism [lvl3] Alchemy [lvl4] Skinning [lvl3] Leatherworking [lvl1] Clothtography [lvl1] Racials [Max] -Radiating Charm (Active) -Nature''s Safe-keeper -Nature Attuned -Man''s Desire ->Woman''s Desire
Slowly but surely the skills are racking up. We share skill knowledge with eachother because we know that one can never have too many skills (and the stronger your allies the less likely you are to die). J?t doesn¡¯t have any different skills and neither does Husky so we¡¯re all fully decked out and I like that. Since we only have another 2 hours to go before we have to log off, we decide to stop off at Bezia¡¯s and do a bit of tanning. We have around 360 hides so our bags are getting pretty filled. Taking them out and putting them in a long line we fit about 120 in the room. Rubbing salt into the hide and scraping away the fur, we brush some tanning oil on. Bezia being a profit goblin had us pay 1 silver for a pot of tanning oil (100 uses) and 10 copper for the salt (100 uses). Buying 4 of each we get down to it. After prepping 120 pieces we all stand in a line maintaining our leather. 4 silver 76 coppers left in our party purse so we¡¯re doing fine. However about half-way through the tanning process we have J?t go buy us all another stack of 60 bread each. Only 16 pieces remain from our original 80. We eat 22 a day but since I¡¯m on longer I end up eating almost 40 a day! I¡¯ve spent all my personal allowance (all the money I made alone at night) just to feed myself. But we still have 6 apples as we only eat those as celebratory gifts. Since we eat such an absurd amount of bread we have to earn at least 44 copper a day (almost 80 for me, which is relatively easy, but still that¡¯s a lot of money for 1 day of just bread). J?t heads out and after way too long a time he gets back and chucks our respective bread into our inventory. He tells us that there¡¯s a visible dent in her bread box (Ok so you get the image, the box is about 10 metres long, 1 metre wide and a few metres deep. I reckon there¡¯s close to a couple of thousand pieces of bread there. I fear we¡¯re going to eat it all and then we¡¯re going to starve. Anyways, we finish tanning our leather and make a couple of strips before making a small mountain of bracers, boots and helmets. I¡¯m currently wearing my self-made helmet and apparently the system allows you to make the helmet non-existent which means you get to see everyone¡¯s faces. The result? A lot of poor quality bracers, boots and helmets (with some mid-quality in the mix, mostly Husky¡¯s). In the end we made 10 of each using up 4 pieces of leather (1 for strips) for each. On the bright side our leatherworking increased by a whole 30% which was quite good. That took us the most of an hour and with thanks to Bezia we rush out the house and to our home. Saying sorry to Cindy who was looking a bit moody until we came in we quickly sit at the table and sip on the slightly cool soup with joy. We may be eating a ton of bread all day but we still crave some proper food (If this wasn¡¯t a game we¡¯d get so fat, I¡¯m sure of that). Cindy gives us a little scolding as we eat our meal telling us that we shouldn¡¯t be late for dinner ¡°Yes Mum¡± A chorus of our voices sound in synchrony ¡­ .. . We¡¯re all on the same page it seems. Cindy looks a bit shocked at our shocked at the words and before we know it she flies with a delighted squeal, hugging both J?t and I with one arm and Husky with the other. Our heads getting squeezed, we all tell her half-heartedly to stop (Well J?t said don¡¯t stop for some reaso-ah I see). After a little while she does finally let up and we all rub our heads from the pain (well me anyways, seems like Husky and J?t are refraining from touch their heads. Those pervs, but¡­I really cannot speak¡­not even a little). Just as we think we¡¯ve escaped she attacks once again giving us all a peck on the cheek as she cleans up our dishes??? We all look at eachother mildly shocked at how much more intimate Cindy just got with us. Hell, who knew the key-word to a wannabe mother¡¯s heart is mother (well now that I say that¡­). After quickly cleaning the dishes she heads off to her room, stopping at the doorway to look back at us ¡°Goodnight¡­sons¡± She seemed to almost whisper the last word to herself as if to hear how it sounded to herself. We glance at eachother ¡°Good night¡­mother¡± Oh it felt slightly awkward, maybe a little more. But I can tell we¡¯re all a bit rusty with using the word. She grabs her face and with a small squeal of delight, jumps out of sight. Sort of awkwardly coughing round the table we watch Varg follow Cindy to the room before he looks back with a glint in his eye as he nods us goodnight. NOPE, I¡¯m sorry Varg but that¡¯s not happening yet. Once he left we just sit in the quite awkward atmosphere silently rubbing the back of our heads. ¡°Mother¡­been a while since I¡¯ve said those words¡± Husky mutters those words, speaking to himself more than to us. But I can¡¯t deny the same words are floating in my head. ¡°I guess we should begin practicing in front of the mirror¡±¡­Oh J?t, spot on. ¡°Heheheh¡± We chuckle at the thought. But yes, I think I¡¯ll have to practice somewhat. Odd how I never called Martha mother but it just didn¡¯t feel right (well it doesn¡¯t feel super right here either but the words just¡­fit??). The others head off to their mattresses and with cheeky grins say ¡°Goodnight brothers¡± Hah, sneaky buggers. But after spending a couple of days with them dying and seeing them die many times over and being victorious together (sometimes) I feel like I¡¯ve known them for quite some time. I guess they¡¯ll count as my brothers in battle. Talking about battle¡­as the others log off I head outside and walk two doors down. ¡°Gannor¡± With that word filling up my mind I walk through the door. Learning A New Language...Not Sure I Want To (Mickey¡¯s POV) Taking off my headset I see the time to be 8:08 but Zach hasn¡¯t knocked on my door yet. Strange. Getting off the bed I walk outside my room and head over to his. Knocking on the door I hear nothing so I peek inside and confirm it. The guy¡¯s still playing! I¡¯d usually leave him alone since I know he¡¯d prefer to just game rather than go to school, but he hasn¡¯t missed a day of school ever, not a single day! Even when he had a fever he still came in, and slept, but still came nonetheless. So it must be pretty important whatever he¡¯s doing in there to stop him going to school. Hmm, if I remember correctly there¡¯s that system¡­ Heading back to my room I put on my D-lute and turn on my Skype. Finding Zach¡¯s Skype (why I have it when we live in the same house? For holiday gaming purposes) I see him to be online so I send him a message. Hey Zach, aren¡¯t you getting up for school? According to some forum posts the D-lute allows friends to Skype eachother via the headset. It¡¯s one of those things that allows friends to meet up in game more easily It¡¯s a matter of life and death ¡­ .. . Those words were enough to convince me. Zach¡¯s quite serious when it comes to gaming. If he says it¡¯s a matter of life and death then it¡¯s a matter of life and death. Though I wonder¡­what kind of monster is he battling? ¡­ ¡­ (Zach¡¯s POV) 6 hours and thirty minutes. Only one and a half hours to go. Thank you Mickey for giving me notice that victory is at hand¡­but... ¡°Mmm, Kal that tickles hihihi¡± WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DREAMING, BREATHE! GANNOR! She¡¯s started this a few minutes ago, and it¡¯s just gotten worse. She¡¯s n-n-nnibbling my neck! And it feels quite goo-Nonono it doesn¡¯t. She¡¯s nnnibbles tenderly (nonono) and now her wet tongue is drawing circles! Aaaaah it sends shocks down my spine but¡­NO! And I thought today was going to be easier, but¡­ GANNORRRRR ¡­ ¡­ Minutes pass and many other things which I will never bring to light were muttered sweetly behind me. NO, go away sweet memories! ¡­ .. . She finally calms down and goes silent once more. Phew I survive for now. Almost let that pink atmosphere take over my head but I stay strong with the help of Gannor who haunts my waking thoughts with pleasure. I stay silent *Gulp* trying my best to keep calm as I feel her nuzzle me. Breathe¡­Breathe. I have nothing to do while I lie in this bed and although I¡¯m forcing myself to stay viligant it gets quite difficult when I¡¯m not under attack. ¡­Maybe if I had a book? That¡¯s a great idea! I remember the books that litter the floor in the other room but I have a slight problem getting out of bed; because her leg has gone over mine and with her arms I¡¯m locked in and powerless. I feel just like those wolves I massacred yesterday, I think I got the idea from this. The feeling of powerlessness, being trapped and unable to do anything sets my heart racing-WAIT WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT nonononono! Shaking my head vigorously I scatter the thoughts and let my heart calm down some. I can make my way out but I¡¯d have to t-ttouch her leg and take it away. *Gulp* I slowly unclasp my left hand from hers and move it down to where I can feel her leg trapping mine. Laying my hand on the soft, smooth appendage my heart *Thumps* hard in my chest. *GULP* I glide my hand down her leg feeling some hidden muscle in her legs and as I stop when the leg thins enough for me to grab securely I hear soft panting ¡°Don¡¯t stop now¡­touch me¡­more¡± ¡­ .. . NONONONONONONONONONO GANNOR OH HELP ME WHYYYYYYYY? She¡¯s awake and her voice is so soft and se-NO STOP! But the way she¡¯s pantin-NO NO NO Taking my hand back to my chest I feel my heart crashing against my chest. Breathe, BREATHE. Her hand grabs mine and smoothly intertwines with mine not helping my condition in anyway whatsoever! ¡°Don¡¯t be scared, I like it¡­verrrry much¡± NOT HELPING, GANNOR, GANNOR! Letting Gannor come into my mind to destroy the pinkness that¡¯s invading, I slowly calm down into my usual red-faced self (I¡¯m still extremely embarrassed ok!). ... .. . Seems she¡¯s not attacking any further right now. I stay still as stone god knows how long (thinking of Gannor brutally killing me in the forest and chasing me when I revived again), when I feel her moving behind me (oh that feels-NO). Her body moves away from mine but her heat stays wrapped on me. Her hands slip back away from sight and I feel her hot breath tickle my ear ¡°Now peek, ok¡± Where¡¯s the DON¡¯T. Tell me you forgot to say it. Hearing her slip off the bed and the ruffle of fur I hear her ¡°tch¡± and figure that to be the sign she¡¯s dressed. Getting up, I re-equip all my things and walk briskly to the door¡­but she catches me before I take a step ¡°I¡¯ll see you tonight too¡± With a quick kiss of my neck she sends me off *Shiver* Diving into the snow I silently rejoice at my victory. Standing up I quickly peek around to see no one in the vicinity and sneak off back to home. Dropping onto my mattress I log off. Taking off my helmet I curl up and sleep for real this time. ¡­ ... (Mickey¡¯s POV) Now where is that bastard? Its lunch time and he¡¯s still not here. How nasty a battle was he having and is it still going on? Well seeing as though I¡¯m at school I can¡¯t answer any of my questions, but more importantly¡­I need food! Gah I forgot that Zach¡¯s the one who grabs my food from the canteen almost all the time and since he¡¯s not here I have to queue. Damn, I hate queuing. Flopping out on my desk I groan in sync with my stomach but soon forget the hunger at the sight of the Missy coming in. Her elegant beauty never fails to take my breath or anyone else¡¯s for that matter. She is quite the beauty, especially with some grand double E knocks bouncing with every step. Oh I¡¯ve been sent to the infirmary a whole 4 times since my two years in this place. But that¡¯s still below average for the guys. Top on the list is poor Dylan; a record keeping 68 times in one term. He was her sparring partner in judo club and that term they were doing holds. He became our best source of info to date about her body sizes although suffered much for it. 22 of the times he got sent into the infirmary was due to her holds and chokes while the other times were because it was his turn. Men are weak to boobs, some especially so. She has some pretty effective weapons there and many take a dive (literally in some cases) to cop a feel. Pretty pervy, but we¡¯re growing boys. We need to learn about the beauty of breasts! Though that trend stopped the minute it started really; when Kennedy tried to get a grab in mixed rugby. I¡¯ve never seen a German suplex before but I could tell it hurt, a lot. Thanks to that and a substantial number of repeats of boys getting demolished in various ways she gained the nickname ¡®Mistress of Disaster¡¯. I tried once and after, I couldn¡¯t feel my son for a week. Ah I¡¯m drifting, I gotta sleep more. But seeing her look angry due to Zach not being here keeps me awake, because I know I¡¯ll be hunted for information in due time. Like suspected she turns towards me and stomping over she looks at me with her cold blue eyes. ¡°Where is he?¡± ¡°Matter of life or death he said¡± ¡°¡­I see¡­Death it is then¡± Maybe I should have come up with a better reply, but Zach¡¯s problems ain¡¯t my problems (Sorry bro). Stomping off she leaves as abruptly as she comes. Shrieks come from the corridor. Ah she¡¯s going to be causing havoc once again. I never quite got their relationship because they seem like friends but also not. Well Zach¡¯s problems are Zach¡¯s problems. I¡¯ve got my own tiredness to sort out ¡­ ... (Zach¡¯s POV) I¡¯m once again walking back through Thalia¡¯s door as the sun sets behind me. Seems like when I logged off, I slept a good 4 hours. Lunch started IRL but I don¡¯t have time for such pleasures. Right now I¡¯m keeping a promise and will be half done by the next in-game morning. Taking a deep breath I head into the house and am greeted by the (thankfully) clothed Thalia who gives me a wink before heading off to the bedroom. ¡°A-ah¡­Thalia¡± ¡°Yes¡± She appears once again with a curious expression ¡°Can I take a book to bed?¡± ¡°Tch¡­I guess you can, but wouldn¡¯t you rather stare at me all night¡± Aaaah I wou-Nono ¡°P-pplease help me find something good to read¡± She does a little sigh before she taps her finger on her lips glancing round at the books. She finally takes a couple of steps, crouches down and picks up a reddish coloured book with nonsensical symbols etched on the cover. ¡°This one will be an enticing read¡± ¡­I¡¯m not convinced I should have let her chosen but I take the book anyway. Being guided to the bed I un-equip (never will I say undress) and head into bed with my new companion. Thalia gets in behind me and starts to snuggle (RESIST THE FEELING, YOU CANNOT FEEL THOSE LOVELY BIG-NONONO!!). Getting past the initial attack I open up the book and begin to read. ¡­ .. . Wah it¡¯s so interesting. The story is so intense, so dramatic. I¡¯ve never read anything like this before. If you can¡¯t tell, I¡¯m being utterly sarcastic. I¡¯m looking at the book¡­I¡¯m looking. But I¡¯m not seeing any words. All I see is some weird symbols following one another in long lines. Closing the book I see some are duplicates from the front. Ah, so they are words, but completely messed up. Or it¡¯s a different language but I do not know how to read it in the slightest. ¡°Thalia¡± ¡°Say it with more passion¡± she moves up and says ¡®passion¡¯ gently in my ear What? NO! ¡°H-have you got a dictionary for this language? ¡°Oh you don¡¯t know how to? Oh wait who am I kidding I forget you¡¯re still young meat¡± I swear she just licked her lips *Shiver* ¡°hmm, I think I do have one, let me get it for you¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. She slides out of bed and walks outside the room (I of course bury my head in the pillow because I am not looking, I want to-NO I don¡¯t brain, no I don¡¯t.). A few seconds later I hear her walk back in and lay a book in front of me. ¡°Now let me sleep, teddy¡± she giggles slightly Shaking the embarrassment away I open up the dictionary. Time to get to work. Luckily the dictionary had a hand-made front page with the whole alphabet in the front and their English equivalents. Interesting. Using that I decipher the first line ¡­ .. . Well that makes no sense. After taking a short while I exchange the symbols for the letters in the English alphabet and end up with: Kathla czejitten, nario, nan shan juske dar. A complete mess I believe. I may be wrong because when I try it in my crappy French accent it actually sounds decently proper¡­ Oh wait. I have a dictionary in my hands. Flipping through the pages I find the equivalent of Kathla and with glee I¡­Oh I don¡¯t have anything to write on, or with for that matter. ¡°If you¡¯re looking for something to write on¡­how about you use my leg¡± I feel her leg slide up mine and stretch out next to the dictionary. Just let me work in peace! My brain gets clouded with pink seeing her slender soft-looking grey leg. Wait nonono. Shake my head vigorously ¡°I-I I don¡¯t have anything to write with¡± She slides away from me and gets up ¡°I¡¯ll get some ink for you. But are you sure you¡¯re not doing this because you want to see my naked body in the dark?¡± ¡°N-nnn-NO of course not! I seriously want to learn what¡¯s in the book¡± ¡°Oh I¡¯ll teach you¡± ¡°N-nn-nno that¡¯s fine, I can do it myself¡± ¡°Trust me, it¡¯ll be extremely difficult¡± She tutts slightly as she once again disappears and soon re-snuggles back into bed. I take my eyes out from the pillow (I wasn¡¯t looking of course) and find a quill and ink pot in front of me. Great. ¡°Umm I still don¡¯t have anything to write on¡± ¡°What are you talking about? You have my leg¡± Nonono I am not touching you. I learnt last night that it brings danger. But since she¡¯s hugging me really tightly (which feels so goo-NO!) it looks like she¡¯s not going to move anymore tonight. Damn. I have no choice. It¡¯s either this or have waking nightmares of Gannor all night again and I¡¯m getting pretty terrified of the endless self-brutality. *Gulp* Slowly dipping the quill in the ink I begin to jot down the English version of the words on¡­her leg. Oddly enough the ink is an ocean blue going strangely perfectly with her skin. At least I won¡¯t have to worry about not being able to read the writing due to color problems (because black and grey, not too much of a difference). Moving on. My translation speed is going at a decent rate but I have to first find the direct English alphabet conversion and then its dictionary meaning. So it takes quite a while. After about an hour, I¡¯ve done one page filling up about a flat-hand sized space (ok 2 in my small hand¡¯s case) with words, on the lower part of her leg. I write pretty small and on numerous occasions the teacher has accused me of getting a girl to write my tests. That was not fun when the case got sorted out. His accusations of ¡°this is obviously a girls writing, look how tiny and clean it is. There¡¯s no way a guy could write so beautifully¡± were remembered quite awkwardly when I was proven innocent. Funny thing though. Missy was accused of having a guy do her test (Any guy would if she asked). So I guess there are all kinds in this world. Back to the point; I look at the words once more¡­ and still they make no sense whatsoever: Dear reader, welcome, Book all for follow suss eight of fourty with new lucky seats from pointy taken dark. Book this of tell fire pain¡­ I just can¡¯t bear to go on. It¡¯s like I¡¯ve thrown a light novel into Google translate. Cringing away from the badly translated work, I flip the pages of the book till I find a page which looks¡­well exactly the same as the rest but there seems to be a title so it looks like a good place to start. Why I am doing this? Well to check if it¡¯s my translation or its just crazy talk at the start. A thing I noticed in the first page was the obvious lack of it, the and other similar types of words (the ones that make things sound a bit less blocky. I always slept through English class so I missed the lesson when they taught what they were called). Translating the title I get: two and thirty Swan flutter. ¡­ .. . That makes¡­no sense whatsoever. Maybe its grammar. Oh god, I forgot languages have grammar. Reading this book may be harder than I thought. Well I have a dictionary but apart from that I don¡¯t really have much else to go on¡­Time for trial and error. But first¡­I¡¯m going to take a break because she¡¯s panting quite loud (don¡¯t know how the quill feels but apparently quite good!?! Maybe I should try it on myself? WAIT what am I thinking?!). Relaxing for a short while and letting Gannor enter my thoughts to block the pink ones that come with her panting. Panting, Gannor is panting. Yes, Gannor not Thalia. I convince myself pretty well I think¡­ Anways, getting back to work when it¡¯s quiet, I start to move around words that should be there but aren¡¯t (usually just swap two around or move it up one or two words). The easiest is the numbers since they go backwards. Next easiest is the sentences that don¡¯t look like a complete mess, such as; Lines up go become Lines go up. That¡¯s the easy stuff out of the way. The rest becomes pretty hellish. After roughly 4 hours of fiddling I¡¯ve figured out a couple of rules: 1st, no ¡®smoothening¡¯ words (like am or it) exist but are made dependant on the vowels that are next to eachother on separate words (So: Jir[e a]rino means you are soft. Nice to know I know the words but what? 2nd, the shortest length a word can be is 4 symbols. Why the dictionary gives for 3 ones like ¡®dar¡¯ I not know. Maybe if they¡¯re in a sentence they must be 4 or more and now you ask but why do they have ones like ¡®dar¡¯ in the sentence? Well apparently you join 2 or more words together if they are shorter than 4 symbols length until they are so or more. (So Jin Kreano ataney dar is basically Jindar kreano ataney). 3rd, forget the 2nd rule when the words of length¡¯s less than 4 symbols are 3 or more words apart. Apparently that makes them stand alone words that don¡¯t use the rule, irregulars. Annoying thing is, all those words can use this rule or the 2nd one. 4th, words without vowels mean nothing. Although they have meaning in the dictionary, they don¡¯t exist in the sentence (So: Kaio czty ontt nana eiono talak means with clamshell gentle hand push away. Remove czty and it becomes with a gentle hand push away). 5th, words without vowels have meanings if they are beside irregulars (remember the 3rd rule). A lot simpler than the 4th rule since when you removed it you had to check for new ¡®smoothening¡¯ words that may or may not have popped up. SO with those rules in tow I can translate a decent amount of my picked page. After a couple of minutes I translate this: 32. Swan Flutter (Huh it actually was the title, who¡¯d have guessed) To practice the swan flutter one must have a partner who will be their wings. Remember to smoothen one¡¯s self with oil of corknut or adjar (translations were that, not my doing) for friction will cause pain not bring pleasure. First you must lay your partner on a soft surface or they will be burnt. They should be face down but those experienced in the Swan Flutter may try on their backs. Take partners left leg and bend till back of heel touches head, to stretch their joints and not be harmed later on. Then place their legs spread and bent towards them, like wings¡­ It continues on and I am not quite sure if I regret reading on ¡­ .. . So it continues on with warming up and making sure your partner is safe and well looked after till it gets to the Swan Flutter itself. Quite smart naming as it explains in explicit detail how to make your partners legs move like its fluttering as wings (not specifically like a swan but that¡¯s naming flavor). ¡­ .. . I slam the book shut and look at the symbols which is the book¡¯s title ¡°The...Karmasutra, Delven edition¡± ¡­ .. . So I push the book away before I plant my face in my hands. WHAT HAVE I JUST READ?? I know my parents never told me to judge a book by its cover but¡­I can¡¯t believe what I just read. I spent 7 hours. 7 HOURS, trying to figure out what the words on the page meant. And I finally find it to be instructions on a sex POSITON?!? I swear I feel blood dripping from eyes after reading that. Especially since it¡¯s written on Thalia¡¯s leg!! Aaaaah whyyyyy? -1 (119/120) I AM ACTUALLY BLEEDING FROM MY EYES AFTER READING THAT!? I knew I shouldn¡¯t have trusted her with picking a book but she¡¯s an alchemist, I thought she would have given me an alchemy book at least! Also why does she have this- ¡°Ooh the swan flutterer, I¡¯ve always wanted to try that one out¡± NEVERMIND . OH GOD OH GOD nononononononono. I shake my head furiously to get rid of the surfacing image. Whyyyyyyy? I let the heat on my face cool and the images to dissipate before I bring the back to me. Why? Because I¡¯ve spent 7 hours learning and figuring out this book. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to let that effort go to waste and it distracts me from the dangerous creature at my back. Also I¡¯m a growing boy, so I¡¯m not immune to this. No, this forbidden book is every man¡¯s dream as it¡¯d make¡­it¡­interesting. M-mmaybe Missy likes this sort of thing too. Just the thought of Missy laying on her back as I help her-WAIT NO, WAIT YES, WAIT I¡¯M SO CONFUUUSED! BREATHE BREATHE! ¡­ .. . Phew. So on the possibility that Missy may¡­enjoy the contents of this book. I fervently read it (I¡¯m not reading because it¡¯s attending to my growing desire as a man, nooooo¡­well maybe a little bit). ¡­ .. . 4 hours pass¡­ I have only translated 10 pages from the beginning and all were just introductory pages talking about the 48 positions that will be mentioned in the book. ¡­ Anyways, I shut the book as the day comes round and push it under the pillow, before taking it out again because it¡¯s not my pillow. Thalia gets up trying to provoke me into sneaking a peek (Almost got me there when she said to look at my writing on her leg, she thought she spotted a mistake somewhere. Almost got me turning round there). Her entire lower left leg is filled with my writing which seeing as though it¡¯s 10 pages worth just shows how small my writing is. Thank god for my 20/20 vision. Taking the ink-pot and books I store them beside the bed and while equipping my things I head outside. Leatherworking!! *BFF* *BFF* *BFF* Slamming my head repeatedly in the snow I think I get rid of the strange thoughts about that book. With that done I decide to take a quick trip outside and kill. I need something to get my mind sorted out. Waving to Gerard, who is standing around on the wall as usual, I make my way to the snowy meadows and find a wolf. -14-13 (95/120) Aggroing it I sprint towards it before side-stepping as it pounces. Stopping and swiveling around I activate critical strike, landing my axe in the wolf¡¯s cranium (it was turning round too). Crit -54 (266/320) Pulling the wolf towards me with my axe I put it in a choke-hold and jump to its back putting it into a full-body lock. Pulling myself to the floor I take the wolf with me -5 (90/120) With both arms locking the wolf¡¯s throat and my legs locking the wolf¡¯s front paws I slowly suffocate the wolf till the unconscious state pops up. Pushing the wolf off I take my axe from its head and begin my chain of crits until it is dead. Doing the same tactic for a couple of more wolves, I rack miniscule amounts of experience while I collect some more Frost Grass. During this time Mickey sends me another message on my Skype. Hey you sorted out your life and death battle? I¡¯m not too sure yet. I might have made a very wrong turn in my life Seems he¡¯s happy with that answer and like a good gamer doesn¡¯t mention real life. I hunt wolves for an hour gaining 1% xp after killing 4 of them. Meanwhile I collect a good 33 High quality Frost grass. Returning back to the village I walk into my home and see J?t and Husky log on pretty much at the same time. With a ¡°Hi¡± we head to Bezia¡¯s and continue our mass leatherworking. Clubbing us for every mistake we soon improve in our tanning skills (she provides a tanning knife to cut off the fluff and useless parts) and watchfulness in creating leather. She gives us pointers on how to rub in the salt better and gives us examples, with our work, when the best time to stop re-applying the tanning oil is. After an hour has passed the 30 squares of leather are ready (10 for each of us). We immediately begin creating helmets. 3 of them are made and I finally made a mid quality helmet (the other 2 poor of course). Seems like the hide can lower in quality at the tanning rack. It can improve but that¡¯s pretty much impossible for us to do. Another 30 leather is finished and we repeat the process for boots. See how we only have 30 ready at one time instead of all 120? Well Bezia gave us that pointer to stagger our tanning process because then we¡¯d have time to fiddle with the pieces we¡¯ve got with ease. I noticed in our last tanning session some of the leather hardened before we got to it¡­ making hard leather bend is not an easy task. Anyways, we make some bracers next and the last batch is one of each. All of us got another 30% on our leatherworking which is pretty good and we all have at least 1 full mid quality set (Husky has quite a few). We inspect the mid quality gear and I see that it is a decent amount better than my beginner armor. Immediately changing my equipment round I gain 6 more armor as well most of my armor becoming grey. This is because the hide is white originally but due to the tanning process (oil and salt) it becomes grey. Though, the armor feels a bit¡­oversized which is strange because it¡¯s my creation so shouldn¡¯t it fit me? ¡°Hmm, it looks a bit big on you Kal¡± good eyes Husky ¡°Maybe we have to make it so that it¡¯s specifically for them?¡± Suggests J?t Willing to give that a try, we have Husky tan 4 pieces of leather and when ready make them into bracers. He does this by using my arm as a model and builds the bracers around them. Thus my arm fits in the bracers quite snuggly. Upon finishing it Husky makes an ¡°Oho¡± sound when the item creation window appears ¡°Defense is 1 higher than usual¡± Hmm, maybe because it¡¯ll absorb the impact better than a loose bracer? Sounds about right I guess Doing the same for the helmet and boots (all mid quality of course) I am mostly decked with 9 armor higher than my beginner armor. Husky looks me over a couple of times ¡®hmming¡¯ and looking mildly displeased with his work ¡°It still looks a bit thin¡± ¡°Well¡­how about we add another layer¡± Suggests J?t We look at him. Then at eachother. Hmm that might work. We look at Bezia and she confirms the idea with a nod (oh so she only helps us once we figure it out ourselves). Husky does all the work because he¡¯s the only one with almost constant mid quality work. I mean the hides we are using are already all mid quality (mostly skinned by Husky) so it makes the whole process a lot easier. While Husky starts tanning again, J?t and I go hunt some wolves. Bringing back another 36 hides (also I brought out the 12 from the ones I hunted earlier), we see Husky creating in full swing. Using 4 at a time (staggering the others to finish tanning for a few minutes after) he once again starts with my bracers: He just doubles their thickness by wrapping some leather around the bracer making it double the size. Luckily double its original size still isn¡¯t that big. The defense increased by another 4 which makes us all wide-eyed at the over 50% increase in defense given by the bracer. Doing the same for the boots they look a bit thicker but this time look like proper boots ready to trod, as well as the 4 extra defense. The helmet¡¯s defense is also increased by 4 (by the way the helmets we make are just basic skullcaps). So I just gained a total of 23 defense. We literally doubled my defense! Next is the shorts. As Husky is tanning the leather we discuss how we¡¯re going to do it. After telling them a small idea I have they nod in agreement and we get working. While Husky tans the leather, J?t heads outside and I become a model (I¡¯m useless I know). As Husky tans the leather I ask Bezia a couple of things and she then directs Husky with the tanning somewhat. After a while the first batch of 8 leather is done. He quickly moves to the table in the centre of the room and uses the measurements I found myself to be (I had nothing better to do so it was a flash of ingenuity and also to stop the awkward building of shorts around that area), to create the shorts. Well I say shorts but in reality it¡¯s a skirt. A kilt is the official name for it (No I haven¡¯t got Scottish pride running in my veins) and I asked for that because I thought it¡¯d look better on me than shorts. Also it¡¯s a lot more liberal (but not like I¡¯ve got anything there). ¡­ .. . Wait a second¡­ I touch myself and confirm I HAVE NOTHING THERE! I didn¡¯t exactly realize this till now! The wind suddenly felt so much colder as it blew between the empty space in my legs. ¡°Eeeek¡± They all turn to look at me confused I shake my head ¡°nothing¡± as I try to get rid of the red on my face I feel so¡­empty. However putting the issue of my manhood aside (I¡¯ve been without it quite a few in-game days now and it feels strangely non-peculiar¡­) we continue building the skirt. Husky finishes with it and I quickly move to Bezia¡¯s room (with her permission of course) and quickly change into it. It feels comfortable. Changing back out I put the skirt back on the table and receive the estranged looks from Husky and Bezia. Ordering them back to work Husky rolls his eyes and starts on the second layer of the skirt. As he puts on the finishing stitches, J?t comes back in dragging 2 wolves inside. Husky passes me the skirt and J?t takes up the table with a wolf. Asking Bezia on what to do, she begins to give him a couple of pointers. Leaving my boots, bracers and helmet to J?t, I head on in to Bezia¡¯s room to change. Wow. Skirts are comfortable. There are no restrictions down there and is surprisingly nice with a breeze (but it gives a painful reminder). I jump and move around in my skirt and find that it¡¯s still soft and not as tough as my other leather armor making it easier to move around in. According to Bezia using the oil for too long makes the leather too soft however it can then be used for pants in the usual case (since no one wants leather pants that are tough to move in). Also there¡¯s cuts in the side so there are virtually 0 restrictions (I mean a high kick might be out of the question but even then). Taking it off and transferring to my older, more restrictive shorts, I join the others to see what they¡¯re doing. J?t and Husky are using skinning knives to take off the wolf¡¯s fur while Bezia is overlooking them keenly giving pointers to cut more cleanly. Why are we doing this? Well you may have suspected already but it is to add a little design to the leather pieces, because just dull grey leather doesn¡¯t look that nice (also it¡¯s a bit of protection from the cold so I¡¯m grateful). Now we really should be getting adverse effects from the cold due to our lack of armor but we don¡¯t because of one special reason: We run everywhere and eat truckloads. We literally give our body no time to cool down so we don¡¯t ever feel cold. But back to the task at hand. The two of them finish taking a sizeable amount and they begin with the braces as usual: They line the inside with fur, stitching it, and leave a small ring of it on either end of the bracers. Giving them to me with a wide-eyed smile I check the bracers
Winter Wolf''s Bracers (bracers) (mid quality)
Creator:Husky
These bracers were made with leather from a wolf and was cushioned with a wolf''s fur
Defense: 11, Durability 30/30, AGI +2, VIT +1
Oh my god. That is Amazing. Like I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the others decide to wear leather armor for the moment, because that stat boost! So of course I equip it and tell them to do the others excitedly. ¡°With pleasure¡± They chorus and start on the boots. They find a problem pretty much instantly: They can¡¯t get fur in the sole of the boots or anywhere past a couple of inches down the leg of the boot. ¡­ .. . Start again! This time I do the tanning while Husky and J?t fur-up my hat (looks like a Christmas hat without the long bit). Giving me the +1 AGI +1 VIT hat makes me extremely happy. As I tan some leather from scratch they have about an hour so they go and collect a couple more wolves (Hah collect, pretty funny seeing as though we¡¯re treating them like groceries when they were massacring us just a couple of days ago). After 30 minutes they come back in with 4 wolves in tow. It seems like they wasted quite a bit of fur, or didn¡¯t get good enough pieces/big enough pieces when they cut it. So 1 wolf has enough fur for 1 piece of equipment. Husky asks for my bracers and hat back and when he explains why, I give them back without a problem. J?t starts to spend his time slowly cutting large pieces of fur, trying to get the whole wolf of fur. Another 30 minutes pass and my first batch of leather is done; mid quality whoo! Husky takes the leather and quickly stitches the fur onto the boots but gets about halfway done before all the pieces harden Hmm. ¡°You can stitch fur onto the tanning pieces, especially those with only a few minutes to go¡± Bezia advises us. Doing as she says I give Husky the leather pieces that have a few minutes before they are ready (and don¡¯t need another application of oil. Just so you know only 1 use is used per leather square, no matter the times it is applied which our purse is grateful for. Game technicals are the best). He quickly stitches with J?t¡¯s help the fur on the inside of the leather. Then Husky builds the boot and with strips and thread binds it all together. A ring of white wolf fur lines the top of the boots while a small line of fur travels down the side (where the two pieces got stitched together. It actually looks quite nice). Then they add on the second layer but keep the fur visible. Taking it and seeing it gives +2 AGI and +1 VIT I¡¯m very pleased indeed. Next on our list is the skirt. Husky covers it in fur but it looks a bit too white. Asking Bezia if we can somehow darken the wolf fur she uses a bit of tanning oil on a small unused piece of fur to show us. Ah! We get it. Taking some strips of fur, Husky colors and, after J?t cleanly removes the other fur from the skirt, stitches the light grey fur onto the skirt. Letting that fur dry we watch J?t skin some more. Once dried (about 10 minutes after re-coloring), Husky takes the white fur and stitches it onto the skirt but makes some small gaps letting zigzagged thin grey lines appear in the skirt. Much better. However we¡¯re not done there. We flip the skirt and because of its cut sides Husky can open it up to get access to the whole thing. First things first, he lines the interior with fur. Then he makes a thin wall of fur but cuts two holes after checking my leg proportions a couple of times. We all look at him as he adds the underlayer of fur ¡°Well I was thinking that you roll and dive quite a bit so I didn¡¯t want to get an upskirt every time that happened y¡¯know¡± He said quite sheepishly with a jokey grin. OH GOD. I hadn¡¯t thought of that at all. I would¡¯ve been upskirting them two almost every fight. That would have been so embarrassing! Oh thank you Husky, I knew I could rely on you. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.Letting out a maniacal laugh when he finishes it, Husky hands it over to J?t who does the same¡­I can¡¯t wait to try it on. J?t passes it to me.
Winter Wolf Skirt (trousers) (Mid quality)
Creator:Husky
A skirt with cut sides made from wolf leather as well as its fur which lines its exterior, interior and with some thought hides any possible shaming views
Defense: 18, AGI +4, VIT +2
TH¡­THAT¡¯S AMAZING! That¡¯s a whole 3 levels worth of stats! ¡°heheh Hahah HAHAHA¡± 3 stage maniacal laughter just like them. How can I not. I am to wear monstrously good armor. With that finished. Husky takes a break. He deserves it. Although his leatherworking did go up a level for making such good equipment If I said we were finished there I¡¯d be sorely lying. I mean we¡¯ve spent 8 and a half hours in this shop with virtually no breaks and no meals (we simply forgot). On that note, we eat some bread and take a quick 10 minute break to catch our breath. Then we all head out and hunt wolves for 2 hours and a half (until the night wolves came for us, then we ran away as a sign for us to get started in leatherworking again. After dragging a total of 36 wolves back into the village (not all at the same time of course. We just dragged it and left it at Bezia¡¯s), we start our crafting anew. As J?t and Husky tan some leather I offer to cook for her. With her consent I get to use her cooking pot. (I also buy some more oil and salt off her). Heading to Linda¡¯s general goods store I spend 1 silver 36 coppers on some vegetables and some rabbit meat. (Costly but we still have 3 silver 70 copper left). Heading back after being complimented multiple times on the quite nice skirt I¡¯m wearing (she definitely knows I¡¯m a woman), I drop off at home telling them we¡¯ll be busy for the night (Bear hugged half to death in the process). I then go back to the rest and I start cooking for Bezia. ¡­ .. . In short its edible. And it luckily classified as cooking.
Through successfully doing the action you have learnt a new skill You have learnt the skill: Cooking
SKILL:Cooking [lvl1]
Allows you to cook dishes in your recipe list. Quality is dependent on skill proficiency and user''s skill
Recipes: Rabbit Soup
Wohoo got the cooking skill! Bezia looks pleased with the food so I am pleased too. Oh also I ground up some antler and tasted some
Ground Elk Antler
The grindings of elk antler is often used as a condiment in cooking due to its spicy addition (Consumable) (Crafting Material)
Crafting material?! I¡¯m going to play with this later for sure. By the way I make about 6 lots of it every antler. So anyways. I take over Husky¡¯s tanning work and he heads off and begins to de-fur the 8 wolves we didn¡¯t skin for their hides. After 30 minutes of maintaining the leather (do we talk to eachother while doing it? Of course not, we¡¯re too busy concentrating!), it¡¯s almost finished so I switch with Husky and take up half the table. Taking my time, I slowly stitch the fur into the boot lining and then start piecing it together as it begins to harden around J?t¡¯s leg. Finishing the boots, they look similar to Husky¡¯s and are mid quality (thank god for good crafting materials). Husky passes me some more leather and I make the second layer for the boots. Finishing some mid quality boots, I quickly move onto the bracers as J?t puts the finishing touches on Husky¡¯s boots (Yes we are doing a strange crafting centipede. It¡¯s proving a bit challenging but we¡¯re getting there). Fitting his bracers to him I then line it with fur and layer it with leather. Husky is having his bracers made for him and I start making the skullcap on J?t¡¯s head. The skullcap is as easy as I suspected and I quickly line it like a Christmas hat. That too is mid quality. Lastly is the skirt but we have a few minutes before it¡¯s done so I measure J?t and record everything on the table (Just etched it in on the side, Bezia looked mildly unpleased but let me off with just a glare). Now working on the skirt it¡¯s pretty easy to do; just 2 separate pieces, the back and the front half stitched together to make the cuts at the sides. I double layer it and then while I de-fur a wolf, J?t begins on Husky¡¯s skirt. I convinced them the skirt is worth it. Taking my fur and oiling it up, I then stitch it onto the skirt exterior. I continue de-furring my wolf. Stitching the fur onto the skirt zigzagged and leaving some spaces I create a similar looking skirt. I work on the inside and give it the whole works. I finish with a ¡°phew¡± at seeing its mid quality state. After a few more minutes J?t finishes his up too. Husky finished tanning all the leather about 20 minutes ago so since then he¡¯s been in a corner fiddling with my bracers. But when I look at him he seems to be screwing around with my boots. Walking over there I check up on how he¡¯s doing. ... .. . His artwork is surprisingly delicate and once again I¡¯m surprised by his delicacy despite his huge build: He¡¯s etching howling wolves on either side of my boots. I peek at the bracers and see a wolf running across each bracer. Dropping off J?t¡¯s boots and bracers I take out some bread and snack on it. J?t comes and drops off Husky¡¯s stuff looking a bit surprised at Husky¡¯s handiwork. We all sit down in the corner for a short while relaxing and letting Husky etch the same pictures onto our bracers and boots. After a good hour he finishes the running wolf on his own bracers and with that we¡¯re all done. ¡­ .. . Well we¡¯d love to think so but we all shake our heads as we look at our finished product. Why? Well the Christmas hats looks freaking terrible that¡¯s why. We need to get some more wolves but we¡¯ve got another 9 in-game hours before we can start hunting normal wolves again (it wouldn¡¯t do to get night wolf fur which is only slightly different, but it¡¯d make it look weird). So with that in mind we all head back home and sneaking in we all log off in our mattresses. ... .. . I do actually log off because I¡¯m starving. I didn¡¯t eat breakfast, I didn¡¯t eat lunch and what a surprise, I didn¡¯t eat dinner. So yeah I¡¯m starving. Why no one has come up to help me out with my hunger problems? Well because I¡¯ve taught the house that when I¡¯m gaming, I¡¯m gaming. No distractions. Dragging myself to the kitchen I grab the jar of peanut butter (I bought it with my own money so I can do this) and start guzzling it with some bread. Washing down the one large meal with some water I sneak back upstairs and back to the game. Only 30 minutes past in the game so I¡¯m at Thalia¡¯s a bit before midnight. Back to my reading sessions¡­and other things (Surviving her attacks I mean). Today we get into bed the other way so that I can write on her right leg instead. She stays awake, panting quite a lot (MIND IS TOO BUSY LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE, IS NOT DISTRACTED BY PANTING, RATHER I¡¯M DISTRACTED BY POSITION NUMBER 2). Through the 8 hours I finished writing another 31 pages (my speed increased quite a bit) getting through 6 positions ¡­ .. . INTERESTING READS BUT MY EYES ARE BLEEDING! I also had to write on both her lower arms and just finished her right lower arm with the last page. *Gulp* where am I going to write on next? I know what she¡¯s doing but there¡¯s nothing I can do to stop it. I¡¯m already writing it as small as I can. Leaving Thalia once more with heat sticking to my neck and back, and sides and front (She¡¯s pretty much touched almost everywhere. Almost), I head outside. Walking into the house I take a quick snack while I wait for them to log on. We head out and begin the mass hunting. Well I say mass hunting but we stop after 11 wolves which we got in barely under an hour (dragging them to Bezia¡¯s included). Taking them inside, Bezia greets us with a tired smile and we head on in, getting back to work (we left our new leather stuff there for the night). We talk a little about what our helmets should be and well to all of us it¡¯s quite obvious what it¡¯s got to be. How we make them though is a whole other problem. Asking Bezia if we can do it and she gives us a bit of help and suggestions which we eagerly soak in. Skinning 8 of the wolves we start tanning our leather. An hour passes in the blink of an eye we all start to make our helmets (Bezia is kind and takes care of our tanning leather for a few minutes). First we create the skullcap shape like before but we add a long point to the top of it as well as a flap at the back of it. Double layering it we then grab a wolf each. First thing we do is snap its jaw and then cut through the mouth a bit. We do this to expose the gums and thus we cut through them and take the whole row of upper teeth in one piece. Working up the head we pick out the eyes and then cut off the ears, taking those too. The nose gets picked off and then we take the fur from its head too. With all the ingredients I begin building the cap bit by bit. Firstly I use fur to make a large ball, placing it on the skullcap, and a slightly triangular shaped fur mass. Softening the triangular shape with the wolf nose, I stitch the two masses together creating a wolf like shape. Creating eye slits (I look and copy Husky who seems to know how to do it), I pop in some angry eyes which gives this wolf head an air of terror. As the final touches, I stitch the ears on and then reshape the head. After a while it looks like a really angry wolf head. With the hardest part done the rest is a breeze; I stitch fur onto the neck part of our head and do so around the whole wolf head. This soon turns into long pieces of fur that runs down our shoulders and covers quite a bit of our back. Then as I finishing touch I stitch fur in the interior of the hat and finish it at that. Soon Husky is done and then I finish with J?t a few seconds after.
Winter Wolf Head (Helmet) (Mid Quality)
Creator:Kal
A helmet mad with fur and parts of a winter wolf''s head to closely resemble a wolf.
Defense: 11, AGI +2, INT +1, VIT +1
¡­ .. . ¡°Beautiful¡± All 3 of us agree that our wolf heads look absolutely beautiful, although all slightly different; Mine is an angry wolf while Husky¡¯s is a happy one somehow? J?t¡¯s wolf head looks bored (wow that¡¯s even more impressive, what did he do to make it so). Bezia told us earlier that we couldn¡¯t just rip off the wolf¡¯s head; we needed to make our own but could use the materials from the wolves. And thus we had to spend a good 4 hours making our wolf heads. We breathe a sigh of satisfaction and putting on all our new equipment I have a look at my new stats
[table] [table][table] [table]
NAME:Kal (Iskadi)
TITLE:The Conqueror
Class Tree:Wanderer
Class:None
Race:Nymph
Gender:Trap (female)
Level:9
Experience:86%
STATUS:Remaining Points (16)
Health Points:170/170
Hp Regen (out of combat):1sec
Rage:0/100
Rage decrease (out of combat)1/sec
STR:10
TGH:10
AGI:10(+11)
VIT:10(+6)
INT:10(+1)
MND:10
ATTK:Phys 11-14
Extra:none
DEF:51
M.RES:17
Satiety:100/100 (well fed)
SKILLS: One-handed Axe Mastery [lvl7] -Critical Strike (Active) Unarmed Mastery [lvl3] Leather Mastery [lvl3] Speedy [lvl4] Cold Resistance [lvl5] Herbalism [lvl3] Alchemy [lvl4] Skinning [lvl5] Leatherworking [lvl3] Clothtography [lvl1] Cooking [lvl1] Racials [Max] -Radiating Charm (Active) -Nature''s Safe-keeper -Nature Attuned -Man''s Desire ->Woman''s Desire
Those stats bring me close to tears. So beautiful a whole 18 extra stats from my equipment. The other two also put on their equipment and look pretty badass. Although it¡¯s strange to not see them in their usual clothing and J?t with his extra blue satyr hair looks a bit strange. Eating a celebratory apple we give eachother a bunch of high-fives. Grinning at our new look we thank Bezia and go outside. Time to go hunt some wolves. Playing With The Lynxes And Ourselves Waving to Gerard who looks our away with wide-eyes, as well as many of the passers-by. They look at Husky with pride while I somehow get longing gazes. Do l look cute in wolf armor? (By the way we have allowed our helmets to be visible because it looks awesome). So heading outside we quickly find a wolf. First up is Husky. He charges in and the wolf aggroes and pounces towards him. Swiftly he sidesteps and then slices down with his axe using ¡®Slash¡¯. -84 (236/320) The wolf turning round to claw Husky misses as he jumps back and then embeds his axe on the wolf Crit 162 (74/320) Stunned for a second the wolf gets another axe in his face moments later and dies without so much as a howl. ... .. . Well that was something. My god this stat boost is amazing! Next up is J?t. Crit -62 -62 -124 -62 (10/320) His ice barrage just destroys the wolfs flank and one hits its face causing the wolf to be stunned for a second -6 -6 (0/320) Quickly sprinting over there he stabs the wolf two times with ease and the wolf dies with a pitiful howl. ... .. . Wow that was quick. Though J?t looks mildly displeased as he comes back to us. ¡°Spell failed once¡± Ah. That is the usual though, any armor above cloth and there is usually a chance to fail spells (75% for the plate I believe). Although healing spells and other divine spells have a lower chance to fail. We have J?t kill a couple more wolves and we find the spell failure rate to be 10%. Which isn¡¯t that high in the long run, but if your extremely expensive spell fails¡­ After those little trial runs, it is my turn. -14 -13 (293/320) Rushing in I axe the wolf before sidestepping and slashing across its flank. Howling it turns to claw me but I run past it staying continually by its flank slashing at it a couple of times -14-12-14-13-14 (226/320) The wolf trying to get me like its chasing its tail abruptly changes direction catching me off guard -84 (86/170) A clean hit! I can survive 2 maybe. Kicking the wolf in the chin I then critical strike it in the head Crit -1 -56 (169/320) Stunned for a second I slash it again with my axe before sidestepping and attacking its flank Crit -55 -28 (89/320) ¡°Awooo!¡± I slash at its side before jumping back at its claws kicking and axing it into a stun Crit -14 -1 -26 (48/320) Stunned once again it receives two quick blows to its head, but it gets a claw strike in between. -26 -28 (0/320) -85 (1/170) Gulping down one of my heal pots I watch the ticker go down but after 2 seconds the called pack of 3 reaches us. My wolf pounces at me but I roll to the side and run a distance wolf in tow. I run for a couple of seconds +6 (7/170) Swiveling round I swing with critical strike onto the pouncing wolfs head. Crit -55 (265/320) Pulling it in I move to its back and put it in a hold. Dragging the two of us to the floor I keep it belly up. -5 (2/170) Choking it until the unconscious status appears I regain another 24 health. Getting off the wolf I begin to hack away at it. Finishing off my kill I see the others have already skinned theirs and watch my spectacle with a hint of glee. ¡°Who¡¯d ever think a cute boy like you could make such an evil grin¡± J?t points something out and I notice I¡¯ve been grinning. Embarrassed I turn away and remove the grin from my face. I¡¯m not evil, I¡¯m just happy because I can kill the wolves that made me run away 169 times since the beginning. So our test of the new armor and stats ended after a good 30 minutes of hunting wolves (total count 9). We head back to the village and there Husky and J?t take the south exit while I take the north. Yes we are going back out. However we sort out a couple of things first: We have a ton of leather armor but nowhere to sell it. Well I say nowhere but Bezia offers to buy for 1 copper apiece (cheapskate). 30 coppers chink in the party purse. We then go and spend pretty much all our money on bread. 240 pieces of bread is split between us evenly and we¡¯re left with 28 coppers (once again almost broke. With the 60 from before we should be able to last almost 4 days. Saying a quick goodbye to¡­mother...and Varg (I also pop in to Thalia¡¯s telling her that I¡¯m on a trip for a couple of days), we finally head out of the village in opposite directions. With a huge sigh I sprint into the forest and assuredly enough one giant black wolf murders me a few seconds later. Saying bye to Mother (god it still feels a bit awkward) once again I head back out the north exit. Running into the forest again I do not get insta-killed and with a sigh of relief head a bit deeper. Slowing down once I¡¯ve gotten deep enough I turn to the right where we are going to meet up. Since they are my party members I can see where they¡¯re at on the map (cool feature, and there¡¯s a blank map which tells you nothing but positions of your party members). Making my way to the mid-point I soon feel a chill run down my back. DIVE Eating the snow I hear a *Yowl* from the Lynx as it pounces where my head should have been. Scrambling to my feet I face off the Lynx who quickly turns and pounces once again. -38 (102/170) Sidestepping just a bit too slow I get a graze to my right shoulder. But I turn round and ready my axe for the Lynx¡¯s next pounce. Almost like a ball it bounces about half a second after it lands on the ground yowling at me. Crit -55 (545/600) Getting an axe to the face it lands on the floor in front of me. Quickly taking its back I start to put it in a chokehold. -38 37 (27/170) Its claws scratch my arm as I roll to my back and then finally lock its front paws with my legs. In the chokehold the Lynx can¡¯t do anything, it has got less strength than the wolves so I¡¯m not too surprised. The rest is quite obvious. ¡­ Skinning the lynx, I happily hum a tune as I got a whole 24% xp on my bar from this one kill. This leveled me back to level 10 (I dropped because of Gannor) and gave me a whole 12% to my next level. Seeing the two still together and moving towards me I start to head off once again. I meet another 2 lynxes on the way and they quickly share the same fates as the one before. It¡¯s not that they¡¯re slow but I¡¯ve got a 21 agility as well as 123% movement rate. I¡¯m pretty quick on my feet too. Racking up the xp (because my party mates are too far away to share) I finally see them between the trees. Waving them over, we meet up looking still ready for some fighting. They seemed to have killed 4 lynxes on their way but it was much easier for them. So we decide we should spend the next couple of hours in this forest and do as planned; While I pick snowberries in the vicinity, Husky and J?t massacre lynxes. Unlike the wolves who patrolled the whole meadow these lynxes have a set area and just hang around in the trees till we appear. They¡¯re not much of a challenge when J?t locks them with ice chains. Once they cannot move they¡¯re easy prey for Husky. I find my herbing similarly easy and bountiful as there are around 2-3 bushes within 1 lynx¡¯s area. So we walk around the forest in a large circle to where the town is uncovered in our map (it has some details as such) and the circling takes 5 hours (mostly slowed down by me picking herbs). In that time we¡¯ve killed 47 lynxes and I¡¯ve collected 1410 snowberries! I know its crazy but compared to the Frost Grass there¡¯s on average about 4 more and I collect about 3 bushes in the time it takes me to find and collect a Frost Grass patch. So of course my herbalism went up 1 level before stopping once again (meh) and thus I had Husky and then J?t switch out for picking the snowberries. The leveled their herbalism up to level 4 as well and seemed to get better picking the berries. In total we had 432 High quality (of course I picked those) berries and 877 mid quality. The other 101 were poor quality. Items we collected from the lynxes were: 94 pieces of lynx hide, 11 silver 28 copper and 17 lynx teeth. And a level and half! In short, we are very happy. The sun is setting through the trees now so we find a spot where no lynxes attack us. Settling down in the snow we munch happily on some bread. We plan to stay on for an hour and if we don¡¯t get attacked we¡¯ll take turns logging off, so we can get some food and bathroom, etc etc. Luckily nothing happens within the hour and J?t logs off first. Me and Husky sit shivering in the snow, backs to a tree talking about what the night lynxes would look like. ¡­
Due to spending a long time out in the freezing cold without proper protection, you feel cold
STATUS:Cold
+25% satiety decrease, 25% movement and attack speed decrease
Oh god! We¡¯ve never gotten the Cold status before since we¡¯ve always been running around (at day as well). But now that we¡¯re sitting doing nothing in the freezing cold we¡¯ve actually gotten cold. ¡°Well I guess we have to check out the night lynxes¡± Husky proclaims with a grin¡± ¡°J?t won¡¯t be back for another 2 hours so we¡¯ve got time¡± I remark Time for some night hunting¡­Not. We wait the two hours for J?t because these night lynxes may be nasty and if we die, we have to get past Gannor once again. But waiting two hours in the cold isn¡¯t our style (because we will freeze) so we start with a bit of tree running. Yes, tree running. We have 2 hours to spare so we decide to see how far we can run up a tree before falling. I mean who doesn¡¯t want to be able to run up trees? Anyways me and Husky take a tree each opposite eachother and begin the running. Result; about 3 steps before we lose momentum and drop on our backs. Still 3 steps makes us as good as a Persian prince. On that not we try to do the backflip at the end of the 3 steps ¡­ .. . Turns out that doing backflips while at trees on opposite sides isn¡¯t a good idea. We crash into eachother in mid-air causing more than a bit of pain as we smack into the round on top of one another (thankfully I was at the top). Rubbing the pain from our bodies (we did a full body slam on eachother and then the floor), we give eachother a grin and continue the tree running. We spend a good 30 minutes improving our tree running height and get to 5 steps which is over 3 metres. With that done we begin to do something really cool. ¡­ .. . After a couple of tries¡­ It¡¯s really cool as we thought but we found that it requires good timing or I end up headbutting or face-stomping poor Husky in midair. Essentially the idea is to do the 3 steps and while I do a backflip, Husky just dives face up. Then with my feet I land on Husky¡¯s hands and he pushes me up which causes him to go vertical. I then do a 180 in midair and quickly land on his feet. Using them as a base to jump to his tree pushing off sideways which gives Husky the push needed to curl up and flip his body upright. Then I would land on Husky¡¯s tree much higher up while Husky would land on the snow in front of the tree. That was the plan anyway¡­ the execution turned out to be a little different. After we got the timing and positioning right, from multiple headbutting and then face-stomping trials, we finally moved on to the next step. This part took only an hour to get sorted. Our next step proved to be disastrous as when both me and Husky are trying to do 180¡¯s and then have me land on his feet. It¡¯s like trying to put 2 spinning tops on one another, extremely difficult. Our first trial I got my feet caught and ended up be bowled over and landing face between his legs (below his skirt thankfully) before we both dropped into the snow in a messy pile. We had to take a break there. Not because we were tire, but because we finally took some proper damage. Husky ended up with a concussion and I ended up with a sprained neck and a concussion. Now if this was the real world we would have probably broken bones and everything a lot earlier, but luckily we¡¯re in a game. So doing flips and falling on the ground in bad positions we are still alright. We¡¯ll we¡¯re not invincible either as if our positioning is bad enough like it was then, we take a bit of damage. The concussion stuns us for a minute and then keeps us disorientated for 30 minutes while my sprained neck stops me from moving it thus limiting my field of vision quite a bit. Games do have benefits though as it all heals up after 30 minutes of rest (although we got the cold status again in that time). As our pain subsides we see J?t move (we left his body by a tree) as he¡¯s logged back in. Seeing us lying on the ground he raises an eyebrow. ¡°Cooold¡± We both whine at him He snorts and tells me to go log off, which I do of course. I head downstairs seeing Mickey chomping on some toast. Even though it¡¯s about 5 in the morning he¡¯s up and at it (well he never went to sleep in the first place obviously). ¡°Hello there stranger, haven¡¯t seen you around in a while¡± ¡°Busy with some life and death battles¡± ¡°Must have been tough on you¡± Oh you know nothing. He doesn¡¯t inquire further as I look a bit ragged so with that I get myself some toast. Having 4 pieces of toast with peanut butter, banana and strawberry jam I fully enjoy my early breakfast. We chat quietly about goings about in Mickey¡¯s area (So I just listen really). According to him this ¡®Rered rumeht took claim of the whole beginner forest, so the guy is still there. But that happened a short while ago so It¡¯s old news. The more recent news was as system announcement telling everyone that Blaggifist was the first to make some superb equipment. Good for him, looks like he¡¯s spent a lot of time crafting though since no way someone can make that good a piece of equipment already if they don¡¯t devote their life to crafting . I mean we spent a bit of time but I¡¯d imagine that¡¯d be his whole day; in a shop working with materials. But I found that strange since I never got the announcement and I was on the whole time for the past couple of in-game days. How odd, maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m in the middle of nowhere cut off from the world? Absorbing the information about rumors and such I quickly finish my meal. After cleaning my dishes we head back upstairs and into our respective rooms. I log back in. I see Husky and J?t lying in the ground whining ¡°Cooold¡± as I log in. Ah, they must have been playing around as well. Husky sees me and with a happy sigh logs off. I help J?t up. ¡°So how we going to do this?¡± I ask him curiously. It looks like he¡¯s got something planned ¡°Just wait and see¡± he says with a grin. He starts by stabbing himself a couple of times (I¡¯m use to knowing about it but watching him is still a bit freaky). Once he¡¯s down to 1 health and 179 rage we begin. He starts by creating 2 ice squares a couple of inches off the ground and a small distance from one another. Jumping onto them I start to jump from one to another. Of course I slip on the first and fall to the ground whacking my head on the ice square in the process. J?t chuckles as I get up rubbing my head and he motions for me to try again. Getting back on one of them I try jumping from still. It works slightly better and I do get to the other ice square but then I slip off like before. Standing back up I begin to repeat the process another 8 times until the ice squares dissipate mid jump. Ah seems like J?t ran out of juice. Waiting for J?t to heal back up I eat a bit of bread. Stabbing and then re-casting the 2 ice squares, I begin to jump from one to the other once again¡­ Turns out the easiest way to do it is to jump and catch your feet on the edge of the squares so you get a firm push and landing. However I have to then lean forward to get onto the ice square I land on and thus I have often slipped and banged my head against the ice. After about 6-8 times we take a 3 minute break for J?t to heal up and cast the ice squares. He can hold the spell for literally just under a minute as each square takes 1 rage per second to maintain and because we¡¯re out of combat he loses another 1 rage per second (so a grand total of 3 per second). So this routine of me jumping from on to the other repeats itself for the better part of an hour; till I¡¯m able to jump back and forth from edge to edge of the ice squares repeatedly. My record is 23 jumps before I miss the ledge and slip. J?t seems satisfied with this and moves me on to the next step. I jump high into the air and as my momentum starts downwards I feel a thin line of ice under my left sole. Pushing off into the air I then feel ice form beneath my right. Stolen novel; please report. Doing climbing jumps I go up about 5 metres until I start to walk down the sky. Whenever you are jumping off platforms, never walk. That is true in many platform games and especially true here. When I stop at the top ice platform to walk down I immediately drop as if there wasn¡¯t a platform there. Crashing into the ground my feet crack¡­I¡¯ve broken both my legs (You see I didn¡¯t notice before but with those 2 ice squares I¡¯d flattened them to the ground when I was on them). Since I¡¯m injured again I take a short break while J?t begins some self practice¡­ He starts jumping up ice platforms that he makes and is doing extremely well. But I mean he¡¯s crating the steps himself so he¡¯s going to have an easier time. However he slows down a bit and consequently the platform drops unable to sustain his weight. Though, when he gets off the platform it rises back to its original position. So we¡¯re basically doing an air walk since the minute we slow down we will come crashing down.. After my legs repair J?t has me do running in a line¡­in the air. It actually went quite well and I could run about 10 meters before I tripped on one of the platforms (it was kind of like running on branches) and face planted the snow. After doing a couple more runs, Husky logs back in and gives a short chuckle at me face-planting for a last time. Husky was pretty quick only taking 2 in game hours to do real world things. So with a couple of hours of night to go, we finally decide to hunt some lynxes. ¡­ Walking for a couple of minutes through the forest we hear the swish of leaves as a lynx pounces on us from somewhere. -87 (103/170) I feel claws rip through my back but when I turn around¡­nothing¡¯s there. -86 (114/200) Husky yelps and we turn around to see 3 red lines running along his arm¡­but no lynx in sight. We immediately slam ourselves into a tight circle. A white shadow zooms past me lining my stomach with a cut -88 (5/170) Before we really register it, it¡¯s gone. *Clang* A loud clanging sound comes from my right, J?t! I look around and see a large but sleek white lynx, with overgrown claws and the whole row of top teeth sticking out of its jaw (about half the size of the night wolves but when there¡¯s a whole row of them), lying dazed in front of a small ice-wall that J?t seemed to have created in the nick of time. Before the lynx could regain its senses J?t locks its legs with ice. Husky and I come over with some mad grins¡­we take our revenge. ¡­ .. . The lynx yowl¡¯s a last time as we finish hacking it to death with our weapons. It took us 25 seconds but that was 25 hits from me and 16 from Husky. Not to mention almost all of them were crits since an immobilized Lynx has its head in the same place just waiting to be hacked. The lynx itself was regarded as level 20 but only gave x1.5 xp more than usual. It had 800 health but that was still not enough for it. Taking a quick rest and healing up we then continue on to find some more lynxes. Our plan to take them on was pretty simple; go into a circle and have J?t cast an ice wall when the Lynx jumps him. How do we get the lynx to not kill the rest of us instead? Easy, we gave the lynx an opening. They¡¯re beasts, they don¡¯t think much, I think. When we made our little circle we had J?t be a bit out so his sides and back were exposed, only after the lynx had attacked us. Why? So that he¡¯d know where the lynx would be coming from since we¡¯d kind of yell in pain as the lynx attacked us, giving a clear direction. Once the lynx was dazed by the wall, J?t cast ice chains, immobilizing the lynx and then lets us do the rest. Just so you know; he took off all his armor while we were doing the ice jumping since he did fail to make the platforms sometimes and caused a fall on that occasion. He hasn¡¯t been wearing it since because to have a 10% fail rate in spells and going up against an unknown enemy? Not a good idea. We hunt the night lynxes for a good 2 hours and a bit, killing only 10 of them but making sure we don¡¯t die. While we hunted the lynxes we didn¡¯t just go in a random direction; we slowly headed towards the supposed cave that we¡¯ve been asked to mine some ore from. However on the way a couple of things happened. First and most important: J?t¡¯s ice manipulation hit level 10 and turned into Ice manipulation mastery [lvl1], giving him a 10% discount on spell costs and upkeep as well as a 5% chance of causing the ¡®cold¡¯ status on attack spells. Pretty impressive. Also his ice-wall became an actual sub-skill that cost 30 rage a second and is essentially a square the size of 4 riot shields. Another important thing is that they finally changed their sprint into speedy which made them quite happy. So anyways, we¡¯ve now arrived at the entrance of the cave. The cave itself has a small mouth with two ugly bluish beings sitting either side holding spears. ... .. . Yes that¡¯s right, goblins are also enemies. I had gotten used to seeing Bezia, a goblin, as an ally that I kind of forgot that goblins are actually monsters, pretty popular ones too. However the difference between them and Bezia is quite apparent, not just their skin color; the goblins here have longer faces, their eyes are fully red and are accompanied by small pointed teeth. Although I called them goblins they seem a lot more like hobgoblins due to their size. But it is still night. We take a small bread break as we watch the goblins at the entrance sit lazily and pick their noses (not a fun sight). Opening my quest journal I check the supposed quest of ours
QUEST:Jearth''s ore collection
Jearth, Glacia''s blacksmith, has asked you to collect 30 pieces of Athterium. He told you there is a cave east of the village where he knows Athterium resides.
Rewards: 10 Silver Increased intimacy with Jearth
Hmm the quest itself gives a pretty good reward, monetary wise, but because of that the quest might be pretty difficult. Closing the window I take a peek at the ¡®goblins¡¯. Since the sun came out they withered somewhat gaining quite a few wrinkles as well as decreasing substantially in size. With a nod we all stand up and head over ¡°Ah strangers¡­Kill!¡±
NAME:Frost Goblin [lvl20]
500/500
500 health at level 20? That¡¯s a tad bit low. With caution we have J?t immobilize the goblins¡­But the ice chains are easily broken by the goblins. With wide eyes we enter melee range of the goblins. -32 (138/170) -31 (169/200) Their spears only do a bit of damage as they stab it through us, but that¡¯s still way too low for their level. Crit -82 (418/500) Crit -55 (445/500) We slam our axes into their heads since their spears are stuck in our bodies, they had a limited movement. Getting momentarily stunned is fatal for them as we let go of our weapons tackle the goblins. Hitting the ground they drop their spear and we mount them holding their arms above their heads with one of ours (their strength is extremely low, even my 10 strength is enough). With our other hand we continually punch their ugly faces only causing small amounts of damage. But after a minute of punching them they die from the accumulated damage. J?t had just stood there as we beat the goblins, feeling pretty useless. After reclaiming their bodies for no copper, only their loincloths (they only wore loincloths by the way), we look extremely unhappy. They gave 1% xp to all of us which is completely terrible seeing as though they¡¯re 9 levels above us. With mild rage we walk into the cave
WARNING! You have entered a dungeon instance: Frosty Caverns
DUNGEON:Frost Caverns
A cave in the middle of the woods
Recommended level: 25+, Recommended Party number: 3-5
My instincts tell me to back off but curiosity always wins doesn¡¯t it. We peek inside to see a large, dimly illuminated cavern void of any beings but with two paths going into the darkness. Walking stealthily inside no traps set off or monsters come out so we guess this is a safe starting zone. The room is illuminated by blue stones dotted along the walls. Making our way to the light (we all have the same idea), we see the stone is actually an ore. Husky takes out the pickaxe and begins to pick away at the wall to try loosening the small stone (about the size of a thumb). The *Tak Tak* sounds reverberate across the room making echoes of the sound. Husky quickly finishes his work with 4 strikes and the ore pops out. Picking it up he gives a little nod before passing it around
NAME:Athterium nugget (no quality)
A tiny nugget of Athterium ore. By itself it is useless but with 9 more pieces it could be considered a full piece of ore
Ah, so we¡¯re going to have to mine a lot more then. On the bright side, we¡¯ve found our required ore already. However it seems something found us too. Possibly due to the loud sound of Husky mining, a group of Frost Goblins appear from the right corridor. A whole 6 of them. Ah, this isn¡¯t going to go well. ¡°Intruders! Kill!¡± The goblins charge at us and we rush to intercept them. The two we killed outside were pretty easy so we shouldn¡¯t have a problem with only 6 of them. Taking 2 each is the plan. -14 (486/500) -14 (486/500) Getting into range I hack the two Goblins before jumping and sprinting to the other side of the room. The others follow my lead. Since we¡¯re faster than the goblins we get to our spots safely (though Husky and J?t got stabbed on the way out) and then start our individual combats¡­ Dodging their spears I run to the side of one chopping at its side -14 -13 (459/500) It turns towards me with a bestial growl but by then I¡¯ve run away. One of Husky¡¯s goblins turn round at their friend¡¯s call in the distance only to see an axe embed in its face Crit -28 (383/500) ¡°Run and Gun!¡± I bellow out to the others. They get me and disengage from their fights. Now the room is big enough to fit 100 people comfortably, so we have it pretty easy when we run around. With 2 goblins chasing us (but quite a bit slower), we run around striking once at someone else¡¯s goblins in passing. Thus goblins keep changing their agro targets and quickly become quite confused on who to attack. After about 5 minutes of running and slowly whittling down the goblin¡¯s health and losing quite a bit ourselves (we¡¯ve consumed a herb a minute to keep our health up), we get our first goblin down to 100. No surprise; the bugger tries to scamper on us, so we all charge after it and kill it on the spot. -35 +3 (41/170) Dispersing once again, I get stabbed by a goblin but I still get passed it and to some space. Apparently 4 are after Husky while 1 is after me. Husky is the dps in the party right now though. Poor Husky gets tasked with running round the room taking the 4 goblins after him while J?t and I tackle the other one. While J?t distracts the goblin I tackle him and after straddling it, I chop away. Once I¡¯m finished I give the signal. -20 (310/500) J?t shoot¡¯s an icebolt at one of the Husky pursuing goblins and with that pitiful damage, the goblin agros onto him. Repeating the process I happily chop away. Husky is looking worse for wear with having to run continually for 10 minutes while hacking the goblins once every couple of minutes. Due to that his health has reached 14 points. -20 (158/500) -20 (260/500) J?t agros 2 of them and I run past them towards Husky. Tackling the lone goblin I begin hacking away and I leave Husky to help J?t. As I hack I don¡¯t really need to concentrate so I look over at the two of them; unsurprisingly they¡¯re both mounted on goblins punching/stabbing them. With that we wipe out our first goblin group. This time for loot we got one of their slightly rotted spears so we just leave it there. I still don¡¯t fully understand how the goblins are level 20; because even though their magic resist is pretty high the rest of their stats are low. But then again in a straight fight we would have lost without a doubt. But due to our speed we were able to divide and conquer. The goblins weren¡¯t slow, it¡¯s just that they didn¡¯t have any movement bonuses like quadraped animals do. So we were at least 10% faster than them which makes quite a difference. Though the dungeon recommends the level to be 25 at least so these guys are basically minions. After we heal up Husky starts mining once more. He does so pretty quickly getting a nugget a minute. We watch him pick away at the sides and as he does so the light slowly fades from the room. Hmm maybe we shouldn¡¯t pick them at the moment. I mean none of us have night-vision, but the game does make dim-lit rooms a bit brighter than usual to help the players it seems. So we watch Husky mine 5 ore¡¯s worth of nuggets before the room visibly darkens on one side. We really shouldn¡¯t mine anymore right now. Luckily no more goblins have come this way so we¡¯ve had a pretty peaceful hour. However that ends soon as Husky puts away the pickaxe and we start walking down the right path. The path leads to a small cavernous room where 4 goblins are sitting by a shining blue ore. Ah so that¡¯s a full piece of Athterium. I sprint into the room and they look at me with big eyes before I hack one of them causing agro on me. Swiveling round I begin to run out the room. All 4 of them follow angrily as I run through the corridor and into the big room. They come into the room after luring them some more, J?t aggros 2 of them. I have 2 running after me and I run away for a minute before one starts to turn towards Husky and J?t. -36 (144/170) -14 (486/500) Sprinting towards them I get a spear to the side before I chop and re-aggro the one who was about to attack the others. Continuing my running around the room, the other two finish off their goblins in the middle and agro both of them with some more icebolts. I turn and tackle one while Husky bites a spear to tackle the other. Their end was nigh. Not even bothering to reclaim them we go back to the Athterium ore campsite and with glee collect a whole Athterium ore. That was a mistake. We should have checked our surroundings first. There were 3 different exits to this campsite (not including the one we came through) and at grand total of 12 goblins came in groups of 6 from 2 of the exits. Seems they were patrolling and happened to come back at the same time, only to see some random invaders taking the ore campsite (by the way the ore just shines, it doesn¡¯t give off heat). ¡°INTRUDERS!¡± Ruuuun! Sprinting back to the other room doesn¡¯t really make much of a difference because there¡¯s no way one of us can agro 12 of them at a time (well J?t can with his ¡®rain of ice¡¯ but that¡¯d cost all his rage and health). We sprint out the exit and leave the instance flying out into the forest and escaping the goblins¡­well that was the plan anyways
You cannot leave the instance when in combat!
This dastardly system. We stop and turn around to see all 12 goblins in front of us charging madly. With no visible gaps I do one last thing before I die ¡°ASCEND ME TO VALHALLA¡± Both me and Husky say the same thing (we¡¯re two dead peas in a pod) as we raise our arms and embrace the spears. ¡°You morons¡± J?t follows us in death soon after. Reviving in the cold snow the first thing I think is: Have I really gone to Valhalla? Why? Because I haven¡¯t revived on my soft furry mattress. I look around and nope, turns out I just revived at the entrance of the cavern. Oh so dying in a dungeon will revive you just outside, handy. I check my xp bar and see it¡¯s only gone down 5% which is a quarter of the usual (so less xp loss in a dungeon?). We all stand up and decide to leave the dungeon alone for now, because it did recommend level 25 and although we can fight 1 on 1, goblins always come in groups. In this instance in groups of 6 in the least. And that¡¯s just at the entrance. Turning our backs to the dungeon we head into the forest to kill some more lynxes. Everyone Wants A Piece of Me...Whyyy ¡°Yowlll¡± ¡°No point yowling kitty, you¡¯re as good as dead¡± I reply to the lynx¡¯s yowling as it gets ice chained You don¡¯t need to know the brutal details that happen next¡­ Skinning the dead Lynx and picking the surrounding berries, we take a break. While munching on our bread we recount what we¡¯ve done today; After leaving the dungeon (through death) we decided to go kill a couple more lynxes. I say a couple but we¡¯ve literally spent the past 9 hours roaming round the forest killing lynxes. Literally 100 lynxes. That¡¯s our kill count over these 9 hours. This gave us 2 silver 40 copper, 22 teeth and 200 squares of hide. Also we ended up gaining 2 levels and my bar is at 10% right now. Level 13, whoo! Sadly the lynxes are giving us 1% on our bar now so they aren¡¯t great to hunt anymore. I mean 2 levels in 9 hours is quite terrible efficiency. Also we¡¯ve come across a couple of problems. The first being equipment. Our axes (and dagger) are pretty much on the verge of being broken and our armor doesn¡¯t fare much better. The next is bag space. Since we¡¯ve collected 4110 snowberries, they take up quite some space (although can take up to 999 in a stack) and altogether weigh 41 kilos. Then we have the 294 squares of hide which only take up once space but weigh 147 kilos. The teeth weigh a bit but not too much so they¡¯re too much of a hassle. Luckily we can carry up to 100 kilos (+1 per strength point) each or 24 bag slots worth of items. So right now we¡¯ve almost completely packed two of us and its only our second day in the forest! Anyways, we haven¡¯t done much but grind lynxes and explore the immediate forested vicinity. As suspected the forest rings the village for a couple of kilometers and then there seems to be a few different things if we leave the forest: In the west is a long plain as far as the eye can see, in the north the same and in the south the forest continues for a lot more. In the east, past the cave the terrain gets mountainous so we guessed its mountains or hills. Since its sunset we quickly find a lynx-less place and start our log-off and recuperate routine. Husky logs off first this time, so I¡¯m left with J?t to play with the ice platforms. We do the whole air jumping, platform running and then heading back down (broke my legs again) for a good 2 hours before J?t decides to do something new. He starts forming platforms where I can¡¯t jump above for some reason and then with an ¡°oh¡± I figure it out. Thank god I practiced flips with Husky the other day. Yes, he has me flip and push off the platfom¡¯s underside and then bounce off a platform and repeat. Quite interesting to say the least but flipping in midair and catching the platform (which is only about the width of an average book¡¯s spine) is quite the task. Even after I do it correctly I have to flip again and bounce off the other platform, a lot harder when you do it against gravity. I injured myself and the watched J?t practice the basics. Parkour in midair is not easy. Husky logs back after the allotted time and I log off myself. Taking off my headset I grab a towel that¡¯s hanging off the door and have my 3 minute shower (quite long I know, but I haven¡¯t washed in 2 days so I take my time). Drying up I head downstairs and see everyone eating lunch. Well it is Saturday so I was expecting everyone to be down here anyways. Martha is cooking what I believe to be carbonara (pasta) while Layla is pestering Mickey with a trillion questions about what he¡¯s been doing all day. Mickey half-heartedly answers and upon seeing me directs the beast towards me (god dammit Mickey). Sitting at the table I get BARRAGED (she spits questions out like machine-gun fire) with questions about what I¡¯ve been doing in game. Fun fact, Layla¡¯s a growing gamer. But her mother doesn¡¯t allow her to play so she¡¯s stuck with just watching. Maybe I should introduce her to Missy, they¡¯d get along really well ¡­ .. . OH GOD, I forgot to bring her lunch yesterday. I¡¯m going to be soo dead on Monday! I think I might bring Layla in as a sacrifice, hmm that should work, hopefully. Finally remembering that I¡¯ve missed a day of school, I don¡¯t really mind honestly, but Missy is a different matter. I¡¯m going to enjoy my weekend as if it were my last¡­ Anyways back to Layla who somehow is still asking questions (she must¡¯ve asked like 50 already). ¡°I killed cats, picked berries and did a lot of running¡± that¡­pretty much sums up my entire day. I mean I did do leatherworking and reading but that was yesterday so doesn¡¯t count. Sadly that didn¡¯t answer any of Layla¡¯s questions which are leaning towards this ¡®Rered¡¯ fellow I heard about from Mickey earlier. Seems he¡¯s becoming quite the thing on the forums. ¡°Ah Layla I¡¯m a bit stuck somewhere so I don¡¯t know anything about ¡®Rered¡¯. Mickey is in the same city as him though¡± He gives me a slight death glare as I redirect the beast to him. After a few minutes of dutifully answering her mountain of questions the food comes out. Munching on our pasta I once again get barraged by questions, but from a different beast this time. ¡°Zach, why did you not go to school yesterday, your homeroom teacher called saying you weren¡¯t in¡± ¡°Ah, I was on the verge of death¡± (A half truth) ¡°Wow you have quite a good recovery rate to be so fine today¡± ¡°Amazing right?¡± I flash a cheeky grin ¡°Well you really should get off your game sometimes, at least twice a day for food because you didn¡¯t eat anything yesterday either¡± ¡°Well I had a bit of my peanut butter¡± ¡°At least take some fruit if you¡¯re going to have a snack¡± She seems to lose the will to fight. She never had a mother¡¯s diligence to interrogate their children about their habits and lifestyle. I am quite grateful for that though as she lets me do as I please in my room as long as I don¡¯t go mad. With the conversation ended I finish my meal and head back upstairs. Settling down in my bed I go to log on when I hear this huge banging sound downstairs ¡°ZAAAAAACH YOU HAVE 20 SECONDS TO GET OUT HERE. 19¡­18¡± Guess I won¡¯t have to wait till Monday¡­ Flying off my bed I race downstairs and soar to the door. Ripping open the door (not literally, I¡¯m not that desperate, well not that strong) I come face to face with a quite angry Missy (Ohhh no, this isn¡¯t good). *Bam* Before you ask, no, it isn¡¯t the sound of her beating the living daylight out of me, it¡¯s the sound of her beating the living shit out of me. ¡­ .. . She stops after I¡¯m an unrecognizable pulp by the door(well ok, not thaaat bad, but still my face is swollen from being hit, multiple times without mercy). What can I say; she takes after her Father, probably. ¡°Now¡­explain¡± Whyyyy? Isn¡¯t the law in England ask first beat up later? But I¡¯ll explain anyways or she may completely pulverize me. ¡°I boz bighig ohh a ainjeroh monha¡± If you have ever tried to speak with a severely swollen face, you know I¡¯m trying my best to pronounce the words correctly here. ¡°Ah I see. But was it really that dangerous, enough to incur my wrath?¡± She cracks her knuckles. She understands what I¡¯m saying because¡­this isn¡¯t the first time. ¡°Heh huly ainjeroh¡± ¡°Well you wouldn¡¯t lie to me would you now?¡± I swear her father¡¯s been giving her some lessons recently ¡°No no no o horh noh¡± ...She doesn¡¯t start beating me up again so I think answered correctly ¡°¡­8pm at my place¡± If it were not Missy, my face would be heating up right now (if it capable of doing that, but I know the routine¡­ With that she storms away with a slight skip in her step I think? (my eyes are a bit blocked by my swollen face). Oddly enough I don¡¯t feel terrible like I¡¯ve just had the crap beaten out of me; I feel a bit happy (although in pain), I wonder why? Closing the door, I get up from the floor and I head to the kitchen. ¡°Oh go-oh wait it¡¯s not that surprising¡± Thanks Martha for being so caring. Taking out a roll of linen from the freezer (we became prepared for this quite a while back) she starts bandaging my face. Somehow she¡¯s able to do enough to make it swell but not enough to hospitalize me; I¡¯m terrified at what else her father has taught her. After my entire face is bandaged with only a small slit for my eyes to look through, Martha decides that covers all the swollen parts (didn¡¯t she just mummify my face? I mean I¡¯m not that ugly). Heading upstairs I diligently put on my helmet ¡­ .. . Error! Cannot read face. Ah, oops. I take off my bandages (Mah I¡¯ll just be mummified at school) and put the helmet back on ¡­ .. . Error! Face is unrecognizable ... .. . Now that¡¯s just mean! Scanning¡­scanning for semblance of humanity I feel like the D-lute is making fun of me. Ah! Retina scan successful. Congratulations, you¡¯re human! How does a recognition system have sass? Oh wait it is run by that girl isn¡¯t it. Allie was it? ¡°Allie stop fooling and log me in already¡± Pfft, sorry it¡¯s just looks like you¡¯ve had a hard time the hour and 13 minutes you¡¯ve been offline ¡°I have woman problems offline and online. You should know about the latter half¡± Well that isn¡¯t a problem, according to my sources about 98% of male population in the same situation- ¡°SHHHHHHH I have circumstances!!!¡± Maybe playing a female character has affected your tastes? Whyyyyy? Do all females have something against me today??? ¡°NO NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST¡± Believe in yourself. Ok I¡¯ll log you in now. Ah good. ¡­ .. . WAIT A SECOND. DIDN¡¯T I JUST TALK TO ALLIE? I THOUGHT SHE WAS JUST AVAILABLE TO HELP IN THE CHARACTER CREATION. With that thought I wake up to a most wonderful sight: ¡°AAAH J?T STOP IT!¡± ¡°You dare question my authority? Have another¡± ¡°NO PLEASE, NO MORE¡± ¡­ .. . Just what is happening? In front of my eyes is one Husky jumping on platforms in the air while 2 small icicles are pricking his backside. Oh and let¡¯s not forget J?t who is standing in the snow laughing maniacally while stabbing himself (for rage, not because he¡¯s mad. Possibly). I¡­think I should just log back off. But alas Lady Luck rears her ugly head once again. ¡°Ah Kal¡­I was getting bored teaching Husky over here¡± Teaching?! He turns round to look at me (wait how¡¯d he know I was here without looking?) and lets all the platforms disappear. ¡°You see we we¡¯re doing jumping and Husky ¡°AAAAH¡± said it was too *Crack* boring, so I spiced it up a bit. Also since I¡¯m in combat I can maintain the training for longer¡± Husky, I think you have awoken a sleeping beast. I check how he¡¯s doing; his butt in the air with two icicles poking out as well as two broken legs. He¡¯s juuust fine (well he isn¡¯t dead at least). ¡°So, umm what do you need me for?¡± ¡°Well since you didn¡¯t come on in time I haven¡¯t gotten my break. So I thought I¡¯d take my break in half an hour. Until then how about we train¡± Holding a blood soaked knife with a smile as he tells me this, I¡¯m not sure I want to train (also seeing Husky rolling on the ground half-crying about his butt/broken legs¡­I¡¯m terrified). But I don¡¯t have an excuse not to, and it sort of looked fun (I¡¯m a fan of platformers). ¡°Sure?¡± Husky drags himself to a nearby tree (Arms only he looks a bit like a zombie). ¡°Jump when you¡¯re ready¡± I jump and immediately a platform forms. Jumping off to the right I start the hopping game. ¡°Now let us truly begin¡± I feel a coldness behind me but pay it no heed as I concentrate on landing on the platforms and then jumping off to the next one. -5 (165/170) WHAAAA? An ice needle just poked me in the butt! Immediately I forget trying to land correctly and I try to bounce as fast as I can: Left, up, up , right, down, upside down?! I slow down when I flip and look for the next platform -5 (160/170) ¡°Faster¡± Allright! Jumping down I bounce off to the right, up, up, up, behind? Backflipping a wide arc I land onto the next platform -5 (155/170) Too slow again? ¡°Looks like you need some more prodding¡± He doesn¡¯t beat around the bush does he? Another icicle appears behind me. Up, left left, backflip, drop, right, up, upside down, bounce, up, swing? -5 -5 (145/170) I hesitated for a second at the high platform. Jumping off (well pushed off) I grab and swing to the next platform. Down, down, down, right, up, left, left, left, run! Running on the platforms I sprint through 14 of them before leaping a metre or so distance to another platform. Backflip? Flipping back I see the platform and my head almost grazing it I bounce off of it still bent backwards. Right, right, up, up, swing, side, swing? A vertical square appears as I swing and I hesitate before I push off with two more holes. -5 -5 (135/170) ¡°Faster¡± I¡¯m going as fast as I can you know! Left -5 -5 (125/170) Right, up -5 -5 (115/170) Backflip, up left, down -5 -5 (105/ 170) Wait a second it¡¯s getting a bit dangerous here! Down, left, swing -5 -5 (95/170) Down, down -5 -5 (85/170) Le¡­Where¡¯d they go? -30 -5 -5 (45/170) Face-planting onto the snow I take a bit of damage but I¡¯m low enough so that I don¡¯t break my legs (He¡¯s figured out the minimum height!). ¡°You have two minutes rest¡± Ha ha, I lie on the snow regaining a bit of breath. Husky sends me a little pitying glance. ¡°Don¡¯t be panting already, this was only the warmup. I¡¯m going to make you pay for being late¡± Whyyyy? Does everyone have something against me today? Two minutes pass in a blink of the eye and I¡¯m back to ¡®training¡¯. First up is run dodging. Having me run on the platforms while dodging mini icebolts coming from the front. Not too difficult but still a pain to duck and do cross step on the platforms ¡°Level 1 complete¡± Ha ha. Another 2 minutes break. Back to running but this time icebolts come from both sides as well as the front. ¡°Wait how is this level 2?¡± ¡°Impudence. Level 3¡± WAIT WHAT ABOUT LEVEL 2?! One homing icebolt in the back while 2 spawn from the other 3 sides (behind has the homing icebolts). Flip, cross-step, dive, roll, jump, spin, dive, roll, cross-step, cross-step, duck, jump, dive, flatten. It only lasts 10 seconds but when I flatten myself on the snow I¡¯m at 25 health and full of mini icebolts. Ha ha. Another 2 minute break. ¡°Fliptatstic, level 3¡± WAIT A SECOND -5 (165/170) OK IM GOING! Flip, flip, flip, flip jesus flip, flip, flip, flip, flip How many flips are there, fli-*smack*. Flipping continuously is hard by itself. When buddied up with 2 icebolts prodding you if your flip parabola is too large and the fact that the platforms are thin then it¡¯s complete and utter hell. Though getting 9 flips in a row is enough to get me into a cheerleading squad so I did pretty well. 1 minute rest. ¡°Two digits or level increase¡± ¡°What happens when I flip more than 10?¡± J?t flashes an evil grin ¡°Level increase¡± WAIT A SEC- -5 -5 (160/170) I¡¯M GOING I¡¯M GOING ¡°Level 7¡± WHYYYYYY? Flip, flip up, flip down, flip left, flip left, flip, flip, flip up, flip up, flip down, flip right, flip to floor. Holding my head, I let the nausea from continuous flipping lessen. About 10 minutes has passed¡­So I have another 20 minutes of this hell? Husky help! Wait, he can¡¯t do anything right now! ¡°Climbing level 5¡± Jumping towards the platform I start scrambling up the platforms *Whoosh* -5 (165/170) An icebolt stabs from between the two platforms. Scrambling up I sway from side to side trying my best to dodge the puncturing icebolts while little ones poke at my feet. The platforms start going downwards with a lot of space in between and I start swinging from platform to platform and fail to dodge the icebolts in midair (how does one dodge in midair?). Making my way to the floor I face-plant gladly and check my health: 25, close call there. ¡°Backfliptastic level 3¡± OH C¡¯MON! -5 -5 (160/170) WHYYYYYY? Backflip, backflip, backflip, backfilp, ba-*Smack* Now that I¡¯ve failed I¡¯m going to have to do it again on a harder level! I get back up and try the backflips again. -5 -5 (125/170) ¡°No rest¡± WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME! Backflip, backflip, backf-*Smack* *poke poke* -5 -5 (85/170) Stop poking there, it feels good thou-WAIT WHAT AM I THINKING, THIS ISN¡¯T THE SITUATION TO THINK ABOUT THAT NOOOO! ¡­The pain(?) finally lessens as J?t disperses the icebolts. ¡°2 minute break¡± Ha ha. Man if I didn¡¯t do dodge ball every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I would have died for sure! I had joined the dodgeball club 2 years ago for some fun; although I quickly learnt it was quite harsh training. We had these warm-up sessions where everyone would throw dodgeballs at one person and they¡¯d have to dodge for 30 minutes. The person either volunteered or was picked out randomly. I seemed to have quite bad luck getting picked every time. Also I remember a lot more boys joined up for every warm-up. ¡­ .. . Now that I think about it¡­ But¡­I guess I¡¯m finally grateful for the weekly warm-up¡¯s I had with them because I learnt how to do backflips and flips of all kinds (I also did a bit of gymnastics on the side). ¡°You look tired¡± ¡°I can last a bit longer¡± I have my pride to take the punishment full on at least. ¡­I don¡¯t think I should have said that ¡°Oh really¡± THAT GLINT IN HIS EYE! I REALLY SHOULD NOT HAVE SAID THAT ¡°Hmm¡­we will try your endurance then¡± ¡­ .. . This is bad¡­ ¡°Umm J?t I know I said I could last longer but I didn¡¯t mean it this way¡± Right now I¡¯m lying in the snow (doesn¡¯t sound bad right?) but there¡¯s a small problem¡­ -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 +3 (140/170) A tiny ice needle is travelling up my leg, prodding me at 1 second intervals. J?t had me eat some poor quality grass while he chomps on some too. Thus I¡¯m getting some acupuncture, and because of the health regen it¡¯s lasted 3 minutes so far. Needless to say, it¡¯s uncomfortable (although my body feels really relaxed?) as the ice needle travels around my body poking here and there and over there as well. Ayayayayay it huuurts! Another 10 minutes pass and by now my body feels numb and a lot more holey than before, maybe I¡¯ve been blessed? (Ok I¡¯ll stop with the bad jokes) Only 2 more minutes to go, only 120 more needles to go (Oh god, that number is terrifying)! ¡°You know acupuncture historically has two separate methods; the first being where you just prick like I am doing for short signal bursts or to keep the needle stuck so as to send a constant signal to your brain-¡± ¡­Oh right, I almost forgot; J?t has been giving me a short history lesson on acupuncture (He knows a surprising amount, I think). I only half-listen though because well¡­I¡¯m distracted by the needles who are slowly pricking me to death. ¡°Let¡¯s try the second method shall we?¡± And what was that again? Rest and recovery? -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -6 -6 +3 (36/170) AAAAAH THAT HURTS! I look down and see 6 NEEDLES STUCK IN MY BODY! I¡¯M GONNA DIE! And since they¡¯re stuck in my body they¡¯re dealing constant damage. -6 -6 (24/170) This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.Oh god oh god. -6 -6 (12/170) Goodbye sweet world, for I have somehow sinned and don¡¯t know what I did. Whyyyyy? -6 -6 (0/170) ¡°Oops¡± I¡¯m not quite sure he actually means it Ah well back to Glacia then ... +3 .. . No darkness to come take me back? Wait I¡¯m not respawning, but didn¡¯t I die? I check my health and sure enough I¡¯m on 3 health??
People sometimes put themselves in extreme danger but somehow avoid their fates. How? Well due to theri abnormal amounts of Luck. For staying alive when by all rights you should have died, you have gained the Lucky trait
TRAIT:Lucky [lvl1]
You have escaped death and thus are divined as a Lucky being. You may find things go your way when they would not have normally. By leveling up this trait you improve your chances of being lucky. Since you have been divined as lucky through surviving death by acupuncture, no other individual may become Lucky in such a way
¡­ .. . I don¡¯t know whether to laugh at the irony of the situation or be happy that my skill-whore self has gotten another skill. ¡°hehehe hahaha HAHAHA¡± J?t is doing a great villain laugh for some reason. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me¡± I quickly prostrate myself ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about that. I¡¯ll let you off with a warning; Don¡¯t ever make me miss my favourite TV show¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°EH?¡± You almost killed me for a TV SHOW? I know there are fanatical people out there but still¡­ ¡°It¡¯s on once a week, ONCE A WEEK and I MISSED it, missed it all because of you. Because I couldn¡¯t leave Husky alone with our bodies!¡± ¡°Wait a second J?t, don¡¯t make me sound like some sort of pervert¡± Whines Husky as he rubs his legs (still broken). ¡°Ah¡­sorry, but YOU! You I am not sorry for, though you get to live this time¡± Phew, I survived a TV fanatic who missed his favorite show. Maybe I really am lucky (the irony of having been in this situation though¡­). ¡°Thank you! But a question before you go¡± I see J?t head for the log-out button and stop him. ¡°Oh, the laughing? It¡¯s because I learnt the acupuncture skill¡± ¡­ .. . He logs off leaving me and Husky looking wide-eyed at eachother. ¡°ROCK PAPER SCISSORS!¡± ¡­Damn, I chose scissor and he chose rock. I¡¯M NOT LUCKY AT ALL!!! Lying on my back once more I let some sweat drip from my eye. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Kal, but it¡¯s for the sake of a skill¡± Oh the pains of skill-whores Husky grabs a small twig and sharpens it with his axe ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it; I may need to practice surviving this in case I wake the sleeping giant again¡± ¡°You and me both¡± *Shiver* we think back at the past 30 minutes of hellish ¡®training¡¯ ¡°Shall we get started?¡± ¡­ .. . *Gulp* ¡°¡­Husky?¡± I see he¡¯s shaking as he holds the sharpened twig above my legs. ¡°I..it¡¯s just that¡­.no I cannot do it¡± ¡°What? And lose up on a skill? Are you ok, did J?t hit your head too hard?¡± ¡°He did, but that isn¡¯t the point. How¡­how can I?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok, just take a deep breath and close your eyes¡± ¡°But then I won¡¯t know where to put it¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll guide it¡± ¡°O-ok i-I¡¯ll try my best¡± ¡°Y-yes, please be gentle¡± ¡­ .. . I thin-nah I¡¯m just imagining things. ... Now you don¡¯t want to know the details but it took Husky the better part of an hour to acquire the skill; which is quite fast seeing as though J?t took around the same time and he sounded like he knew the skill IRL. Husky does have delicate hands and once again they show their use (although I would have preferred they didn¡¯t). Ah I did forget to mention, pain is set a 10% in the game so these past 2 hours have only been mild torture. Still torture but mild (I mean I¡¯m a bit numb from my, ahem¡­talk¡­with Missy earlier so I don¡¯t feel things as well right now). I put up with it for two reasons: J?t was kind of in the right since our bodies stay for a while when we log off and if something were to happen¡­we could potentially get stuck in Glacia forever (Gannor that¡¯s why). The second reason was because I¡¯d get a new skill, which Husky told me all about when he finally got it. Apparently depending on where we apply the acupuncture we can get up to 1% increase in our STR or AGI. A verrry bountiful skill indeed, I can smell its usefulness in the late game. He also mentioned, like the skinning, it became a minigame to prod the lights with precision. Sadly(?) I don¡¯t get to fill Husky with holes-I mean learn the acupuncture skill (it looks like someone¡¯s shot me with a full round of a minigun, he took a while to learn where it actually counts as acupuncture and not simply stabbing). With my skin becoming beautifully perfect once more (I feel my soft and supple skin, to check its still perfect, not what you¡¯re thinking you self-pervs!) I stand up and we do a bit of tree running. A couple of minutes later, J?t logs back in looking away slightly awkwardly. ¡°Show was cancelled...¡­sorry¡± At least you apologized for putting me through mild torture, so I forgive you. I shouldn¡¯t hold grudges seeing as though this may be my last day on this earth (time of apocalypse is 7 O¡¯ clock). ¡°Forgiven, but-¡±Cracking my knuckles ¡°Give and take you know¡± I did say I shouldn¡¯t hold grudges buuut when I watch my delicate white skin being baptized with needles, it pushes a button (I¡¯m starting to get a bit protective of my new body, a bit). However I don¡¯t do it now since morning just came. Time to get back to work ¡­ We head through the forest for about 5 hours killing 48 lynxes along the way (of course we pick another 1420 berries, wow I still can¡¯t get used to saying that big a number). Sadly the xp is quite terrible and we¡¯re all just above halfway. However we had a reason to spend so freaking long killing lynxes. Firstly was because we needed to farm some more money (because we always need money) and the second reason was because J?t and Husky were trying out their acupuncture (I decided to let in and learn it with the lynxes, I¡¯ll enact my revenge another time). J?t knew a lot about acupuncture, a scary amount. Well people do have skills in RL too, but acupuncture? Though it does explain his lack of hesitation in stabbing himself (also the 10% pain may affect that too). Anyways we learnt that when he taught us areas where it would work best and how to numb muscles with needles (we used sharpened twigs). The result is that we started fighting with twigs. It felt like one of those ¡®never bring a sword to a gunfight¡¯ (twig to a catfight) sort of thing when we faced off the lynxes. But when they¡¯re immobilized we can use spoons to kill them if we really wanted to. Ah I did get the skill about 2 hours in (Thanks to J?t).
Through repeated action and good instruction you have learnt a new skill. You have learnt the Skill: Acupuncture
SKILL:Acupuncture [lvl2]
Acupuncture was a device used in ancient days to relieve pains and numbness. However there have also been darker uses of this skill. Acupuncture rating is determined by completion rate. When used on an ally can increase STR or AGI by up to 2%
The Irony of the ¡®darker uses of this skill¡¯ doesn¡¯t pass me¡­Anyways, we did use the skill on the lynxes but instead of a minigame we didn¡¯t have any guides whatsoever (except J?t). However after our 5 hours we did learn how to use it pretty well (With good instructions from J?t of course). The skill itself doesn¡¯t benefit with the damage but it has a high chance of producing an abnormal status such as ¡®stun¡¯, ¡®unconsciousness¡¯, ¡®sleep¡¯, ¡®blindness¡¯ (needle to the eye, quite obvious) or even numbness. Numbness was pretty cool since it didn¡¯t do much but get rid of pain, so when we stabbed the lynx a couple of times from the back it didn¡¯t say a word. Sneak attacks that you don¡¯t feel (well technically a sneak attack)? Completely broken I must say! Anyways, that¡¯s 5 hours used up and not even a single level gained¡­our leveling skills are truly the worst. So after those 5 hours of complete slaughter we finally make our way to the end of the northern part of the forest. We walk into the northern snowy plains which are so flat and empty it¡¯s bizarre. Like not even a single monster is in sight. Ignoring my screaming danger sensor, we walk forward looking for signs of monsters. *Rumble* Thaaat doesn¡¯t sound good. I quickly glance round but I don¡¯t see anything¡­ Underground? ... .. . Doesn¡¯t seem like it. I look at the others and they shrug their shoulders. *RUMBLE* It¡¯s definitely from behind us coming from the forest, but what is it? My question is answered seconds later but in a weird fashion: A big black wolf comes bounding out the forest. GANNOR!!? We immediately assume attack positions¡­not. We RUN THE HELL AWAY. Of course he reaches us within a few seconds but he doesn¡¯t kill us...No, he actually runs past us giving what I swear to be a pitying look as he bounds way ahead of us. What¡¯s he running away for? My question is answered seconds later (I should really stop asking questions) when a wall of wind buffets us sending us to the ground and soon a whole bunch of snow follows after. Not an avalanche (thank god) but the snow floats in little bits in the air. That¡¯s right; it¡¯s a blizzard ladies and gentlemen Standing back up in the white world I see¡­nothing. Well I say see it but for the life of me I could not see a thing (but that may be because I got bowled over face-first into the snow by the wind). So we could pretty much walk into a mountain if we¡¯re not careful (or knowing my luck, much worse. The complete irony¡­). I get back up and look around: yep I¡¯m completely alone. If you¡¯ve ever been in a blizzard or sandstorm before then you¡¯ll know seeing your own hand is difficult. So seeing my two companions¡­that isn¡¯t happening. ¡°HU-pthaptha¡± Rule number 1 for blizzard survival; don¡¯t open your mouth in a blizzard. Well if cannot speak then I will have to find with my own hands (although my hands have disappeared from my sight too). ¡­ .. . Rule number 2 for blizzard survival; don¡¯t walk around blindly in a blizzard. After taking a couple of steps I realize I shouldn¡¯t have done that. Now I¡¯m completely and utterly lost (well I was before, but now I don¡¯t even know my way back to the forest). Ah! I can use that! Opening up my map I immediately encounter a problem: You know when I said the blizzard lets me see almost literally nothing? Well even the window is obscured massively by the wind. I can see two red dots close to eachother but I have nooo idea where they are in relation to me. [window] Due to spending a long time out in the freezing cold without proper protection, you feel cold
STATUS:Cold
+25% satiety decrease, 25% movement and attack speed decrease
Oh god really? And wow that was quick, barely a few minutes and I¡¯ve already got the cold status! I throw the dice of fortune and charge to my right. Immediately I feel the wind with a helpful hand lift me into the air ¡°I believe I can fly, I believe I can-¡± *Smack* -142 (28/170) Rule number 3 for blizzard survival; don¡¯t run with the blizzard¡­it¡¯ll make you fly into mountain sides. OWWW! Also I don¡¯t know how far I¡¯ve moved thanks to that (It was only a couple of seconds so it couldn¡¯t have been that far). ALSO I had no idea blizzards could make me fly?! However I am quite small so I shouldn¡¯t weigh that much. Ok if running against the wind doesn¡¯t work, run with it! ¡­ .. . Rule number 4 for blizzard survival; don¡¯t run against the blizzard unless you want to re-enact slow motion movie moments. You know those movie moments when they are running in slow motion. Well make it slower. That¡¯s exactly how I¡¯m running right now¡­Maybe in an hour I¡¯ll make it 100 metres. And thinking about where the wind first came from I¡¯m sadly going the right way (I might freeze to death before I get back to the forest). *Step, step, step* *Pant* Ok 3 steps done, a trillion to go. After many minutes pushing against the raging blizzard my steps become easier, lighter, as if I was stepping on air ¡­ .. . Rule number 5 in blizzard survival; look where you¡¯re going or you¡¯ll fall into a giant hole AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! My vision returns as I leave the blizzard (honestly I would¡¯ve preferred to stay blind) to see a nest of ice stalactites rushing towards me. Well I thought it¡¯d only be J?t who impaled me with ice but it seems Lady Luck wants to do some impaling too. ¡°WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN TO MEEEEE!¡± A stalactite gets closer and closer and its aiming for my stomach, no, lower. NO NOT THERE! *Rrrip* The ice stalactite impales my skirt and I feel the tip spearing between my legs and bursting out the other side. I start to quickly slow down due to friction ¡­ .. . I..I¡¯m not dead? And I feel no pain. ... .. . OH RIGHT! I I¡¯m female! I¡¯ve never been so happy(?) in my life, because that would be quite the impalement if I was a guy.
Through narrowly missing death in a possibly horrible situation where men would have died from the shock alone; you had a stroke of luck by being born female. Due to lucky situation Lucky increases by 1 level. No one else can become Lucky by almost being impaled in a man''s weak spot.
Even the system sort of agrees with me. And lucky increases by 1? I was wondering how to increase my level but like this?! I finally reach a stop with my legs at almost a 180 (never shall I try this IRL) In a moment of inertia my upper body falls and I grip onto the thick stalactite (how big is this thing?). However since its ice I kind of have a limited grip. Thus I start slipping down the stalactite Upside down it almost feels like I¡¯m falling¡­oh wait I am. Yes gripping and ICE stalactite doesn¡¯t really work so I end up falling down onto some ice *Crack* -143 (27/170) I hope that wasn¡¯t me!
STATUS:Broken Spine
Your spine is broken. -100% movement speed, no spinal support
It felt like one of those moments when you smell a fart in class and then say who was it¡­and you then realize it was you¡­ Anyways, I landed on my back with a god awful ¡®crack¡¯ sound. Thus my spine is broken. ... Time to get moving. Ah but I have 100% movement speed decrease. No matter! I have 119% movement speed (due to speedy, wahaha!). I try to move my legs and hands¡­they do work somehow? (Must be that nerves are still intact or just a game thing?). Quickly standing up¡­I flop to the ground face first. ¡­ .. . Right, no spinal support¡­though my legs are still standing?? ¡­I think I have an idea. Pushing myself back up I hold the back of my head with my hands... Aha it does work! (ook? well that''s odd) So I stand upright-ish with my head being kept up with my hands. With that sorted I begin moving. ¡­ Walking through the heaviest air in my life I start to tour around my fallen zone: the place is at the bottom of a large whole, actually massive and it¡¯s quite far up. The stalactites that line the floor are like gargantuan pillars to me and I see the lower half of my skirt impaled on the one behind me. Using my skirt as a base, I explore the rest of the area around the stalactites. I walk around (really slowly) for a few minutes and finally make it round one stalactite. A red spot of mulch is on the floor a little ways from where I am, hmm Husky or J?t? Moving towards it I notice that it has some white dotted fur. A snow leopard? *drip* I feel a drop of liquid bathe me and my vision turns red as the drop covers me head to toe. ¡­Wait red? I look up (somehow I can still move it...definitely an odd game thing...) ¡­ .. . Well I just walked into a horror game... Above is a GIANT MAMMOTH impaled on the stalactites. When I say giant, I mean HUMONGOUS. Like each stalactite is about 30 metres in length and 20 metres tall and the mammoth is impaled by 4 of them. That¡¯s quite a big mammoth! Better(?) still? The mammoth is dripping blood, and each drop, is well huge, as I found out a couple of seconds ago. Since I¡¯ve registered the bleeding and dead monster above me, like all good horror games, it starts raining blood. Oh god. I dodge the rain of blood ¡­not (yeah that wasn¡¯t happening since I can barely move right now). After I stand there for a couple of minutes the blood rain lessens and then finally turns into ominous drips. Rubbing my bloody face with my equally bloody hands I accomplish nothing. I shake like a wet dog (ironic armor I know) and successfully clean up a bit. But when I¡¯m literally lying in a small river of blood, it doesn¡¯t make much of a difference. Why I said I was lying, not standing? Well without spinal support the rain of blood literally crushed me. At least my face is above water (well blood). Getting back up, I continue through the pillars. Why? Because I don¡¯t want to stay here with a freaky dead mammoth above me, that¡¯s why. While I shuffle (I mean I¡¯m really that slow) around the ice pillars I eventually get to see a large variety of (dead) monsters. Maybe they all flew like when I did in the blizzard? Anyway, the monsters that I found were: Wolf, Lynx, Elk, small red patches which I believe to be bunnies, goblins, snow leopard, mammoth (only the impaled one so far, still haven¡¯t figured out how I didn¡¯t notice it as I fell) and what looks like a sabertooth (the large curved canine gave it away even though the patch was pretty much unrecognizable. Damn¡­only Gannor can outrun a blizzard¡­ Oh yeah, my spine healed, finally, after 2 hours of walking around (like 20 pillars). And back to my usual sprint I quickly explore the rest of the pit within an hour. Seems like this pit is just full of stalactites and dead animals. However I did find a large hole (about 30 metres in height, jeeeez) off the side of the pit. Ok so there¡¯s a way out. Heading over there Hey, Kal, you ok? A message from Husky appears HUSKY! I¡¯m alive at least. Where are you guys? We are back in the village. Husky then went on to explain how both him and J?t stayed still and held onto the ground for almost two hours until the blizzard died down (Rule number 6 of blizzard survival; Just don¡¯t move, it¡¯ll be better for your health). Then it seems the animals came out from various hiding spots and a saber tooth massacred them soon after. While he explains the situation I walk down the hole and through a corridor By the way Kal, where are you? I¡¯m in a pit of some kind, a lot of dead animals. But I¡¯ve found a hole and making my way out Want us to come get you? *THUD* I¡¯m about to reply when a huge thud comes from in-front of me ¡°SCHVARROG DAN J?TUNND CAIE-¡± An extremely loud man appears from the opened door in-front of me. ... .. . Wait, door? (I hadn¡¯t been looking in front of me since I was busy typing, oops) Wait, man? I look up at the giant blue man that walked through a humongous door. ¡­ .. . Well that explains the size of those stalactites. To them they¡¯re like tooth picks. The giant in question lowered his head as he walked through the supposedly 30 metre tall door. He was saying something to someone behind him with a laugh but stopped as he sighted¡­me. Sadly I don¡¯t get those hero moments where they have this abnormally long time to find a hiding spot when a big monster is coming. So of course I¡¯m just standing in the middle of the corridor with 2 ice giants looming over me.
NAME:Frost Lord [Lvl???]
???/???
Frost lords, sorry. Well at least I know it¡¯s so high level that I don¡¯t even get to see its health. ¡°HUSCARL!¡± The front one shouts with glee and takes a huge hammer from his back. Don¡¯t bother coming for me, I¡¯ll be back with you in a second *SPLAT* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well...oddish chapter my lord. Everyone Wants A Piece Of Me! But This Time Its...Wierd Waking up on a soft fur mattress I immediately feel a crushing bear hug. Ah can¡¯t breathe! *Sob sob* ¡°Oh thank goodness you¡¯re all right¡± ¡°¡­You don¡¯t need to worry I¡¯m alright¡± Well I am immortal in this game That didn¡¯t have an effect; it actually increased her hug strength -3 (167/170) OH god, I¡¯m actually going to be hugged to death. ¡°Don¡¯t say that, you died again right? You are immortal but that¡¯s no right to get yourself killed again and again!¡± True¡­I peek around as Cindy sobs on my shoulder. Seems like Husky and J?t both got the bear crushing experience too by the way they¡¯re rubbing their sides. ¡°I-It¡¯s a necessity¡­Rule number 4; I do what it takes to be victorious¡± ¡°Victorious? You died! What are you trying to achieve?¡± ¡°To-gah- become a True Nord¡± She lets off some as if the wind was blown out of her. Varg suddenly enters from outside carrying the groceries Jumping up she heads over to Varg who is sitting at the table and begins poking is chest repeatedly ¡°YOU! You¡¯re a terrible influence on the kids. Look at what you¡¯ve done! Having them die over and over again to follow this ¡®path of the warrior¡¯¡± Varg just shrugs his shoulders¡­meekly What unfolds was quite the spectacle for all of us: Varg is almost 3 metres in height while Cindy is about 1 metre 70 at most. Taking that into consideration, she berates him and accuses him of turning us into ¡®suicidal children¡¯ to follow the Path of the Warrior. Thing is, even though Varg is looming over her, he looks small beside the raging Cindy. After a good 20 minutes she finally takes a breather and Varg is just standing there unable to utter even a single word in response. He was completely and utterly destroyed.
QUEST:Path Of The Warrior II
SUB-QUEST:Convince Cindy
Due to dying an innumerable amount of times, Cindy has decided to stop you from going on the Path of the Warrior for your own good. Until you can convince her to allow you to follow the Path of the Warrior, the main quest cannot be further completed
Rewards: Cindy''s blessing to follow the Path of the Warrior
¡­ .. . Well now we all know Cindy makes the rules in this house¡­ We all look at eachother pretty dumbfounded at the sub-quest we just received. Our quest has been blocked by dying a whole bunch of times, who knew. (J?t still looks surprised but he didn¡¯t take the quest so he doesn¡¯t mind as much) As Cindy stomps off out the house, Varg sits down at the table holding his head in his hands ¡°What¡­I did?¡± Wow Varg, just wow. You don¡¯t even know what you did to cause all this (well he is right there, it isn¡¯t his fault directly but oh well). Grouping up we have a quick chat between one another (leaving the half-despairing Varg to himself of course) about how we¡¯re going to convince Cindy. Talking was out of the question because we¡¯ve just watched a one-sided verbal beat down of her doing and we don¡¯t want to be victims of that. On the other hand we could convince Varg to help us, buuut¡­well we¡¯ve seen his uses in this house already (none, nada). Guess we¡¯re on our own here. ¡­ After about 10 minutes of frantic debating, we end up with a decent(?) idea. Finished up we tell Varg our plan and he agrees that it may work. Cindy walks back in with a sweet smile on her face (well that was a quick change!). ¡°Everybody how about some lunch¡± It wasn¡¯t a question, it was an order it seems Obeying we sit down at the table and lick our lips at the charred meat and bread placed in front of us. Of course we do not waste even the slightest crumb of this meal and make sure to hoover every last bit of food (It¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve had anything but bread). After finishing our meal we collectively gulp and begin the plan ¡°So¡­mother¡­we¡¯re going out to hunt a couple of lynxes¡± J?t begins nonchalantly ¡°Now wait a second-¡± ¡°You can come with us if you want¡± Husky buts in before she gets going ¡°I could but that still doe-¡± ¡°Please mother, pretty pretty please? If you come with us and see it¡¯s too dangerous for us, then we¡¯ll stop following the Path of the Warrior for your sake¡± Extremely large puppy eyes activate, I even¡­*Gulp*¡­activate radiating charm for a second to convince her. ¡­ .. . *STAB-BASH-STAB* ¡°Eh?¡± I look behind me and see Varg and J?t had stabbed their hands to the table for some reason, while blood runs down Husky¡¯s forehead (he¡¯s muttering something too). ... .. . What¡¯s gotten into them? ¡°¡­gobble you up¡± ¡°Huh? You said something Cindy?¡± I turn back to Cindy not quite sure what I heard. *Gulp* ¡°U-Um Cindy? Are you alright?¡± Her eyes are wide as she stares unblinking at me. I see a little drool slip out of her mouth. She quickly regains her sense when I speak and wipes off the drool hurriedly. ¡­ .. . Something is not right..., ¡°Y-yes. It¡¯s nothing¡­I-I¡¯ll allow you to hunt as long as I¡¯m there. But Varg is coming too to protect you¡± Her tone gave no room for negotiations. ¡°Why do I need guarding?¡± I¡¯m a little confused ¡°¡­¡± I feel everyone¡¯s gazes of disbelief ¡°Have...have you never looked at your own reflection?¡± Cindy gives me an incredulous look I feel some heat crawl up my face. ¡°I know I¡¯m somewhat cute but-¡± *STAB-BASH-STAB* Her hands grip my shoulders (owie!) tightly ¡°Cute? CUTE? Oh Kal you have no idea...I CAN¡¯T let you be on your own because if someone finds you and and¡­¡­they¡¯d just do this and that and mmm that too¡­¡± She starts to drop off into her own world before shaking and blushing deeply as she looks away (Just what was she thinking of?) ¡°So that¡¯s why I need Varg to guard you...and don¡¯t worry you can trust him¡± She gives a quick glance to Varg and everyone in the room collectively shivers at her burning gaze. ¡°With my life¡± That is quite sweet of him...but seeing him stab his hand once again I¡¯m a bit worried.
Due to Cindy''s large worries about you being alone and unprotected, she has made Varg accompany you as a bodyguard. You have gained a Companion. He will follow you wherever you go and guard you with his lif. He shall stay your bodyguard until you ask him to leave your service or he dies.
COMPANION:Varg [lvl 46]
Varg is one of the Warriors of Glacia and the partner of Cindy. He is known for his short sentences and brutal hunting
4300/4300
¡­ .. . OH MY GOD THIS IS INSANE (both good and bad at the same time)!! J?t and Husky just look at me in as much shock as I am in¡­I mean who knew you could have companions. And LEVEL 46 TOO! ¡°U-uh¡­o-ok?¡± I don¡¯t know what I should say in this situation¡­ ¡°Great. With that settled I shall watch you all hunt. Let¡¯s go!¡± Cindy immediately starts ushering everyone out the door. So we all head on a family trip(?) to the forest. Though before we get there, Husky and J?t both say that we must kill some wolves urgently! With a raised eyebrow I accept and we hunt some wolves. Killing the first wolf within seconds we do let it call 3 more before it dies and then we all split to our usual one on ones. My wolf bounds towards me with a howl -628 (0/320) ¡­ .. . ¡°U-um Varg?¡± He turns back towards me and I see his arm had gone through the wolf¡¯s head. THAT WAS A PUNCH??? ¡°Protect¡­¡± ¡­ .. . B-bbut it didn¡¯t even touch me! The others are looking in shock too at the insta-kill punch. Never annoy Varg¡­ever. That wolf just got massacred. Completely and utterly massacred. And all it did was come towards me with intent¡­ *Gulp* I fear for anybody who tries to kill me. But¡­I don¡¯t get any xp which I find out after Varg massacres another couple of wolves. ¡°Varg¡­can I fight?¡± ¡°No¡± Whyyyyy? Why do I have to have an overprotective guardian? I¡¯m not going to get anywhere with him killing everything! Seriously, both he and Cindy are like overprotective parents. With tears brimming my eyes we head to Bezia¡¯s and we watch Husky and J?t work silently on something? While they¡¯re working I start to do some leatherworking myself with the Lynx hides, after repairing my skirt somewhat first. After an hour and a bit I¡¯ve made a set of lynx boots (+4 agility wow). The other two however have been working fervently on something on the table and with a loud sigh they mark their finish. Turning to me, Husky hands me a piece of armor.
White Wolf Armour (Chest) (Mid quality)
Creator: Husky
Thick fur chest armour that covers the entirety of the chest and shoulders as if it were its purpose. Made with fur of white wolves
Defense: 25, AGI +5, VIT + 2
I look down at what they¡¯ve given me; A thick-full body shirt which covers my chest and stomach completely. Why are they so worked up with making me chest armor? ¡­ .. . Oh¡­I forgot to mention to them about my ideals so they just thought that I needed some more armor after experiencing that blizzard huh? That¡¯s thoughtful of them. ¡°Guys¡­ It¡¯s nice that you¡¯re making some armor for me but it¡¯s against my ideals.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± I take up a proud pose chest sticking out ¡°A True Nord does not wear chest armor but bare their chest to the world in pride¡± ¡­ .. . What¡¯s with the strange looks guys? ¡°Oh right¡­I¡¯d almost forgotten¡­¡± Husky looks down in embarrassment as J?t looks away awkwardly. Forgotten what exactly? ¡°¡­Give us another couple of minutes¡± J?t tells me as they swipe away the armor and start working with an extreme pressure. A few minutes later they turn back and Husky hands me the remodeled armor. ¡°This should be good enough right?¡± I look and see it to be a white shirt which seems extremely short. I check and see that it lost 3 AGI, 1 VIT and 10 defense. Ok so I lost quite a few things but the shirt seems alright. I put it on and see that it leaves my shoulders open while covering a bit of my upper arm. Also it is extremely short and stops just below the chest. Tapping a finger on my mouth I question whether it is alright and I end up accepting it as within my ideals¡­ ¡°How do I look?¡± *BASHBASHBASH* *STABSTABSTAB* ¡­ .. . I look at the two of them; Husky is repeatedly bashing his head on the table for some bizarre reason while J?t¡¯s put his hand on a wall and is stabbing it repeatedly. Are they possessed or something? ¡°D-does this not suit me?¡± Husky swivels round, his wolf head dyed red. ¡°No no it suits you just fine. It¡¯s just¡­¡± He looks away awkwardly leaving the sentence hanging Just what? Seems like he¡¯s not answering as he starts walking out the door, followed quickly by J?t saying ¡°let¡¯s go hunting, now!¡±. Cindy drags Varg who looks like he¡¯s in a daze. Why is everyone acting so strange around me? With about 2 hours wasted getting me some armor for no particular reason we finally head to the forest. As we enter, no Gannor appears (right he was running away from the blizzard so he must be quite far away by now). ¡°Ah Cindy. What was with the blizzard?¡± I ask out of curiosity as Varg grabs an attacking lynx in midair and rips it in half. ¡°We call it Carestia¡¯s breath. It happens once every 10 days. But I forgot to tell you all sorry!¡± She bows towards us and we all wave her off saying ¡°no problem¡±. Hmm Carestia¡¯s breath. Well if that dragon can make a blizzard with its breath I don¡¯t ever want to meet it, ever. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Since I¡¯ve got nothing better to do as we walk through the forest I ask Cindy about what the two of them do all day. According to her- ¡°Yow-¡± *Rrrip* -Varg is one of the 4 village Warriors; so he quells potential dangers to the village (so that¡¯s where he is everyday). She on the other hand is just a normal house-wife. After an hour of hunting lynxes (well it was mostly Varg ripping them in half. At least they allowed me to pick some berries) we stop in a safe spot and start dividing labor: Husky and J?t collect some firewood, Varg lights the campfire and Cindy prepares the vegetables. Me? I sit on the snow twiddling my thumbs because both Cindy and Varg tell me to do nothing. Husky and J?t give me some pitying eyes as they head off. WHYYYYY? ¡°Let me cook, please¡± I look at Cindy with pleading eyes. I want to be of some use! *Gulp* ¡°O-ok, sure. I¡¯ll let you cook¡± What¡¯s with the gulp Cindy? You¡¯ve never tasted my cooking. Raising an eyebrow at her I start to prepare the meal. Cutting the vegetables my hand slips a bit and I skim my index finger with the knife ¡°Owie¡± I place the finger in my mouth to lessen the pain *STAB-STAB* I turn over to them and see Varg AND CINDY(?) have stabbed their hands once again. Is it some weird trend that I missed or something? It¡¯s really strange and scaring me some. Turning back to the cooking I start to prepare a nice lynx stew. After a short while the soup is going nicely and I take a sip with the ladle Cindy provided ¡°Mmm¡± Closing my eyes to the deliciousness. *CRASH**STAB-BASH-STAB-STAB-STAB* I open my eyes to see everyone but Husky stabbing their hands. Husky meanwhile is bashing his head against a tree causing it to shake violently. I¡¯m seriously scared now. What is going on? Did I do something? Putting the thoughts away as the soup makes a bubbling sound; I send my attention to it and complete it without a hitch. Serving the food they all thank me but none of them look me in the eye? Husky and J?t both look away awkwardly while Varg lowers his head and Cindy too? Is there something on my face? I pat my face but nothing comes up¡­ Anyways, we eat our dinner round the campsite and then begin hunting once more. ¡­ .. . Well I say that but once again I¡¯m being surrounded by everyone and the lynxes have no chance getting to me. Varg is doing his job as bodyguard extremely well¡­too well. He doesn¡¯t let any lynxes even land close to me. Cindy does let J?t and Husky handle a lynx on their own and nods quite impressed at the ice wall stun and murder tactic that they do to easily dispatch their lynxes. After about 6 hours of watching merciless slaughter, I finally reach my limit. After 75 lynxes we¡¯re slaughtered we still only reach just past 50%...Why? Because VARG KEEPS KILLING EVERYTHING!! Only 22 lynxes were killed by J?t and Husky and Varg stole the rest. I know our hunting efficiency is usually quite bad but with Varg. It¡¯s impossibly slow! With our speed it¡¯d literally take us half a day to get to next level. As Varg rips his 54th lynx in half I stomp up to him. ¡°STOOOP¡± He drops the two pieces and looks at me with a perplexed expression ¡°I¡¯m¡­protecting?¡± ¡°YOU.ARE.TOO.OVERPROTECTIVE¡± I repeatedly jab a finger into his stomach (that¡¯s as high as I can reach really) with every word. ¡°I¡¯M NOT SOME DAMSEL IN DISTRESS. I AM A WARRIOR!! SO LET ME FIGHT!¡± ¡­ .. . Varg and Cindy look at me for a short while as I huff ¡°Honey, we simply don¡¯t want you to get hur-¡± ¡°I WANT TO FIGHT. I DON¡¯T CARE IF I GET HURT BECAUSE THAT IS JUST PART OF BEING A WARRIOR¡± ¡°Son-¡° She goes to grabs my shoulder gently I step back causing her to grab air ¡°Don¡¯t call me that¡­you are no mother of mine¡± I turn my back and walk into the darkness leaving a stunned Cindy behind. [window]Your companion has left your service
¡­ .. . Seething with anger I walk until I feel a presence rush up behind me. ¡°Yowl¡± I swing round *CRACK*
STATUS:Broken Hand
You hand has broken due to excessive force. Cannot use hand
The Lynx¡¯s eyes roll back till they¡¯re fully white and its scrunched face lets out a small yowl before it drops to the ground I let my broken fist drop to my side while I squat down beside the unconscious lynx. Grabbing one of the Lynxes oversized teeth (about half the size of night wolves); I rip it out and then mount the lynx from behind. Stabbing it repeatedly with its own tooth feels brutal yet satisfying at the same time. The lynx dies before it can regain consciousness. Sitting on the lynx¡¯s corpse I receive a message from J?t Harsh but necessary. Was wondering when you were going to finally crack. I can almost hear him smirk when he wrote that Anyways we¡¯re taking Cindy, who is in shock, back home. Me and Husky will be doing a bit more hunting in the forests to hopefully get our level. OK. Good luck. With me updated the conversation ends¡­Or so I thought: Hey Kal¡­Don¡¯t hate her, she¡¯s just trying to help you. Husky sends me a worried message I just don¡¯t understand why she¡¯s being so overprotective of me ¡­She¡¯s really worried about you, because if you encounter the wrong people¡­killing you is the best thing they can do to you I don¡¯t understand why would that be-oh¡­I understand. But that¡¯s why I have to get stronger so that I can protect myself I know that and she does too but we were worried when we saw you earlier Saw me earlier? What do you mean by that? ¡­Nevermind that¡­just be careful¡­and try reconcile with Mother, please. ¡­ok. With that our conversation ends. I¡¯m still quite confused with the whole ¡®seeing me earlier¡¯ notion. Did I look different or something? I mean all I did was¡­oh ¡­ .. . Suddenly everything fell into place. Why they were all stabbing/bashing (Husky¡¯s case) themselves, why they made me a shirt and most importantly; why Cindy and Varg were being so overprotective of me. 2 words: Radiating charm... I never used it before so I didn¡¯t know how effective it was or what it really did (except for make me look prettier(?)). I open up a window and open up the mirror feature (for people who want to look at themselves when they clothe themselves). ¡­ .. . I look quite pretty, especially with my top; which accentuates my shoulders and smooth stomach. I do like to look at myself but I don¡¯t think I¡¯m worth getting super overprotective over. I do look a bit more feminine than usual¡­must be because of the top. After checking myself out I activate radiating charm ¡­ .. . -1 (169/170) I think I should rename myself Narcissus¡­ Wiping off the slight blood trickle from my nose I close the mirror window. At least I know now why everyone was stabbing/bashing (In Husky¡¯s case) themselves: I shine, like literally start to glow and it¡¯s not just that, but my face becomes recognizably more feminine, a lot cuter, making me quite obviously a girl¡­ So for people who firmly(?) believe I¡¯m a guy, this is a bit of a twist on their minds. Turning off my radiating charm I see that the only thing that fades is my shine. My soft feminine features are still apparent, more apparent than when I looked the first time in the mirror. Ah, guess once seen it can¡¯t easily be unseen. Though to know that my 4 closest people in this world have been conflicted over my gender for a day is mildly hilarious. Still¡­to stab/bash themselves whenever they looked at me doesn¡¯t really fit perfectly. I think I¡¯m missing something but the idea that they stabbed themselves due to confliction of my gender sounds like a decent explanation. One other thing too that¡¯s been bugging me. I take off my top and check my chest. ¡­ .. . Phew, I wasn¡¯t naked. That would have been extremely awkward to me and everyone around me. Seems like I have a thin, almost invisible bandage around my chest that just covers the important parts, though I see there are fake ones painted on the cloth. So unless you look from a couple of inches away you won¡¯t see the difference. Right, guess walking around almost topless is not a good idea, especially if people look at me like I¡¯m a girl. That¡¯d be awkward. ... .. . Re-equipping my top, I sit back down on the lynx for another 20 minutes or so until my hand repairs itself. Cracking my knuckles I go to look for another lynx. ¡­ *CRACK*
STATUS:Broken Hand
You hand has broken due to excessive force. Cannot use hand
Another lynx for the killing. I repeat the process of ripping out and then killing the lynx with its own tooth. As I wait for my hand to heal I feel a bit bored. I mean lynxes aren¡¯t really a challenge for me, even though they are 7 levels higher than me; they always attack from behind in their first attack, because it¡¯s the natural weakest point. Also I¡¯ve got a good sense for danger so I can tell when it¡¯s coming. Thus after 1 punch (which does break my hand from the impact) the lynx is out of this world in spirit and I just make its body go there too. I wait a short while before killing one lynx and then a last one. Dragging two lynxes in either hand I walk through the forest and back to the plains. Sadly the lynxes that I pass by aren¡¯t generous to leave me alone so I end up killing them too. However because of that the 20 minute journey out of the forest became a 2 hour journey. Reclaiming 4 of my 8 lynxes I make it to the snowy plains. Lady Luck seems to have finally put me on the good list as I don¡¯t get attacked by any wolves as I head back. Walking through the north exit I feel the usual gaze from the guarding Orc as it travels down my back. Ignoring it as usual I drag the lynxes slowly towards Cindy and Varg¡¯s. The sun is rising behind me casting a nice shadow of me as I kick the door open. Both Cindy and Varg are sitting at the table looking melancholically at their hands and look up startled to see me burst through the door. I walk into the room and slowly raise and drop the lynxes in front of them. Stepping on their bodies I head to the table and place down 8 night lynx teeth. ¡°I couldn¡¯t carry all 8¡± I shrug my shoulders indifferently ¡­ .. . Both look at me, then at eachother and then back at me. Varg nods Cindy looks down at her hands trembling *Drip*¡­*Drip* ¡°I-I-I¡¯m sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have been so overprotective, I-I just worried so much about you; I didn¡¯t want you to get hurt¡± ¡°Cindy¡­I understood what you did¡­but it was too much. I can protect myself just fine¡­and I have Husky and J?t too¡± ¡°I-I know¡­I¡¯m sorry¡± I turn round and walk to the door. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­about that¡± With that I walk back outside Looking Through The Eyes Of My Compatriots -The time Radiating Charm was used- (Husky POV) After finishing our meal we collectively gulp and begin the plan ¡°So¡­mother¡­we¡¯re going out to hunt a couple of lynxes¡± J?t begins nonchalantly ¡°Now wait a second-¡± ¡°You can come with us if you want¡± I but in before she begins her speech ¡°I could but that still doe-¡± ¡°Please mother, pretty pretty please? If you come with us and see it¡¯s too dangerous for us, then we¡¯ll stop following the Path of the Warrior for your sake¡± Kal¡¯s extremely large puppy eyes activate and his skin begins to glow¡­ His face is softer than I thought, his eyes a crystal blue with a feminine curve to them. His lips seem plumper, more kissable¡­ *THUMP* ¡­ .. . *STAB-BASH-STAB* NO HUSKY, STOP THE THOUGHTS, STOP THEM NOW! ¡°Your heart thumped from coincidence, yes coincidence; it has nothing to do with Kal¡­¡± As I wipe the blood off my forehead I see Varg and J?t have stabbed themselves, possibly the same thought ¡°Eh?¡± Kal looks towards us with one of her-HIS- eyebrows raised in perplexion Cindy mutters something with a desiring look ¡°Huh? You said something Cindy?¡± Kal turns back to Cindy *Gulp* ¡°U-Um Cindy? Are you alright?¡± Her eyes are wide as she stares unblinking at Kal. But she quickly recovers and goes back to normal ¡­ .. . Seems like I¡¯m not the only one affected, definitely ¡°Y-yes. It¡¯s nothing¡­I-I¡¯ll allow you to hunt as long as I¡¯m there. But Varg is coming too to protect you¡± Her tone gave no room for negotiations. ¡°Why do I need guarding?¡± Kal looks quite confused D-Does she-HE-not see her-DAMMIT HIM-self. Those cute eyes that almost sparkle in the light¡­HUSKY NO! ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Have...have you never looked at your own reflection?¡± Cindy gives Kal an incredulous look ¡°I know I¡¯m somewhat cute but-¡± Kal puts his petite hands on his reddening face WHY IS HE SO CUTE, I¡­I CAN¡¯T TAKE IT. *STAB-BASH-STAB* Cindy grips her-HIS- shoulders. ¡°Cute? CUTE? Oh Kal you have no idea...I CAN¡¯T let you be on your own because if someone finds you and and¡­¡­they¡¯d just do this and that and mmm that too¡­¡± She starts to drop off into her own world before shaking and blushing deeply as she looks away (Just what was she thinking of? Well, I have some ide-NO DON¡¯T THINK THAT). ¡°So that¡¯s why I need Varg to guard you...and don¡¯t worry you can trust him¡± She gives a quick glance to Varg and everyone in the room collectively shivers at her burning gaze. Yes Varg you need to guard her-HIM- please. ¡°With my life¡± Varg stabs his hand as he says it, seems like he¡¯s in the same trouble A window pops up in front of Kal. ¡­ .. . Did Varg just become his companion? His health bar just appeared on my hub under J?t¡¯s health¡­AND LEVEL 46 TOO? Wow I didn¡¯t know you could get companions in this game, much less a completely over powered one; but to protect Kal that¡¯s a decent level. Looking at Kal in complete shock I notice he is in the same state. ¡°U-uh¡­o-ok?¡± He looks pretty lost with the situation ¡°Great. With that settled I shall watch you all hunt. Let¡¯s go!¡± Cindy immediately starts ushering everyone out the door. So we all head to the forest. As we¡¯re walking outside I can see his small, slender back¡­all of it¡­ -1 (199/200) Wiping my nose quickly at the dangerous thought I glance at J?t ¡­ .. . We nod in full understanding As we¡¯re heading through the gate, me and J?t suggest strongly to hunt some wolves He stops and after a couple of seconds accepts. Phew We pick a wolf, beat it down until it calls 3 more and then finish it off. As they come towards us we split to our own wolves. Smashing my axe into his face I stun it and then mount it. ¡­ .. . Why isn¡¯t Kal doing his usual rolling around the ground? It¡¯s too quiet. I look up ¡­ .. . ¡°U-um Varg?¡± Varg is standing there with his arm impaled through the wolf ¡­ WHAT WAS THAT A PUNCH??? SO COOL!! ¡°Protect¡­¡± ¡­ .. . Kal looks like he¡¯s about to cry (Only a glance, don¡¯t look more, be careful¡­Phew he¡¯s turned back around¡­but that¡¯s still not much better) and I do too but probably for completely different reasons: That wolf just got massacred. Completely and utterly massacred. All it took was one godly punch¡­I think I¡¯ve found my master¡­ And I quickly look at Varg with sparkling eyes as I watch him massacre wolf after wolf after wolf. After a while I hear Kal try¡­ ¡°Varg¡­can I fight?¡± ¡°No¡± Aaand he¡¯s failed But it looks like that¡¯s going to be a problem for us since we¡¯re going to lose quite a lot xp (But I do love Varg insta-killpunching wolves one after another). They somewhat seem like overprotective parents, but my parents have always been extremely liberal with me so any normal parent is kind of overprotective in my books. Thankfully we¡¯ve gotten the pelts quickly (although Varg¡¯s kills became completely unusable). Rushing to Bezia¡¯s we begin the plan to help our minds. While I tan the hides with practice (I mean we¡¯ve tanned literally over 100) J?t begins slicing off the wolf fur from a couple we didn¡¯t reclaim. After an hour the leather is ready. Time to get started. We shape the leather round and give it arm, double its thickness and then put wolf fur everywhere (fully white this time).
White Wolf Armour (Chest) (Mid quality)
Creator: Husky
Thick fur chest armour that covers the entirety of the chest, back and shoulders as if it were its purpose. Made with fur of white wolves
Defense: 25, AGI +5, VIT +2
Raising it up we look at the piece of armor we¡¯ve made (I ended up making it since we wanted mid quality in the least. *Sigh* We both unanimously sigh at our worries being covered up (quite literally). Turning to Kal, I hand him the White Wolf Armor and quickly turn away again¡­ ¡°Guys¡­ It¡¯s nice that you¡¯re making some armor for me but it¡¯s against my ideals.¡± ... .. . ¡°Eh?¡± What, but, but you¡¯re a¡­ ¡°A True Nord does not wear chest armor but bare their chest to the world in pride¡± ¡­ .. . A boy¡­I almost forgot. ¡°Oh right¡­I¡¯d almost forgotten¡­¡± I looks down in embarrassment as J?t looks away awkwardly. But still since it¡¯s against his ideals he won¡¯t wear it and that means¡­ I look at J?t and he is still in sync with me. ¡°¡­Give us another couple of minutes¡± J?t tells Kal as he swipes away the armor and starts working with an extreme pressure. Ripping off the entire stomach part we leave most covered, enough for Kal to accept it within his ideals, but hmm it looks a bit weird with full shoulders. I rip off the shoulder parts of the armor leaving a gap between the chest armor and the upper arm pieces A few minutes later I hand him the remodeled armor. ¡°This should be good enough right?¡± He looks at it with a deductive expression. He taps his finger on he-HI- mouth biting his finger so cutel-LIKE A MAN, BECAUSE IT ISN¡¯T STRANGE OR CUTE AT ALL, NO!. Sh-HE- then puts on the armor and puts his hands behind his back ¡°How do I look?¡± *Thump* ¡­ .. . *BASHBASHBASH* *STABSTABSTAB* NO HUSKY, NO, SH-GOD DAMMIT HE- IS NOT A GIRL, NOO, SH-HE-IS JUST CUTE, TOO CUTE, BUT A GUY STILL, JUST A GUY! ¡­ .. . Taking my blood soaked head off the table I¡¯ve calmed down somewhat ¡°D-does this not suit me?¡± I swivel round to see Kal pouting cute-MANLILY. ¡°No no it suits you just fine. It¡¯s just¡­¡± You look so cute-MANLY-ha ha. I look away as I leave the sentence unsaid. I walk outside to cool my thoughts ¡°Let¡¯s go hunting now!¡± Says J?t from behind me as he follows me out With about 2 hours utilized perfectly to get some armor to ease our minds; it actually is making it quite worse. However when we look at Kal from the back (we are not going to be looking at he-HIS- face often now) his smooth, slender back is still uncovered, only a small white and furry strip is there to block some view¡­ What happened to the back? Before I register it, I find myself in the forest¡­Where¡¯s Gannor? Oh right, he was running away in that blizzard wasn¡¯t he. Anyways, no time to think as a Lynx yowls and pounces from the trees towards Kal *Rrip* ¡­ .. . I definitely have a man crush on Varg: because he just ripped a lynx in half, with his bare hands! I NEED to be taught by this man. While that happens Kal is talking to Cindy about something. With our group set we head off to hunt some lynxes ¡­ ¡°Yow-¡± *Rrrip* Varg is one of the 4 village Warriors; so he quells potential dangers to the village... I immediately begin listening to the story when Varg¡¯s name was mentioned. Wow, he¡¯s actually really strong then, not just average (that would have been completely terrifying yet awesome to know that he¡¯s only the average). After an hour with Varg showing off his superb Lynx ripping skills, we begin to set up camp. Me and J?t head off to gather some branches while the rest figure out what to do. Kal is sitting there being protected and doing nothing once again¡­Sh-HE- is not going to have an easy life it seems. Nothing happens when we gather the wood but we do let out a relieved sigh at being away from the overly cute Kal¡­Once I saw it, I just can¡¯t unsee it. We head back to camp to see her brushing a hair behind a small pointy ear and closing her eyes as she lets out a satisfied ¡°mmm¡±. *Thump* ¡­ .. . *CRASH**STAB-BASH-STAB-STAB-STAB* NO HUSKY NO, HE¡­HE¡­NOT A GIRL, NO HEART BEATING IS COINCIDENCE. I feel the tree shake violently as I repeatedly bash my head into it. ... Phew, The thoughts have died down some. Sitting down on the snow I wait for Kal to finish cooking. Sh-HE- serves us food but I look away as he serves because her-HIS- eyes sparkle drawing me in if I look. And it seems like I¡¯m not the only one doing so. Anyways, we eat our dinner round the campsite and then begin hunting once more. ... Well a lot of it is watching Varg rip lynxes in half over and over again (I am not going to ever get sick of that sight). However Cindy does have me and J?t handle lynxes every so often and we show our ice wall stun and murder tactic. She looks impressed! After about 6 hours of watching Varg¡¯s merciless slaughter (and partaking in some of our own) I start to get a bit miffed; well more than a bit. After 75 lynxes we¡¯re slaughtered we still only reach just past 50%...Why? Because Varg killed an absurd amount of them; not that I don¡¯t enjoy it but we need the xp. J?t and I have only killed 22 between us I know our hunting efficiency is usually quite bad but with Varg. It¡¯s impossibly slow! With our speed it¡¯d literally take us half a day to get to next level. As Varg rips his 54th lynx in half Kal stomps up to him, he¡¯s gone passed miffed a long time ago ¡°STOOOP¡± He drops the two pieces and looks at Kal with a perplexed expression ¡°I¡¯m¡­protecting?¡± ¡°YOU.ARE.TOO.OVERPROTECTIVE¡± Kal repeatedly jabs a finger into his stomach with every word (sh-HE- looks really cut-MANLY- when he does that) . ¡°I¡¯M NOT SOME DAMSEL IN DISTRESS. I AM A WARRIOR!! SO LET ME FIGHT!¡± ¡­ .. . Varg and Cindy look at him for a short while as Kal huffs. He has got a point, but Kal they¡¯ve got a point too. ¡°Honey, we simply don¡¯t want you to get hur-¡± ¡°I WANT TO FIGHT. I DON¡¯T CARE IF I GET HURT BECAUSE THAT IS JUST PART OF BEING A WARRIOR¡± ¡°Son-¡° She goes to grabs his shoulders Kal steps back causing her to grab air ¡°Don¡¯t call me that¡­you are no mother of mine¡± He turns his back and walks into the darkness leaving a stunned Cindy behind. That was kind of brutal but Kal does have a point. ¡­ .. . Cindy drops into the snow once Kal is out of sight and we all quickly rush over to her. Varg picks her up in a princess carry and J?t and I walk ahead to agro the lynxes. After short while we reach the snowy meadows and I decide to send a message to Kal. Hey Kal¡­Don¡¯t hate her, she¡¯s just trying to help you. I just don¡¯t understand why she¡¯s being so overprotective of me I can hear him almost sighing, overprotective parents must be really difficult to deal with (I don¡¯t know if they are or not because mine are way liberal with me). ¡­She¡¯s really worried about you, because if you encounter the wrong people¡­killing you is the best thing they can do to you I don¡¯t understand why would that be-oh¡­I understand. But that¡¯s why I have to get stronger so that I can protect myself ¡­He really didn¡¯t know¡­but at least he does now I know that and she does too but we were worried when we saw you earlier Saw me earlier? What do you mean by that? ¡­Unbelievable, is he blind to his own reflection? ¡­Nevermind that¡­just be careful¡­and try reconcile with Mother, please. ¡­ok. With that our conversation ends. ¡­ .. . We take Cindy back and after Varg tucks her into bed we sit at the table silently for a few minutes. Our original plan (which J?t messaged Kal about) was to go hunt some more in the forest, but J?t and I had a little talk. ¡°Varg¡± I look at him raise his head as if still in shock himself ¡°Hm?¡± I get off my chair and kneel towards him ¡°Please teach me how to protect Kal¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°Overprotective?¡± ¡°No, I believe Kal can protect himself but there will be a time when he needs protecting. I want to be able to protect her when that time comes¡±¡­Did I just ¡®her¡¯? oh no. Varg looks at me with clouded eyes which slowly clear up in understanding *Nod* ¡°Tommorrow¡­we begin¡±
Quest Derivation from Path of the Warrior II to Kal''s Guardian I
QUEST:Kal''s Guardian I (UNIQUE)
You have asked Varg, Heaven''s Guardian, to teach you to protect a single pure being and he has accepted your request. So he shall teach you to become Kal''s Guardian
A unique?! Well I guess because I¡¯m specifically guarding someone? But what is with this Heaven¡¯s Guardian? Is he actually some divine gatekeeper or something? But he¡¯s only level 46 so that can¡¯t be it¡­Strange but I haven¡¯t got the time to think about that right now. ¡°Yes Father¡± I am proud to call him such (after seeing such badassery when slaughtering lynxes and wolves), and I know he kind of wanted it too. He looks happy and rid of the shock. With that I head outside and begin some solo training, splitting up from J?t at the entrance with an arm lock. ¡°After training we¡¯ll meet again¡± I say to him ¡°Just don¡¯t get yourself killed¡± J?t as usual. With that he walks back into town while I sprint to the forest. ... ... -The time Radiating Charm was used- (J?t''s POV) After finishing our meal we collectively gulp and begin the plan. ¡°So¡­mother¡­we¡¯re going out to hunt a couple of lynxes¡± I begin ¡°Now wait a second-¡± ¡°You can come with us if you want¡± Husky butts in ¡°I could but that still doe-¡± ¡°Please mother, pretty pretty please? If you come with us and see it¡¯s too dangerous for us, then we¡¯ll stop following the Path of the Warrior for your sake¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Kal¡¯s extremely large puppy eyes activate and his skin begins to glow¡­ *THUMP* ¡­ .. . *STAB-BASH-STAB* DAMMIT YOUR LOLI NATURE!! I¡¯ve had my doubts about him being a guy and actually being a girl and with this my doubts have been erased; there¡¯s no way a gorgeously cute things is a guy! That petite body and childlike face¡­It¡¯s so lolitastic¡­(Twisting the knife in my hand helps me regain my senses a little bit). As I¡¯m removing the knife from my hand, I see I¡¯ve made a decently large hole, whoops. Looking up from my hand I see Varg has done the same and Husky has gone further with bashing his head on the table¡­He must¡¯ve been hit hard by this transformation; I at least suspected he was a she¡­ ¡°Eh?¡± Kal looks towards us with one of her eyebrows raised in perplexion Cindy mutters something with a desiring look ¡°Huh? You said something Cindy?¡± Kal turns back to her *Gulp* ¡°U-Um Cindy? Are you alright?¡± Her eyes are wide as she stares unblinking at Kal. But she quickly recovers and goes back to normal ¡­ .. . Seems like Kal¡¯s new looks hit everyone¡­hard. ¡°Y-yes. It¡¯s nothing¡­I-I¡¯ll allow you to hunt as long as I¡¯m there. But Varg is coming too to protect you¡± Her tone gave no room for negotiations. ¡°Why do I need guarding?¡± Kal looks quite confused Because you are a cute quite lolitastic girl who also looks like an extremely cute guy¡­You fit a lot of tastes, and tick many of my boxes to which I both hate and love. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Have...have you never looked at your own reflection?¡± Cindy gives Kal an incredulous look ¡°I know I¡¯m somewhat cute but-¡± Kal puts her petite hands on her reddening face WHY IS HE SO LOLI, I¡­I CAN¡¯T TAKE IT. *STAB-BASH-STAB* Cindy grips her shoulders. ¡°Cute? CUTE? Oh Kal you have no idea...I CAN¡¯T let you be on your own because if someone finds you and and¡­¡­they¡¯d just do this and that and mmm that too¡­¡± She starts to drop off into her own world before shaking and blushing deeply as she looks away (there are probably a lot of things she¡¯s thinking of¡­and I can¡¯t really stop them either *Stab* ah that¡¯s better). ¡°So that¡¯s why I need Varg to guard you...and don¡¯t worry you can trust him¡± She gives a quick glance to Varg and everyone in the room collectively shivers at her burning gaze. Varg guard her Lolitasticness from me please ¡°With my life¡± Varg stabs his hand as he says it; maybe he¡¯s a fellow lolicon? Or is he just dense like Husky? A window pops up in front of Kal. ¡­ .. . Did Varg just become his companion? Well that means he¡¯ll be sure to protect Kal from now on¡­that¡¯s a good thing. Looking at Kal in complete shock (as her flustered face is one of the cutest things ever!) I notice she is in the same state ¡°U-uh¡­o-ok?¡± She looks pretty lost with the situation ¡°Great. With that settled I shall watch you all hunt. Let¡¯s go!¡± Cindy immediately starts ushering everyone out the door. So we all head to the forest. Buut as we¡¯re on the way I spot Husky having bloody (literally) wars with himself about Kal¡¯s lack of chest armor¡­Well really none of us have chest armor so it wasn¡¯t that strange, until now¡­ Husky looks at me and I nod at him. I think he¡¯s in the same page as me. As we¡¯re heading through the gate, Husky and I suggest strongly to hunt some wolves. She stops and after a couple of seconds accepts. I look at her chest and well, see everything¡­I¡¯m a little confused, is she really a girl or just an extremely cute guy? Well no matter, either way she is lolitastic¡­ We need to get rid of that or I¡¯m going to go a little insane. We pick a wolf, beat it down until it calls 3 more and then finish it off. As they come towards us we split to our own wolves. I manacle both the front and back paws complete with a muzzle and then I stab the imprisoned wolf repeatedly with my dagger until it silently dies with regret in its eyes. ¡­ .. . Kal doesn¡¯t seem to be fighting, because there¡¯s usually cute grunting sounds (don¡¯t know how she does it but she does) as she rolls around trying to asphyxiate her wolf. I look towards her ¡­ .. . ¡°U-um Varg?¡± Varg is standing there with his arm impaled through the wolf ... .. . WHAT WAS THAT, A PUNCH? THAT¡¯S FREAKING TERRIFYING!! ¡°Protect¡­¡± ¡­ .. . Kal looks like she¡¯s about to cry (Well I¡¯m about to too, out of fear of course) That wolf just got massacred. Completely and utterly massacred. All it took was one diabolical punch¡­Never annoy Varg, I shall never do so. I then watch Varg in the short while we hunt wolves massacre them all brutally. *Shiver* After a while I hear Kal try¡­ ¡°Varg¡­can I fight?¡± ¡°No¡± Leave it there Kal, you don¡¯t want to be murdered just like those wolves. This looks like a problem for us since we¡¯re going to lose quite a lot xp from Varg¡¯s massacre (companions take all xp from their kills it seems). They seem like good parents since he¡¯s protecting a loli so diligently but still¡­He¡¯s terrifying. Thankfully we¡¯ve gotten the pelts quickly (although Varg¡¯s kills became completely unusable). Rushing to Bezia¡¯s we begin the plan to help our minds. While Husky tans the hides with practice (I mean we¡¯ve tanned literally over 100) I begin slicing off the wolf fur from a couple we didn¡¯t reclaim. After an hour the leather is ready. Time to get started We shape the leather round and give it arms, double its thickness and then put wolf fur everywhere (fully white this time).
White Wolf Armour (Chest) (Mid quality)
Creator: Husky
Thick fur chest armour that covers the entirety of the chest, back and shoulders as if it were its purpose. Made with fur of white wolves
Defense: 25, AGI +5, VIT +2
Raising it up we look at the piece of armor we¡¯ve made (Husky ended up making it since we wanted mid quality in the least) *Sigh* We both unanimously sigh at our worries hopefully being covered up (with this her loliness should decrease). Turning to Kal, Husky hands her the White Wolf Armor and quickly turn away again¡­ ¡°Guys¡­ It¡¯s nice that you¡¯re making some armor for me but it¡¯s against my ideals.¡± ... .. . ¡°Eh?¡± So the reason why she¡¯s not wearing chest armor is because of ideals not gender? So she could be a girl? I am confused about everything but the fact that she is lolitastic. ¡°A True Nord does not wear chest armor but bare their chest to the world in pride¡± ¡­ .. . Makes sense¡­I guess...but doesn''t this mean she is a he? or she''s just very open (doubt that)...? ¡°Oh right¡­I¡¯d almost forgotten¡­¡± Husky looks down in embarrassment as I look away awkwardly (Oh Husky, you are so dense sometimes). But still since it¡¯s against his ideals he won¡¯t wear it which doesn¡¯t help the plan I look at Husky and he is still raring to make the chest armor. ¡°¡­Give us another couple of minutes¡± I tell her as I swipe away the armor and starts working with an extreme pressure. Ripping off the entire stomach part we leave most covered, enough for Kal to accept it within her ideals¡­That looks alright. Husky rip off the shoulder parts of the armor leaving a gap between the chest armor and the upper arm pieces¡­I¡¯m not sure whether that¡¯d help us or make it worse¡­ Ah! As Husky turns away for a second I turn the armor over and rip off the back leaving just a small frosty white strip to cover the back¡­It¡¯d look weird if it was the same all round right? Husky turns back and we finish it off A few minutes later Husky hands her the remodeled armor. ¡°This should be good enough right?¡± She looks at it with a deductive expression. She taps her finger on her mouth biting his finger so cutely¡­J?t calm thyself if you don¡¯t want to be destroyed by Varg¡­ *Shiver* Ah the thought of Varg massacring me really does help calm my loli desires. She then puts on the armor and puts her hands behind her back ¡°How do I look?¡± *Thump* ¡­ .. . *BASHBASHBASH* *STABSTABSTAB* WHY HUSKY? WHY¡¯D YOU HAVE TO RIP THE SHOULDERS; THEY JUST MAKE HER LOOK SO CUTE, ALONG WITH THE SHORT TOP, THE LOLINESS IS¡­IT¡¯S TOO MUCH ¡­ .. . Taking my hand off the wall I let it slide down giving the wall a nice red color. ¡°D-does this not suit me?¡± Too well.. I look away, or I might attack ¡°No no it suits you just fine. It¡¯s just¡­¡± Husky is having the same dense problems it seems¡­ Husky walks outside after leaving the sentence hanging ¡°Let¡¯s go hunting now!¡± I say to get the world moving and follow Husky out. With about 2 hours utilized perfectly to get some armor to ease our minds; it actually is making it quite worse. However when we look at Kal from the back her smooth, slender back is still uncovered, only a small white and furry strip is there to block some view¡­ Look away J?t, do not attack the cute loli that is Kal. While I¡¯m looking away in my own world we enter the forest¡­Where¡¯s Gannor? Oh right, he was running away in that blizzard wasn¡¯t he. Anyways, no time to think as a Lynx yowls and pounces from the trees towards Kal *Rrip* ¡­ .. . *SHIVER* I AM NEVER TOUCHING KAL, NO MATTER HOW LOLITASTIC SHE IS... While that happens Kal is talking to Cindy about something. With our group set we head off to hunt some lynxes ¡­ ¡°Yow-¡± *Rrrip* Varg is apparently someone special and Cindy¡¯s just a housewife, but the way she doesn¡¯t even flinch when Varg just ripped that lynx up a few inches from her shoulder is not normal¡­ While Husky seems intent on listening on something about Varg I focus more on Cindy¡­ After about 30 minutes I¡¯m getting something out of my observations: For some reason, lynxes never attack her¡­never. We¡¯ve fought quite a few lynxes and she is at the back of the party too so she should get the most beginning agro but they always attack Kal instead (might be because she¡¯s too loli for them but I don¡¯t think that works for everyone, just me really). After an hour with Varg showing off his ungodly Lynx ripping skills, we begin to set up camp. Husky and I head off to gather some branches while the rest figure out what to do. Kal is sitting there being protected and doing nothing once again¡­She is being treated like a princess, as is deserving of a lolitastic person she is. Nothing happens when we gather the wood but we do let out a relieved sigh at being away from the lolitastic Kal¡­It¡¯s hard to get a breath with her dazzling loli powers around. We head back to camp to see her brushing a hair behind a small pointy ear and closing her eyes as she lets out a satisfied ¡°mmm¡± *Thump* ¡­ .. . *CRASH**STAB-BASH-STAB-STAB-STAB* SO CUTE, NOT EXACTLY LOLI BUT STILL ITS TOO CUTE! I hear Husky bashing his head against a tree, making it shake violently¡­he¡¯s having some serious gender confliction issues here. Sitting down on the snow I wait for Kal to finish cooking. She serves us food but I look away as she serves because I might attack her if she looks at me in such a cute way. And it seems like I¡¯m not the only one doing so¡­though all for their own reason. Anyways, we eat our dinner round the campsite and then begin hunting once more. ¡­ .. . Well a lot of it is watching Varg rip lynxes in half over and over again (NEVER TOUCH KAL, EVER! ITS NOT WORTH MY LIFE, NO MATTER HOW LOLI). However Cindy does have Husky and I handle lynxes every so often and we show our ice wall stun and murder tactic. She looks impressed but that¡¯s a fake smile¡­Why? I don¡¯t really have an idea, maybe we¡¯re too inefficient? After about 6 hours of watching Varg¡¯s merciless slaughter (and doing a little bit here and there) I start to get quite annoyed. After 75 lynxes we¡¯re slaughtered we still only reach just past 50%...Why? Because Varg killed an absurd amount of them and I seriously don¡¯t enjoy his brutal murders but we need the xp. Husky and I have only killed 22 between us. I know our hunting efficiency is usually quite bad, but with Varg; It¡¯s impossibly slow! With our speed it¡¯d literally take us half a day to get to next level. As Varg rips his 54th lynx in half Kal stomps up to him, he¡¯s gone passed annoyed a long time ago ¡°STOOOP¡± He drops the two pieces and looks at Kal with a perplexed expression ¡°I¡¯m¡­protecting?¡± ¡°YOU.ARE.TOO.OVERPROTECTIVE¡± Kal repeatedly jabs a finger into his stomach with every word (Oh soo cute). ¡°I¡¯M NOT SOME DAMSEL IN DISTRESS. I AM A WARRIOR!! SO LET ME FIGHT!¡± ¡­ .. . Varg and Cindy look at him for a short while as Kal huffs. I have the urge to just go up there and cuddle the loli, but I will refrain for my life¡¯s sake. ¡°Honey, we simply don¡¯t want you to get hur-¡± ¡°I WANT TO FIGHT. I DON¡¯T CARE IF I GET HURT BECAUSE THAT IS JUST PART OF BEING A WARRIOR¡± ¡°Son-¡° She goes to grabs his shoulders Kal steps back causing her to grab air ¡°Don¡¯t call me that¡­you are no mother of mine¡± She turns her back and walks into the darkness leaving a stunned Cindy behind. Brutal but necessary ¡­ .. . Cindy drops into the snow once Kal is out of sight and we all quickly rush over to her. Varg picks her up in a princess carry while Husky and I walk ahead to agro the lynxes. After short while we reach the snowy meadows and I decide to send a message to Kal. Harsh but necessary. Was wondering when you were going to finally crack. I smirk a little when I write that Anyways we¡¯re taking Cindy, who is in shock, back home. Me and Husky will be doing a bit more hunting in the forests to hopefully get our level. OK. Good luck. Seems like she¡¯s in quite the bad mood. An angry loli, how cuute! ... We take Cindy back and after Varg tucks her into bed we sit at the table silently for a few minutes. Our original plan (which I messaged Kal about) was to go hunt some more in the forest, but Husky and I had a little talk about what we¡¯re going to do¡­ ¡°Varg¡± Husky looks at Varg raise his head as if still in shock himself ¡°Hm?¡± Husky gets off his chair and kneels towards him ¡°Please teach me how to protect Kal¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°Overprotective?¡± ¡°No, I believe Kal can protect himself but there will be a time when he needs protecting. I want to be able to protect her when that time comes¡±¡­Husky is definitely still confused¡­ Varg looks at Husky with clouded eyes which slowly clear up in understanding *Nod* ¡°Tommorrow¡­we begin¡± A window pops up in front of Husky and he looks quite surprised. Maybe he got a new quest¡­good for him! ¡°Yes Father¡± ¡­ .. . OH GOD! HUSKY DON¡¯T YOU DARE, WE ARE NOT BRINGING THE DEVIL INTO OUR LITTLE FAMILY PLEASE! He looks happy and rid of the shock. With that, Husky and I head outside towards the southern exit. We do an arm lock as a final goodbye. ¡°After training we¡¯ll meet again¡± He says to me, so dramatic like usual. ¡°Just don¡¯t get yourself killed¡± I reply back, he¡¯ll inevitably die from Varg the devil. With that I walk back into town while he sprints off to the forest. Now¡­Where do I find myself an Ice master? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok so that was the end of the arc and hope that you''re enjoying it! Second arc will come...at not particular date honestly (maybe a month, probably 2...it''ll be before summer ends so look out fer it! but until then read me other fictions!!) -TRUE NORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD
A Skill Whore''s JourneyThe L1ONS
A Bitches Duties ¡°WAIT¡± I stop walking as I hear the quite desperate voice call out behind me ¡°Cindy¡­¡± Shaking my head incredulously I continue walking ¡°Are you still hell bent on walking down that path?¡± I stop once again and this time turn around to see Cindy with disheveled hair looking at me with sorrowful eyes. ¡°Yes, without a doubt¡± ¡®T-then¡­I-I will train you!¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°Eh? No offense but aren¡¯t you a housewife?¡± ¡°Well yes I am¡­But I know a thing or two¡± ¡°Riiight¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be like that¡± She wags her finger from half a street away. ¡°Jeez, ok ok. If you really want to you can train me¡­I guess¡± Cindy beams at me before skipping away ¡°Wait Cindy! Give me a day¡± ¡°OK I¡¯LL SEE YOU IN 2 DAYS¡± With that, I head to Thalias¡­(well going back to Cindy¡¯s so soon will be a bit strange). Opening the door, I see Thalia is mixing a couple of things with her back turned. ¡°Hey there Kal¡± *Shiver* HOW DOES SHE KNOW IT¡¯S ME?! ¡°Uh¡­hey?¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a while¡­did you miss me?¡± She turns around and looks at me coyly. Oddly enough her fur clothing is torn up quite a bit more since she last wore it barely covering the necessities *Thump* Ah nonono don¡¯t you dare Kal! ¡°I-I¡¯m tired. Can I sleep in your bed?¡± Her mischievous smile turns off as she notices that I am pretty much beat. ¡°Hop right in. I promise I won¡¯t touch you. It¡¯s only fun when you squirm¡± I¡¯m not sure I should be thankful or feel scared¡­ ¡°Uh thanks¡­¡± Heading to her bed I don¡¯t bother to unequip my things as I lay down and log off Taking off the headset I stifle a long yawn before heading off to the shower. I take a full 20 minutes to properly clean and scrub my entire body (wincing slightly at my bruised face, maybe I shouldn¡¯t have taken those bandages off). Getting out the shower I spend a good 10 minutes brushing my hair, putting on some good cologne and wash my teeth. Also I shave this sad stubble of mine(the smoother the better in my opinion). Walking quickly to my room I open up my bed (Yes I have one of those, custom made), take out some black jeans and a red collared V-neck. I also take out some fingerless black cloth gloves and put on my black bike boots (which make me look about 10 cm taller due to the heels, such a good buy). Putting everything on I check myself out in the mirror; my usual nerdy, school-like look has completely vanished with my quite cool (I think it at least) choice of clothes and my combed back hair. However I¡¯m still somewhat recognizable due to my slightly off nose (broke it in a dodgeball session, one of those I know) and thick eyebrows. All in all, if someone who knew me looked at me as we walked by they¡¯d have a strong feeling they know me but aren¡¯t 100% sure (women are not the only ones who can have a drastic change, although I didn¡¯t put on any make-up). I¡¯m not the best looking guy but I¡¯d still rate myself as a mid 6, though with these clothes I easily reach a 7. Anyways, a good 35 minutes of getting ready I¡¯m ready. I check my phone to see its only 7:15. With a good 45 minutes to spare I open up my window and start clambering down the pipe that runs down the wall. Easily I make it down to the ground and with a soft landing I start sneaking towards the front. Making it to Viper I open up the seat and take out my bike jacket, fake sunglasses, coloured concealer and a black makeup pencil. Using the concealer to cover up the bruises and alter the color of my face to a yellowish tinge, I then use the black b pencil to create a sharper jawline as well as make my cheeks seem a lot bonier due to the contours. It still terrifies me how much someone can change with makeup. Finally done, I put on my fake sunglasses (which look black but only darken the world a tiny bit) and my bike jacket. My bike jacket is full black leather with Kevlar lining and shock padding, so it¡¯s quite bulky along the shoulders and chest. I¡¯m quite a small guy usually but the bike jacket makes me look a lot bigger. In short, if I added studs here and there I¡¯d look quite dangerous. Satisfied with my look I start making my way down the street. Reaching Missy¡¯s two-storey house within 30 minutes I hide behind a tree as I peek towards the place. A light is on in her father¡¯s inter-study room. With that in mind I climb up the gate and drop into the garden executing a soft roll. Crouched low I stealthily make my way over to the wall underneath the study. Sidling along the wall I make it to the back of the house. There is only one window on this side. The window is firmly shut with curtains drawn. Guess I¡¯m waiting. Leaning back on one of the apple trees that are around, I wait and wait and wait¡­ Hmm, she looks like she¡¯ll be a while. Pushing off the tree I turn round facing it and do a quick run. *Step step step push* Backflipping I feel the grass whoosh past my head before I quickly spin and land on my feet lightly. Wow, 3 steps¡­So doing it in game made me better IRL, but I felt it was a lot harder to do IRL then in game¡­maybe if I train myself IRL then I can get better in the game? I mean the idea has never really properly registered with me because I¡¯m a gamer, no need to move your body, just your hands, eyes and brain. However Virtual reality does factor in your own health. Lucky I do dodgeball sessions every Monday and lunch runs too (also gymnastics but the place closed down a couple of months ago). They keep me decently fit. Thinking about it, I survived j?t¡¯s ice platform torture game due to having a decent amount of parkour, running, climbing and gymnastics skill. So if I improve myself IRL I should be able to do it better¡­ The thought is a good one but not the right time. Also I shouldn¡¯t make too much noise. Quickly listening I don¡¯t hear any change in the house and I return to leaning. A couple of minutes later (at 8:00 on the dot too, she¡¯s always punctual) the window opens and out flies a goddess. Wait I meant Missy. Wait, no I¡¯m right, it¡¯s a goddess. Anyways she jumps out the window totally carefree (no she isn¡¯t committing suicide) and getting my act together I push off the tree and prepare my arms. ¡°Oomph¡± She lands safely in my arms but I let out a small sound. She isn¡¯t heavy but catching someone does take a small toll on your arms (thank god for Kevlar lining and shock padding). ¡°That¡¯s one mistake¡± Eeek she heard¡­This isn¡¯t good to make such a mistake already (at least I didn¡¯t get one from my looks). Yes, the entire reason why I¡¯m dressed up like this is because it¡¯s how Missy likes it (and it fits the situation I¡¯ll soon be in). Thankfully I¡¯ve checked all the boxes so no mistakes on appearance, phew. Letting her off my arms I finally take a peek at what she is wearing (I was too busy focusing on catching her to register what she wore);A black and blue striped tee which is almost literally bursting at the seams to show a generous amount of cleavage (Looking away before I get too captivated). She also wears black shorts along with black and blue stockings. Also she¡¯s wearing a black fedora and sports some black pumps. Quite boyish clothing but by god does it not seem so. She fills out everything making her look completely stunning in this modest clothing. Especially with her deep red lips and blue-shaded eyes. If this wasn¡¯t Missy, I¡¯d have ogled her forever (ogling Missy forever would end up having eye meet finger. That was a painful lesson indeed). Anyways, we make it through to the gate and she quietly opens it, goes through it and closes it behind her. As you notice she makes me climb over the wall again¡­ Heading off into the night I offer her an arm like all gentlemen should and she gladly hugs it. ¡­ .. . Oh why did I have to bring my shock padded Kevlar lined bike jacket¡­I feel nothing (damn). Moving on; we make our way down the streets till we finally reach the place she¡¯s dragging me off to. We hear the place before we see it though. A soft reverberating beat is heard from the street as we approach the place. Taking out a small packet from my jacket pocket I open it up, take out a palm sized sheet and firmly press it against my neck. After about 30 seconds I release it and toss the sheet into the bin.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Now the visage is complete. Missy looks at my neck and smiles. Obviously she knows what it means but the intrepid onlooker would have no idea. I have a temporary tattoo (I¡¯d like to say henna but It¡¯s a lot more temporary; it can be washed off anytime) and it¡¯s a Japanese symbol¡­meaning cherry but it does its work. Making our way to the bouncer, Jake, I give him a knuckle before he lets us through (I mean yes we¡¯re underage, but no one would ever guess that looking at Missy, or even me in fact, especially as I¡¯m now pretty freaking tall with my boots on). Entering inside, the soft reverberating sound kicks up about 20 notches into an almost deafening sound of someone spewing out words without grammatical care. A myriad of colors spin around the jam packed room of bodies squirming about and doing what they call ¡®dancing¡¯. The place itself is quite big with 3 floors; the first and second being dance floors while the third being the VIP lounge. However the same ¡®music¡¯ is played all throughout so there is no escape here. Missy rushes off into the packed bodies and melds in with the crowd while I head off to the second floor. The second floor is not really a floor but a maze of bridges and lounge squares. Best thing about the second floor is that you can see the first from above, how they don¡¯t have drunk people fall off the barriers still confuses me. Passing one of the security guards I give him a nod, Jedson I believe. Heading to my usual spot at the end of a bridge by a wall I lean against the wall and overlook the scene below, well specifically I¡¯m watching one person. Spotting her isn¡¯t easy but I just look at where the most guys are slowly dancing their way to. I find her within the mass ¡®dancing¡¯ in sync with the people but nowhere near in sync with the music. With her in my gaze I don¡¯t lose sight of her, mostly because she doesn¡¯t move off the first floor, but also because I have a most amazing view of the place: From my spot I can see the exit on the first floor as well as the bar area. Also the first floor lounge seats are visible and some of the second floor too. I pretty much cover most of the bases. Even the bathroom; since the first floor¡¯s is directly underneath me so I¡¯ll know if she¡¯s heading over. But anyways, I continue to watch her dance and get taken repeatedly by different guys each time to the bar to be offered a drink. Fun thing is, she just takes the drink and walks off back into the dance floor. They really should try stop her but when she bows slightly after they buy her the drink they just stand there in a daze until Cashiel hands them a tissue. The poor barman, Cashiel, has to keep giving out tissues to wipe their mild nosebleeds (I wish I was joking but the view from when she bows plus her almost doll like face is enough to make any man have a mild nosebleed.) ¡­ After about 2 hours I¡¯m pretty much deaf from the music which seems to change but honestly it¡¯s just the same words in a different order every time. Missy has gone up to the bar 14 times with 13 different guys and 1 girl (not quite sure if wants to befriend to get to guys or¡­). However Missy has gone back to the dance floor every time within moments of receiving the shot. She doesn¡¯t wait around, just wants to party. I do feel a small tinge of sorriness for the guys who try, but only a small tinge. However this time I feel is different. The guy who takes Missy up to the bar this time is wearing a stylish suit and sports a bit of stubble. He¡¯s obviously an older guy but only in his mid twenties at most. I can¡¯t really see any other features about him since he turns his back to me and starts chatting to Missy. Apparently he¡¯s got quite a good pickup line as Missy giggles oh so sexily. However¡­ The guy only one shot and goes to drink it while Missy looks a bit perplexed. Sneaky bastard. However the contingency plan goes into effect and Cashiel slides a shot in between the two of them as he raised the glass to his lips. Pointing towards me, Cashiel then goes back to his job (Good job, I owe you once again). The guy turns towards me and upon seeing me look right at him (albeit through a pair of fake sunglasses) he visibly shivers (yes tremble before my might ohoho fool). Missy bows slightly and melds back into the mass. I immediately lose interest in the guy and continue to track Missy through the crowd, but I can still feel his gaze, which turned from fearful surprise to a more angry one (I¡¯m quite good at sensing what the gazes mean; It might be because of repeated practice IRL and in the game too. Yes I have had a lot of practice receiving angry gazes¡­whoops). But I don¡¯t care; it¡¯s not the first angry gaze that¡¯s been sent my way from a shot-blocked guy. ¡°Hey¡­is that the guy?¡± Somehow my ears pick up a sound other than this ¡®music¡¯, from a girl who is walking past me but stops and shouts to her friend (I think she was trying to whisper but she¡¯s either deaf or drunk, or both). ¡°Sunglasses, Kanji tattoo on the neck, gloves and a bike jacket¡­that¡¯s Missy¡¯s brother alright¡± Her friend quickly looks me over (but why are my gloves a distinctive feature?) ¡°Oh, so that means she¡¯s here¡± Oh they know about Missy? I mean yes a lot of people see me in this spot and I have pretty much claimed it as my own but for them to know Missy¡­ I glance over at them and they jump back a step in shock (My disguise is as good as ever, thank god). ¡­ Mila and Jane, well I shouldn¡¯t be surprised¡­I mean pretty much everyone from school comes in here some time or another. But still to see numbers 4 and 5 wearing minishorts and short tops is quite the pleasure to my eye (but still can¡¯t hold a candle to Missy). Losing interest in them (well not really, just I have more important things in mind), I look back at where Missy is ¡­ .. . She¡¯s stumbling off to the front door and I see a group of 3 guys following closely behind¡­not good. Turning back to the still stunned girls (apparently me looking at them half-scares them to death. Just what kind of rumors are there), I rush towards then and then glide past them (once again not a tight squeeze, but why must this situation repeat itself?). Turning to my left I quickly walk down the stairs and have little problems since most people make way for me (once again, just what kind of rumors are there of me?). Reaching the first floor I nod to Cashiel as I pass the bar and head outside. ¡­Jack, you¡¯re such a good guy. Thankfully Jack delayed Missy¡¯s drunken departure with excuses of a friendly conversation (since getting to know the bouncer is extremely important). I bow slightly towards him before I make myself known to Missy by coming to her side. She looks at me and with a drunken grin hugs my arm. I start to walk off and as we do, I look back and make eye(?) contact with the three guys that were beginning to follow us half-stealthily (They¡¯re decently drunk so they can really only be half-stealthy). Visibly shivering they stop at being found out and Jack being ever so useful offers a subtle threat by saying goodbye to us loud enough for the trio to hear. Nobody wants to mess with a bouncer, much less a 1 85 ripped shirt one. With a ¡°tch¡± the leader of the trio, the sneaky guy I saw earlier, starts to walk away. But not before I get an angry gaze from him and the others. I walk away nonchalantly until the club is out of sight (although the music is still slightly revertebrating in my ears). ¡°Phew¡± Wiping a bit of sweat from my brow I start to guide Missy home. I may look large and mean but in a real fight I¡¯d be completely screwed over. Anyways, as I begin the long walk home Missy begins her rant. Sadly Missy is an angry drunk and oh so loves to rant at me about things I¡¯ve done wrong or haven¡¯t done or just about things in general really. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t enjoy her drunkenly trying to poke my chest and try to form words without slurring but I have to keep up my guard or she may turn from angry to violent drunk (another reason why I wear my shock padded Kevlar lined jacket). ¡°You¡­Whai ith is that Daddy doshnt allow me to play¡­wha wash it? Intha¡­no¡­Zach what wash it again?¡± (Iloveyou online¡­should I? No, I almost forgot that I need to get past that large barrier called her father first). ¡°Insanity online¡±. ¡°Yesh, Inshaniityyyy online. Ish it really that fun?¡± ¡°Yes, yes it is¡± ¡°I wanna play too¡­but how can-¡± She starts muttering to herself before she stops and looks at me with a smile And this is the main problem of the night; whenever she¡¯s drunk she always makes a horrible request. And if I don¡¯t do it then¡­that¡¯s how she becomes a violent drunk¡­ ¡°Whatever you ask for Missy¡± No way to get out of it, might as well seem willing. ¡°How aboutsh you ashk my Daddy to let me plaaay?¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°Of course I will¡± (Whyyyy, but its either this or my face and body becomes unrecognizable, or worse) ¡°Thank youuu¡± She hugs my arm (well she was already hugging it but harder than before) and even through the shock padded and Kevlar lined jacket I can still feel a great pressure. Well I did suspect that tonight was not going to end well but this¡­this is bad. Reluctantly I take her home as she continues to poke me both verbally and physically but I endure as I¡¯m more focused on preparing my mental will and numbering my problems. Problem number 1: He doesn¡¯t know anything about me sneaking her out and getting her drunk (So if he finds that out¡­I¡¯m screwed) Problem number 2: Missy is drunk and not very quiet so she will undoubtedly make problem number 1 happen Problem number 3: Even if I avert problem number 1 initially then I will still be interrogated and thus once again problem number 1 Problem number 4: How can I convince her father that spending hours in a world getting killed by numerous monsters and having to brutally kill them is good for her¡­ All in all, I¡¯m screwed. But no more time to think about this since we¡¯re at the front gate. I turn to Missy, who stopped her rant as we came to this street. ¡°Forgive me¡± ¡°F-¡± I chop the back of her head with my hand knocking her out (Acupuncture history lessons from J?t actually came in handy. Thank god I listened to some of it) Catching her before she drops to the ground I put her into a princess carry (Extremely difficult since she doesn¡¯t hold on) and unlock the front gate. Stealthily (as much as I can at least) moving towards the front door I quietly turn the key and open the door. The house is dark and I don¡¯t hear anyone up. Walking quietly up the stairs I take Missy to her room. Tucking her into bed, I mouth good-night before exiting the room. Quietly slipping down the stairs I head to the front door. ¡°Where are you going at this time of night, son? It¡¯s cold outside. Wouldn¡¯t you be better off sharing a nice hot drink with me, son?¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°Ah Sir¡± AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I turn to my right, towards the living room, to see Missy¡¯s father (i.e Sir to me) sitting in the dark holding a bottle of something. Also what¡¯s with the ¡®son¡¯? ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there, come¡­have a seat, son¡± He motions with a shadowy hand. Problem number 1 has occurred as expected. Lady Luck really does not like me. I move up to him and sit down opposite him. He turns on a light beside him brightening the room and letting me see his calm face (wait that¡¯s odd, shouldn¡¯t he be angry or something?). ¡°So, is there anything you¡¯d like to tell me?¡± ¡°¡­not really¡­¡± ¡°Oho¡­I seem to remember we played interrogation a while ago, would you like to play again?¡± ¡°No no I¡¯m all good¡­Actually I do have something¡± ¡°Go on¡± ¡°Your daughter wants to play Insanity online, a super fun game where she gets to meet people and adventure in a fantasy land. What¡¯s good is that it¡¯s virtual reality so it has a high degree of realism, even better still the time is 3:1 so she doesn¡¯t have to play as much in real life to play a lot in game.¡± ¡­ .. . I¡¯m not sure how that would make a convincing argument but when in doubt list some positives ¡°¡­I see¡­¡± I¡¯m screwed ¡°That sounds like a good idea¡± ¡­ .. . Excuse-moi? I ¡®m not sure I just heard correctly ¡°Uh..did you say¡­yes?¡± ¡°Sure, she¡¯s a growing woman and needs to experience the world and this is a way for her to experience it without the dangers of real life, correct?¡± ¡°Y-yes of course, the pain sensor is only at 10% so getting slashed to pieces only pinches¡± He raises an eyebrow ¡°Oh¡­a lot of things have happened to me¡± He lowers his eyebrow as if to say that¡¯s good enough. ¡°So I will get her the Compaq D-lute on one condition¡± Wait how does he know about the Compaq D-lute (Well it¡¯s not like all adults have no technological sense in this world)? ¡°And what is that condition?¡± Like father like daughter; it¡¯ll be completely unreasonable ¡°I¡¯d like you to accompany her¡± ¡­ Ok quite reasonable¡­if it weren¡¯t for the fact that my character is a female that is a trap and that I¡¯m stuck in the northern part of the world with 2 other guys¡­So yes that¡¯s pretty unreasonable for me. ¡°A-as much as I¡¯d like to, I can¡¯t¡± ¡°Now that is odd, I¡¯d thought you¡¯d be begging me to allow you to accompany her¡± We both know my feelings and the peculiar relationship between me and her ¡°I would be, usually, but I¡¯m in the middle of nowhere and I¡¯m going to be stuck there for a very long time¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± He starts musing while taking a small swig of water (oh so it¡¯s a bottle of water, hopefully). ¡°Is there anyone else that you trust to accompany her?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­Ah! Mickey can accompany her and he¡¯s quite trustworthy, plus we live in the same house¡± So if things go south he¡¯ll know where to find him¡­ ¡°That sounds reasonable¡± ¡°But wouldn¡¯t it be better for her to try it out by herself?¡± ¡°You know what my daughter looks like¡­she¡¯d be in deep trouble if she played alone¡± ¡­ .. . I take back what I said about him being technologically knowledgeable. I guess he only knew the name ¡°Uh¡­She can change herself to look like whoever she wants, even a guy if need be¡± His eyes grow ¡°Whoever?¡± I think Insanity online has just got 2 new players¡­ ¡°Yes. And she can even be unrecognizable races such as goblin or golem¡± ¡°Then she should be fine when playing alone then¡± ¡°Yes and if she ever needs to talk to me or Mickey she can contact us through the in-headset Skype¡± ¡°That sounds like a plan. Now head off home, because it¡¯s quite late¡± I check my phone and see its just hit 11 at night ¡°Alright, I look forward to seeing the both of you online¡± Whoops did I just say the both of them out loud? ¡°Hah, yes you will¡± Oh ok he¡¯s not going to deny it. Well overprotective father will always be overprotective father. I start to walk out the room before I stop and swivel round ¡°How-¡± He taps his nose suggesting that he knows it all (well that explains why he was sarcastically calling me son)¡­Hmm, so he hasn¡¯t killed me out of choice so far. How kind of him. Turning back round I leave the house, fast. As I walk back home I kind of realize that all throughout the conversation I was quite calm. Which I really shouldn¡¯t have been since it gets me on edge when thinking about him. Maybe it was because he didn¡¯t look as terrifying as I remember, or maybe because he agreed to the request. ¡­ Or maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯ve realized he¡¯s simply just an overprotective father (with a lot of contacts it seems since he supposedly knows everything, as well as being an ex-Yakuza) looking out for his daughter. But I think the main reason why he doesn¡¯t seem so terrifying is that I¡¯ve experienced something even more terrifying; Thalia and living nightmares of Gannor, a terrifying duo. Well whatever the reason, he¡¯s not as scary anymore. So that means I have accomplished the first step towards changing my relationship with Missy from personal bitch to something a little nicer. Getting home I quietly climb up the pipe and re-enter my room (after putting away the sunglasses and jacket in the bike). Taking off my clothes and putting them back inside my bed, I head to the bathroom and wash off the fake tattoo with some water (as well as the concealer and the rest of the makeup with much difficulty). Dropping into my bed, stifling an extremely tired yawn, I head off for my third battle this weekend. Hell Training Begins ¡°Oh, I was wondering when you¡¯d wake up¡± Her hot words tickle my ear Ah I¡¯d forgotten that I¡¯d logged off at Thalia¡¯s. ¡­ .. . Wait a second what is she doing in bed with me? Oh wait, it¡¯s her bed¡­ With my thought processes catching up with the situation they also catch up with the soft feeling of her-Nononono ¡°It¡¯s been quite some time since you and I were together like this¡± She happily tightens the squeeze on my back (Oh so goo-NO) ¡°Y-yes, it¡¯s been a while¡­I¡¯d almost forgotten what I was here for¡± ¡°You were here to¡­touch me¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s wha¡­.I mean no, that¡¯s definite-¡± I see my mistake and feel the heat rise on my face as Thalia digs her head into my neck ¡°Don¡¯t hesitate¡± She grabs my hand and has surprising strength as she gives it a forced trip (although her skin is so nice and smoo-Nononono, don¡¯t fall for it!) up her leg Kal don¡¯t let the soft and supple skin get to-AAah too late nonono! My hand stops on her knee, still surprisingly smooth and then begins a trip upwards. Wait¡­WAIT¡­I¡¯M NOT READY FOR THIS, MY BODY IS NOT PREPARED! Her upper leg is as supple and soft as ¨CNononono! But the thought that I¡¯m getting closer to-NO DON¡¯T THINK ABOUT IT KAL!! *Pant* ¡°Ah, Kal, you are verrry good at touching me, but I think you¡¯d do better if you could see my leg too¡± I DON¡¯T WANNA nonononono! Whyyyy does this have to happen to me when I¡¯m just starting to move forward with Missy? I can scream inside all I like but her leg slowly comes into view as she slides it above mine. ¡°W-Wwwait Thalia¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you, I love to see you squirm¡± Her hot breath tickles my neck as I feel her desiring gaze. ¡°B-bbut¡­How about I write on your upper arms¡± ... ¡°Tch, you can¡¯t keep me away forever, because I¡¯m getting hungry¡± *Shiver* She lets my hand go and takes her leg out of my sight but instead I feel her arm and her-*Gulp* NOTHING ELSE! Slide up my side and rest those firm yet soft-Nononononono! Her left arm reaches out and I get a good view of her slender arm; perfect for entrapping others (Like me *gulp*). She finally stops, with her body pressing on my side. ¡­ .. . I can¡¯t mooove! Not even a little bit, because when I move my left arm it squeezes pas-NOnononononon keep calm Kal, calm! M-my arm is entrapped by h-her br- NOTHING THEY DON¡¯T EXIST NONONNO!! ¡°U-um Thalia?¡± ¡°Mmm what is it Kal?¡± She licks my chin, ohh so se-NONONO ¡°I can¡¯t move anything¡± ¡°¡­That¡¯s the plan¡± I KNOW THAT ALREADY! ¡°B-but I can¡¯t do any writing this way¡± ¡°Ha, today you¡¯re paying attention only to me¡± She gazes at me intensely¡­guess she¡¯s a bit annoyed with being left alone just like Cindy (well in a different way, hopefully)? ¡°¡­Ok, I¡¯m all yours tonight¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°Hehe you said it¡± NOOOOOO WHYYYYYYY?? She immediately starts sliding her body towards my front and I can feel those sof-CLOSING MY EYES, IT¡¯S NOT HAPPENING. I feel the heat transferring to my front and feel softness push against my ches-NOnononono! Not only that but I can feel her whole slender body press against mine. OH GOD oh god, nonononono, whyyyyy did I have to say that? She stops moving and I feel her soft lips tickle my cheek. Nononononono this isn¡¯t happening, not again! With true reluctance I open up my eyes and meet her fully black eyes; they do not feel like cold, empty tunnels but warm spots pulling you into the darkness¡­ Nonononono! Pulling my head back from her face I shake the thoughts away while Thalia giggles quietly (Ah what a cute gig-Nononono, wait that¡¯s actually fine but still, nonono). ¡°You¡¯re so cute when you shake your head in denial like that, it almost wants to make me¡­¡± *SHIVER* ¡°M-make you do what?¡± ¡­ .. . WAIT WHY¡¯D I ASK THAT! I AM CURIOUS BUT STILL NONONONONONO!! Her moist lips press against mine but she grips my back with her strong arms and blocks any escape route I had. Her hot tongue coils around mine stroking it gently and it feels so goo-NONONONONONO THIS ISN¡¯T HAPPENING NOOOO! I thought I¡¯d escaped this since I¡¯d had 3 nights without such a deadly attack but now¡­now I¡¯m looking deeply into her eyes while being taken to another world with her tong-NOOO KAL STAY IN THIS WORLD, YOU CAN DO IT, FOR MISSY!! Gathering strength I start moving my arms from between us to behind her- *Pant* She releases my lips with a se-NO! pant. ¡°I¡¯m especially sensitive to your touch¡­¡± WAIT SHOULDN¡¯T YOU HAVE SENSITIVE AREAS NOT JUST BE SENSITIVE TO MY TOUCH NONONONONO! Her tongue jumps back into my mouth with renewed vigor and tickles all my sense making butterflies dance in my stoma-NOnonononono. My hands are free and I quickly feel them grab a thick bound book and open it up to my next chapter (I¡¯M NOT DOING ANYTHING, JUST READING A BOOK, YES JUST READIN-ohhh that feels sooo-NONONONONO, JUST READING). Position number 7: Basic Melder First things first you must make sure your partner is facing you ¡­ .. . THAT ISN¡¯T HELPING!!! Dropping the book I start to cry on the inside while feeling the heat expand on my face and in my stomach because of the skillful way Thalia t-Nonononononono I¡¯M JUST LYING HERE DOING NOTHING. But my mind is slowly filling up with pink thoughts guided by her to-NONONONONO, MUST DO SOMETHING KAL!. Grabbing the book once more I continue to read despite my vision getting hazy from ple-LACK OF SLEEP, YES ONLY THAT! I finally feel her heat leave my mouth and I feel something moist hanging on my chin. Thalia quickly licks it up-DON¡¯T THINK ABOUT HOW SE-NONONONONO!! Continuing to read as she goes to nuzzle up by my head, I quickly find out that from this position I can do a lot of ni-NONONONONONO, FOR MISSY ONLY¡­WAIT NONONONO, WAIT YES, WAIT I¡¯M CONFUSED!! Putting down the book once I¡¯ve read about a page and I¡¯m relatively calm (I¡¯m not thinking about her heat pushing against my ch-nonononono), I pick up my quill and ink. I slowly start to translate on her upper arm while keeping my gaze high (NO I am NOT GOING TO LOOK DOWN THERE, I DON¡¯T WANT TO BE DRAWN IN BY THOSE NICE AND SO-NONONONONO). And so my first frontal spooning session properly began. ¡­ After about 8 hours I¡¯ve finally translated 30 pages and another 6 positions, HOWEVER ALL OF THEM REQUIRED FRONTAL SPOONING! WHYYYYYY? IT¡¯S NOT HELPING MY SITUATION. I¡¯m going quite slow for three reasons: The first being I have to hold the books high up and it¡¯s quite tiring, plus I need to switch between books and ink. Secondly I only have 1 arm free Thirdly I have to take breaks because¡­she likes it when I write on her, and when I see her face when she pa-NONONONO DON¡¯T THINK ABOUT IT AGAIN. In result if I don¡¯t stop in time I get another tongue exploration, which feels extreme-NONONONO, even after so many times (4 times in total¡­the 9th kiss is the special one¡­it must be¡­). Also I¡¯ve had a hard time writing things on her. I completed her upper right arm and moved to her side (BECAUSE I DON¡¯T KNOW HOW I¡¯D COPE LOOKING AT HER FACE TO WRITE, I¡¯D BE TRAPPED, TRULY NONONO). Without a choice her squishe-DON¡¯T THINK ABOUT IT NONONONO-remained in the bottom of my vision as I wrote on her side. Thankfully I was able to fit the rest of the translated pages onto her side. Seeing as though my arm is completely dead weight as I¡¯m unable to even move it due to overworking it, I let the translation stop there and rest (KEEPING MY EYES WIDE AWAKE LOOKING AT GANNOR MUTILIATING ME IN MY DREAMS OF COURSE). After about 23 different deaths by Gannor, Thalia makes a move (other than nuzzling and hugging tighter). She presses her lips firmly against mine and I immediately feel this is the same as that other time; more pure, more loving than the others. ¡°I hope that next time you¡¯ll lose yourself and ravage me¡± ¡­ .. . WAIT SHOULDN¡¯T YOU HAVE SAID I LOVE YOU OR SOMETHING?? I WAS PREPARED FOR THAT BUT TO TELL ME TO RAVA-NONONONONO!! Ahh she never takes a break trying to ensnare me¡­ With that she starts moving away from me (CLOSING MY EYES, NONONONO, REMAIN PURE KAL!) and I feel her body leave but her heat stick to me. When I confirm her presence is not in my immediate view I peek and see that she¡¯s gone to the main room. Getting out of bed I stifle a yawn (because it has been 1 and a bit RL days without sleep so I¡¯m a bit tired, I can last another RL day or two though, so I¡¯m good). Heading past Thalia, who hugs me and plants a quick kiss on my neck-ahhhh, nononono, I exit the house into the snowy street. 4 days and I¡¯m still pure¡­mostly. My mouth has been soiled (although it felt really go-NOnononono) and I feel her heat everywhere. DIVE *SIZZLE* Ah slightly better. I get back up and head over to Cindy¡¯s. Opening the door I only find her sitting lonely at the table, looking a bit bored¡­hmm that¡¯s odd, where are the others? ¡°Good morning Cindy¡± ¡°Good morning to you too¡± She turns and gives me a cheer, guess she was waiting for me? ¡°So¡­uh where is everyone?¡± Hey Kal, I¡¯m going to be doing some solo training with Varg, so don¡¯t wait up and have fun with Cindy! A message pops up from Husky. Training with Varg? Guess he asked Varg to train him after we saw him in action? Kal, I¡¯m going to be quite busy, so don¡¯t wait up. J?t also sends me a message but¡­it¡¯s a bit ambiguous; I guess he¡¯s doing training? OK, got you both, How about we meet back at Cindy¡¯s when our training ends Righteo Brother! Got it. With that I close the messages and turn to Cindy who is looking at me expectantly ¡°So¡­shall we get started? ... ¡°Now our first lesson is very important¡± Cindy explains in an almost studious manner as we walk outside the Northern gates. I swear Gerard raised an eyebrows(rockbrow? Is that even a thing?)at the two of us walking out, his mossy green eyes fixated upon Cindy mostly.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Yeah I understand the weirdness of having Cindy, the housewife, walk outside the village gates. I mean she¡¯s a housewife! Though this is a warrior village so I¡¯m assuming she¡¯ll have no problem handling wolves and the sort. Anyways, we walk outside the village and she continues on, into a pack of wolves. Yeah, I know what you¡¯re thinking; she gets ripped to pieces by a bunch of wolves before my eyes. No that isn¡¯t what happened(strangely enough), but neither did she massacre the wolves with savage brutality like Varg did¡­. She just walked through them¡­ Err what? She turns back to me while standing inside a pack of 4 wolves. ¡°This is the first lesson. Come to me¡± She opens up her arms in a wide hug. Riiiiight. So erm, I guess it¡¯s a lesson? For what I have no idea. ¡°Ah, but you can¡¯t attack or hurt the wolves in any way, even if they attack you¡± She quickly adds, seeing my confusion ¡­ .. . ¡°Kal honey, are you alright?¡± You¡¯re asking me to walk into a pack of wolves and try not get attacked¡­. ¡°Are you crazy?¡± I ask as my head is cocked sideways ¡°Kal!¡± She reapproaches me. Ok fair enough maybe there is a logical explanation, maybe. Maybe she wants me to distract the wolves or sneak in, or maybe just copy her footsteps (though looking at her footprints, my lord I have tiny feet!). ¡°Sorry Cindy, I¡¯m just a little confused¡± ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be¡± She gives me a sneaky grin. I have a feeling this new side of Cindy is going to be quite terrifying (even more so that Varg!). You know that¡­let¡¯s just go for it. I have full confidence in myself, full confidence that I am a true nord and that I will not fear anything, even death. I will only conquer it in due time and it will become but another milestone for this great warrior(warrioress¡­) on his path to Legendariness. -42 (128/170) OMG! One of the nearer wolves had pounced on me as I confidently strode forward. And now I¡¯m pinned beneath it. -51 -40 -39 (-3/170) It¡¯s teeth bite into my neck(ow!) and before I can do much, the rest of the pack converges on me. I¡¯m dead¡­I freaking got slaughtered JUST like I thought I would. Well there goes all 20% of my beautiful xp, need to be careful or I might lose a level at this rate. Respawning in Thalia¡¯s bed oddly enough(oh right I did sleep in it¡­oh god), I try to creep out as she¡¯s busy creating a purplish fumed potion. ¡°Dear¡± She turns around(seriously does she have like an internal tracker or something!?), predatory glint in her eyes and small tongue gently rubbing over her upper lip ¡°Are you back for seconds?¡± She raises her furs ever so slightly, revealing a good portion of her upper le NO NO NO NO. Rushing out the house I smash into the snow with a nice Pshhhh sound. Phew, almost got stuck in that situation again. Getting back up I¡¯m back outside the gate. Alright, so I can¡¯t die because I get two penalties now; 20% xp loss and having to respawn at Thalia¡¯s¡­that¡¯s dangerous. Spotting Cindy sitting while the wolves walk around her without a care in the world, I stop just outside their agro distance. ¡°Imagine the wolves aren¡¯t there¡± Cindy adds not so helpfully. Ok, so if I die it¡¯s due to some bizarre forces of the universe, not wolves, got it¡­ Imagine the wolves are not there, imagine they are but insects, things I can summarily ignore and believe aren¡¯t there because I can¡¯t see them(also I don¡¯t really mind insects). Imagine I¡¯m walking through an empt-*Bof* -22(148/170) OW! The wolf(same one I swear) had pounced on me, but this time I was prepared! I had sidestepped to the side, only getting a graze from the wolf, but this time I wasn¡¯t stuck underneath (aha!) I quickly take out my axe and hack it to death¡­not. Jeesh there¡¯s four of them and usually I can only handle one. I run like a little girl(oh the irony) towards the gate, diving into the snow for the 170th time, finally. Dammit! I thought I was done running away from wolves!!! Ok, back up and out there. Same thing, imagine they are but bugs, things you care not abooo-No this isn¡¯t working!! DIVE Phew, at least my movement speed has increased to the point where I can outrun them if I have a few meters headstart. Get back up and get to agro range. Eyeing Cindy, she¡¯s just sitting there watching(and patting a cute wol-No dammit, I want to kill them!) Apparently the thought is enough to agro them now(seriously!). DIVE. Jeesh, so I can¡¯t have any killing thoughts towards them¡­Maybe if I think like they¡¯re cute doggies? That may wor-NOPE. The cute dogg-dammit wolves, come after me. Maybe they don¡¯t like being thought of as cute doggies?? -36(134/170) Ow! Seems like they really don¡¯t. DIVE. Ok try five, I can do this! I can (I believe in myself)! So I can¡¯t look down at them, can¡¯t think of them as cute doggies and can¡¯t think murderous thoughts towards them¡­Can they read my mind or something?? I mean I¡¯ve been fighting these things for quite a while now, I should¡¯ve noticed if they read minds, especially because they¡¯re wolves?! Aaargh, maybe it¡¯s a game thing, I don¡¯t know. Whatever, I¡¯ll figure this out one way or another (and probably die doing so, huu). Ok, so let¡¯s try imagining me running through the snowy plains along with the wolves¡­yeah, that isn¡¯t happening; all I can imagine is me running away from them. Funnily enough, that¡¯s exactly what happens a few moments later. DIVE. Stomping out, I see Cindy still watching me with a mildly amused expression while she strokes the head of one particular wolf (the damned one that keeps pouncing on me!). Ok, what to think of now, hmm¡­ ¡°Try to think of being friends with them¡± She somehow gives extremely useful advice¡­I think. So I look at her and then try to imagine myself being the one sitting down, stroking the wolf¡¯s soft fur. To aid the feeling I begin stroking myself (the wolf¡¯s head helmet for all of your terribly minded people out there) and begin walking towards them. 1 step into agro range, now 2¡­now 3. Hmm, so far so good¡­I think. I continue to make step after step, making it halfway through the usual 5 meter agro range, before inevitably, that annoying, pouncing wolf, which was being stroked by Cindy, comes after me. Aaaagh! Running away like the madman(or woman) I must be! DIVE. Phew, at least I haven¡¯t been actually hit much by them. Right, munch on some bread first since I¡¯ve somehow been doing this for an hour already (wow time passes fast when you daydream!). Back up, back out there. ¡°Your clothes can affect how they treat you¡± Cindy, still calmly stroking that dastardly wolf, points out something which is actually blaringly obvious now that I think about it¡­I¡¯m literally wearing the dead skins of their kin..huh. Right, off it goes! Sadly I did sell my old leather armor and thus have¡­boxers on(and that thin, almost invisible strip of material on my chest). Huh, never thought I¡¯d be in my boxers in the snow walking towards a pack of wolves¡­Lady Luck, you really hate me don¡¯t you? Immediately feeling the morning chill all over my body, I once again begin to think about stroking the wolves and imagining them licking my face and then us tumbling around in the snow for fu-Aaah NO! Dodging one wolf¡¯s pounce, I get the hell out of there and back into the village. Phew. Standing back up, I send a cursory glance towards Gerard, who is smiling (not quite sure but since the rock formation on his mouth sort of looks like it, sure I¡¯ll have a guess he¡¯s smiling)? Right, ok, everyone have fun watching me prance around in my boxers and foolishly walk into a pack of wolves over and over again. Roll up roll up, this idiot¡¯s at it again! And so I am. Cuddles and kisses, Cuddles and kisses. Cuddles and oh god no not again! DIVE. Dammit, they just want to pounce on me no matter what! Right, come on, I got closer that time, only a meter and a half till I reached the first one. Standing back up and heading towards them once more, I wonder what else I can do to make them more friendly, or less caring about me ¡­ .. . Oh that¡¯s right! Oh that¡¯s right ¡­ .. . Screw it, I¡¯ll try it once. Activating my Radiating Charm, immediately, I can feel Cindy¡¯s wide eyed gaze as well as the wolves¡¯. Walking towards them with thoughts of Cuddles and Kisses¡­exactly the same thing happens. They pounce on me! Not just one, but all four of them! Jumping backwards, I just dodge them and begin to charge away. Though I don¡¯t hear any footsteps but mine¡­ Stopping abruptly, I turn around to see all four wolves cocking their heads towards me. Err ok? I make my way towards them as they stand unmoving towards me, except for the swishing of their tails. Wait a second. Swishing of their tails!! I immediately increase my pace, still thinking Cuddles and Kisses and successfully make my way past them and into Cindy¡¯s arms. She gives me both a bone crushing hug and a kiss on the forehead, to which I stealthily deactivate my Radiating Charm. But that doesn¡¯t lessen the hug at all. Breath, ahh I need air! Thankfully, she finally notices my face going an unnatural purplish hue and lets me go. Ah air, air, air. Phew, back to normal. ¡°Well done Kal, and only took you an hour and a half. I¡¯m so proud of you!¡± She goes in for another hug, which I stealthily avoid. ¡°But what did I do really? I don¡¯t quite understand¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t get the skill?¡± She cocks her head. ¡°Skill?¡± I open my skills list but there isn¡¯t a change ¡­ .. . Oh, I must¡¯ve used Radiating Charm instead of whatever skill I¡¯m supposed to learn¡­ ¡°Oh, well guess I¡¯ll have to take back the hug¡± She chuckles and starts walking off to another group of wolves, standing in the middle of them. ¡°Ok this time, don¡¯t stand out as much; try to blend in¡± Right¡­how? Ok, let¡¯s think about this: I can¡¯t use my radiating charm, but I want an effect similar to it¡­so I have no idea whatsoever. Let¡¯s just go for it¡­ Nope that was a terrible idea, RUN. DIVE! Phew. Dammit, what am I supposed to do. Sitting down in the middle of the snowy street, munching on some more bread, I start to wonder what I should do, what I have to do. Well first things first, how do the wolves tell what I¡¯m thinking. I¡¯ve got a feeling that¡¯s important. I¡¯m guessing they can¡¯t read my mind, so logically they¡¯ll have to read my body language¡­which I guess is influenced by my thoughts. Hmm, let¡¯s go ask Cindy, see if she¡¯ll help. Walking my way towards her, I stop outside the agro range. ¡°So Cindy, how do the wolves tell what I¡¯m thinking?¡± ¡°Good question, the answer you already know, you just don¡¯t realize it¡± Oh really, you¡¯re going to be one of those now¡­Cindy, I am not going to have fun as your disciple am I? Huu, guess I have to think then. Sitting down in the snow, I start thinking all the possible reasons how the wolves can tell what I¡¯m thinking. I spend so long thinking of some of the most retarded possibilities(they¡¯re all mind controlled by Cindy who herself can read my mind¡­to be honest probably the most logical out of all of them so far), that I believe an entire hour passes, since I get the cold status, on the verge of becoming frozen. Running around stiffly in a small circle, I begin to notice something¡­strange about my surroundings. As some of you may have suspected¡­I haven¡¯t been attacked in the past hour¡­not even once (except if you count those four wolves by Cindy). I¡¯m in the middle of the plains, I should be getting attacked at least once in this hour and more likely at least ten times. Though, not a single wolf had gotten close. Turning round, I start looking for wolves; spotting them milling about 10 metres away. How odd¡­ Making my way towards them, slowly and cautiously, I stop a few steps away from them, completely unharmed. They just cock their heads towards me for a second before continuing to mill about. Hmm? That¡¯s bizarre, never seen this happen before ¡­ .. . But then again I haven¡¯t seen Cindy outside alone before. Something strongly tells me Cindy is not a normal housewife, or warrior in fact. It¡¯s definitely got to be Cindy¡¯s doing, but what has she done? With raised eyebrows, I walk further away from her, reaching about twenty five metres, when suddenly I get surrounded by two packs of wolves. Well buggerations¡­ Yeah, I die pretty quickly, since I quite literally have no armor¡­or weapon or that fact(I decided to put that away too since carrying a weapon while trying to be friendly doesn¡¯t seem to work. Not that anything else worked mind you). OK, back in Thalia¡¯s¡­not good. Sneaking out, surprisingly she isn¡¯t brewing? Huh. Walking outside, I do spot her a distance away talking to Rodna. Turning away before I catch her eye, I sprint outside the village with a feeling of elation! Not because I escaped Thalia¡¯s house without any danger (ok a little bit because of that) but because I think I¡¯ve finally figure out something!!! The only viable explanation to this odd calm between me and those wolves(not the ones by Cindy, the other ones) was because of Cindy. However those same wolves attacked me once I got a certain distance from her, so it¡¯s definitely got to do with her. But how can she somehow influence the wolves¡¯ behaviour from up to twenty five metres away(I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s then, because that¡¯s when I got mass pounced)? An Aura is my guess. I mean it¡¯s the only logical explanation besides her having mind control over the wolves. Plus it actually makes sense why this is a first lesson. If it were mind control there¡¯s no way she¡¯d just ask me to pass the wolves with no prior and proper instruction. So it must be because she¡¯s got an aura active and I¡¯ve somehow got to learn that I can do that too, somehow. I mean¡­oh my god, I¡¯ve actually done it before! Now thinking about it, Radiating Charm is an aura of sorts, since it influences all within a certain distance, hence why I might¡¯ve not gotten the skill, since instead of using whatever aura the skill was, I used Radiating charm instead! Wow, this is actually starting to make sense! Ok, so this means I need to recreate whatever ¡®peaceful¡¯ aura she¡¯s doing. And I¡¯m inside this aura so I should be feeling it but I don¡¯t feel anything¡­but that might be because I¡¯m used to being around her. Think back Kal, think back! When I first met Cindy, what did I feel then? I¡¯m almost positive she¡¯s been using her aura since I first met her, actually I think I know she does. I don¡¯t feel any different being within her aura so it must mean that I¡¯ve been exposed to it long enough to feel as if it were a natural part of her. What did I first think when I met her!? Hmm, ah! When she first took me in (forced me, but I¡¯ll forget that for the moment) I didn¡¯t feel like I was being entrapped, rather like I was being tended to by a warm, nice person. I¡¯d only met her for a few seconds then, but I knew I could trust her, that she wasn¡¯t an enemy¡­ What was that feeling? I never felt stressed when around her (barring the whole overprotection situation) and every time I saw her it was almost soothing¡­calming ¡­ .. . That¡¯s right! An aura of calm?!? I guess that makes some sense? So that¡¯s why when I was thinking of Cuddles and Kisses towards the wolves it would calm them since I was an ally, of sorts. But then again, they still attacked me¡­why? Maybe it was because I find it hard to be single minded and maybe just a small thought crept up which triggered them? So do I have to practice being single minded?? Ok¡­so a lot of this makes sense now, but for me to actually succeed this first lesson, I need to somehow gain this calming aura skill. According to Cindy¡¯s reaction (forgetting her almost squeezing me to asphyxiation) I should¡¯ve learnt the skill when I walked past the wolves. So that must mean I definitely need to make sure I¡¯ve got an aura of calm and maintain it thought single mindedness, which I¡¯ve almost done. Hmm, time to get to work then. Leaving Cindy¡¯s aura(25 metres, thinking about it, that¡¯s an insanely huge area!) without walking into wolves, I sit down after another few metres of walking. Closing my eyes, I begin to think; begin to dream about being part of the snow, no¡­being snow itself. I am just the snow, peaceful and calm(although how is snow cal-snow is calm snow is calm). I imagine myself as snow, lying in a flat bed, calmly, unmoving, uncaring of all that trod upon itm whether it be beast, man or nature itself. I can feel it, the serenity of being snow; how it can remain uncaring of the world, simply listening to the relaxing sound of wind in the air. Opening my eyes, still entranced with this feeling of calm serenity, my vision is filled with the muzzle of a winter wolf and its golden eyes. Jumping out of shock, I feel something crack inside me before the wolf pounces on me, tearing me to shreds. Well dammit, 3% till I lose a level, no more screw ups. Sneaking out of Thalia¡¯s once more (thankfully she¡¯s still outside somewhere), I start to walk outside, before stopping and looking at Gerard. ¡°Hey Gerard, while I was sitting down, did the wolf attack me?¡± The golem turns towards me, and shakes his head ¡°Not for a little while, though it did after you jumped away¡± He answers in a gravelly tone. Huh, so it worked! Right, so I need to keep thinking like such, but keep my eyes open. Sounds easy right? Yeah, it¡¯s surprisingly not that easy to think of yourself being calm, uncaring and serene snow while watching wolves pace hungrily around. It gets especially worse when they lumber towards me, sniffing me casually while I try to remain calm, try to force any thoughts of fear deep deep down inside me. This one particular, annoying wolf, continues to walk around me, sniffing, nuzzling my shoulder, before finally resting it¡¯s head on my lap. *gulp* Its head snaps towards me (CALM CALM calm calm¡­.), though it quickly returns to my lap because I am calm, much like it. Ok, I¡¯m calm as I can be right now, any more and I might fall asleep. Plus I¡¯m getting cold, so not good. Praying to Lady Luck(thought she doesn¡¯t exactly like to listen to me does she?), I use both hands to gently lift the head of the wolf from my lap and start to stand up. It immediately jumps up, but not aggressively I hope. Glancing at the tail, I see it¡¯s wagging happily, so phew guess I¡¯m ok. Walking slowly(because I don¡¯t think I can maintain my aura while running), I make my way towards Cindy, who had been watching me from afar and now looked at me with a bright smile. I reciprocate the smile as I calmly walk past the wolves and into her large arms. This time the hug is more bearable; only making me believe I¡¯ve cracked half my ribs (thankfully I didn¡¯t, was just a feeling, phew). As she hugs me, I hear the ping of a window and, once she let me go I turned to see what it said.
Congratulations! Through repeatedly willing yourself into a mindset and knowledgeably pushing the thoughts to affect your entire body, you have unlocked the ability to consciously create and manipulate Auras.
Talent: Aura Manipulator [Lvl 1] Levels up due to Aura Skills
Auras are the basis of emitting your innermost feelings and emotions to the outside world. Almost all can unconsciously create auras, though few know how to manipulate them, consciously deciding what others can feel being emitted.
Auras have a range of 1 metres, 1% effectiveness
Through forcefully creating and maintaining the mindset of serenity and calm, you have learnt to manipulate such emotions into an aura surrounding you.
Aura Skill: Aura of Calm [Lvl 1]
You have the ability to create an aura of calm, soothing living beings, thus lowering agro on you.
10% chance to make monsters passive towards you(same level or lower), 10% less agro towards you when in combat
Cost: none, Duration: Sustained
¡­ .. . Huh, Aura manipulator¡­apparently I¡¯m pretty talented according to this system, that¡¯s new (not kidding, I¡¯m not that talented at many things!). Also Aura skills are a new thing too! Ooh, there¡¯s definitely going to be more of them!! Also this 10% chance to make monsters more passive towards me is actually pretty cool! Means that out of every ten wolves, one just won¡¯t bother to attack me(statistically speaking, though more likely is Lady Luck will never allow anything to be passive towards me). Plus it¡¯s sustained!! All I have to do is put myself in a mindset and I can train it up! Sweet! Means I can have it on 24/7 just like Cindy¡­just like Cindy ¡­ .. . Jeesh, if she has a range of twenty five metres, it must mean that she¡¯s maxed out the Aura Manipulator at least once, if not more likely twice which is pretty insane! She is DEFINITELY not a normal housewife¡­But just what is she is the real question??? Glancing towards her, I no longer see the sweet, yet strong and quite bossy housewife of Varg, but a very mysterious and quite possibly dangerous being¡­ ¡°So Cindy¡­what¡¯s next¡± ¡°What¡¯s next¡­is fear¡± Have you ever looked a devil in the eye¡­well I swear I just did¡­for about quarter of a second before falling unconscious due to the constriction of my heart. I woke up a few seconds later in Thalia¡¯s house, now level nine ¡­ .. . I just died from fear?!? Hell Training Continues Rushing past the orc, who looks at me with a raised eyebrow since he seems to have seen me die just randomly out of the blue. Wait a second, the orc? Turning back to get a look, sure enough it¡¯s the orc who¡¯s on guard¡­but he doesn¡¯t go on guard till late evening? Wait two seconds¡­is it past evening already? Looking up into the sky, oh my lord, it¡¯s almost sundown. All I¡¯ve done is run away from wolves a few times and then sat in the snow trying to make my aura twice¡­ ¡°Cindy! How long did I take making my aura?¡± I ask fervently as I run up to her. ¡°Most of the day¡± She answers without missing a beat. Most of the day? It felt like 5 minutes! Ok, so don¡¯t underestimate creating an aura; it takes hell of a time. ¡°So¡­how didn¡¯t I freeze to death?¡± The second question just pops into my head because if I was sitting down in the snow for most of the day I surely must¡¯ve frozen over¡­ ¡°I made sure you didn¡¯t freeze¡± Cindy produces a warm smile¡­ Wait a minute what does that mean? Ah well, whatever, if she wants to keep her secrets sure, I think I¡¯ve got slightly more pressing matters at hand. ¡°So¡­you killed me¡± ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve used my aura of terror¡± She rubs the back of her head apologetically. ¡°Aura of terror?¡± that sounds terrifying (no the irony of that statement is not lost on me). ¡°Ah, I haven¡¯t actually explained anything have I?¡± Right, why are you the teacher again!?(Seriously I feel like its math class again; me doing all the work). ¡°No¡­it would be nice if you explained to me about auras a little bit first¡± ¡°Hmm, a good a starting point as any I guess¡± Really what is going on in her mind? ¡°So first things first, you understand what an aura is and how to create one?¡± ¡°I assume so since I¡¯ve made one¡± ¡°¡­Fair enough¡­erm guess I¡¯ll move onto how to make an aura of fear then¡± ¡°Huh? What about explaining auras and whatnot?¡± My hands are flying everywhere in confused gestures. ¡°Well you have to understand them to create them and since you¡¯ve got the Aura manipulator talent you¡¯re all knowledged up¡± Ok¡­fair enough. ¡°So I¡¯m assuming to make an aura of fear¡­using what I know I¡¯d have to emit fear from myself and onto them?¡± Not quite sure how that¡¯ll work but I¡¯ll go with it for now. ¡°No¡± Knew it ¡°You have to create a feeling of power that will emanate from you, causing fear¡± ¡°Right¡­how do I think of a feeling of power?¡± I¡¯ve never been in power¡­ever (not even when we played master and slave¡­though to be honest with you being slave is way less responsibility). ¡°Do you remember that blizzard?¡± ¡°quite distinctly yes¡± Yeah that blizzard was pretty terrifying. ¡°Do you remember fearing it?¡± ¡°Obviously, it was a giant blizzard and I wasn¡¯t wearing anywhere near the appropriate clothing¡± ¡°So why did you fear it?¡± I feel like she¡¯s trying to get something out of me¡­but what? ¡°Erm, because it was a giant blizzard?¡± ¡°Because it was powerful¡± Ah¡­ok true, ah that¡¯s what she¡¯s getting at! ¡°So I have to become a blizzard within my mind?¡± ¡°No¡± Dammit, I was close (maybe, possibly not). ¡°You have to create a feeling of power¡± Soo back to square one. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to create power, I¡¯ve never been in power¡± ¡°Oh¡± Cindy looks down in deep thought. I guess since she¡¯s obviously the one in power it was a simple and understandable explanation (or she¡¯s just terrible at explaining things). After a short while of me running around to keep warm, she finally snaps out of her trance with one fist thumping an open palm in realization. ¡°I think a demonstration would be easier to understand¡± Yeah, I¡¯m not coming close to her ¡®aura of terror¡¯ like before. That was some scary stuff (pretty terrifying if I may say so myself). ¡°Ok? So what are you going to do and please don¡¯t kill me!¡± I quickly add on the end before she releases that terrifying aura (seriously it¡¯s hard to say it another way!). ¡°I¡¯m not going to do anything, you¡¯re going to do it¡± She says with an innocent smile. ¡­I guess she doesn¡¯t quite understand the concept of teaching¡­or maybe she understands it too well¡­ ¡°Right¡­what am I doing then?¡± I¡¯m just slightly suspicious as to what she¡¯s going to put me through. ¡°First, hurt yourself and gather some rage¡± Taking out my axe, I cut myself till about half health, gathering a good 50 rage, though it slowly decreases due to lack of combat. ¡°Now look at that wolf over there¡± She points to a nearby wolf which paws the snow merrily ¡°Imagine the most gruesome death for it, which you can personally give¡± No problems with that thought; ripping it¡¯s guts out and tying it with them, leaving it bound and useless as I chop it to pieces(hey I¡¯ve been killed quite a lot of times by these guys, I¡¯m allowed some slightly grim thoughts of revenge). ¡°Good, now try, as you were doing with your aura before, projecting it towards the wolf with your eyes¡± Erm ok¡­ I¡¯m looking at the wolf, imagining it¡¯s gruesome death. Come on wolfy, I can feel your life ebbing away beneath me as I chop you to bits, I imagine you whining as I tear away your fur and dig my axe deep inside you. Come on wolfy, feel it, feel my rage and want to murder you over and over and over again. The wolf turns towards me, shivering with a clear glint of fear in its eyes before turning tail and running. ¡°Perfect¡± Cindy gives a clap of her hands. ¡°Since you harbor quite a bit of hate towards the wolves, looks like you won¡¯t have that much of a problem emitting your hate towards them¡± ¡°Emitting my hate? Why didn¡¯t you just say that before?¡± ¡°Ah, because hate and powerfulness are completely different. Hate won¡¯t always lead to the others fearing you, yet power almost definitely will¡± She gives me a small studious look to see whether I comprehend. ¡°But right then I was emitting my hate wasn¡¯t i?¡± ¡°You were, but you were also emitting your power, since if you were weak could you kill those wolves in such gruesome ways so easily?¡± ¡°¡­No?¡± I think I understand? (I probably understand something completely different knowing me). ¡°Exactly so you imagined yourself having the power to kill the wolf and emitted such feeling, giving the wolf a thought that you are more powerful than it, more able to kill it ruthlessly¡±. Huh, so this is what power feels like? The ability to domineer over someone or something so much that they believe they are but worthless next to you¡­ Actually thinking of it that way it makes perfect sense¡­hell I can imagine myself feeling like the useless slave I am next to Missy when we had played, because I imagined her to have more power than me, which she obviously did but that¡¯s apart from the point. ¡°However, you only directed the feeling to a single being, thus in reality you didn¡¯t create an aura¡± Cindy breaks my train of thought and memories. ¡°Oh, so¡­what? I have to imagine that anything that gets within a metre of me will die a horrible death?¡± ¡°Essentially yes, however that¡¯s the hard part¡± Of course it is. ¡°Your eyes help you a lot when directing feelings and emotions to another, but to create an aura out of them you have to imagine the feeling oozing out of you, almost pulsating from your body like heat would. So kind of like when I¡¯m in Thalia¡¯s an-NONo don¡¯t think about that, don¡¯t want to make an aura about anything closely related to that!!! Phew, ok¡­so imagine the want to kill oozing out of me, feel like I¡¯ll lash out at anything and be able to squash it like an insect if it so much as looks at me. ¡­ .. . No, I can¡¯t really think like that¡­to be honest it¡¯s a bit scary thinking like that. ¡°Oh, seems like you were doing fine then¡­what happened?¡± Cindy looks from a short distance in peculiarity. ¡°Well I don¡¯t know, feeling like I¡¯m above everything else and able to kill them all just feels wrong¡± ¡°Hmm, that is strange indeed¡­guess I¡¯m not the right teacher for this¡± She looks down and I swear I see the glint of a tear on her eyes. ¡°No no, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re a fine teacher for this, I¡¯m just a horrible student!¡± I give her a small hug from behind trying to make her feel better (and honestly I am a terrible student). ¡°Poor student you may be¡± Wow didn¡¯t even deny it (Harsh Cindy, harsh) ¡°But with my teachings it won¡¯t help you in any way¡± ¡°Why?¡± I¡¯m actually curious, since she seems to be pretty damn good at auras (since I¡¯ve been literally killed by one). ¡°Because as you said; you find it strange to think about killing things, to imagine all the ways in which you¡¯ll torture them before they die. I however can easily think those things and it is the basis of my aura of fear¡­well terror actually¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Well no wonder! If she can actively think of ways to torture things before they die, that¡¯s pretty terrifying just hearing it; just imagine if I got the feeling that I could be tortured in numerous different ways, all zipping through my head! That¡¯ll probably make my heart stop (actually that¡¯s exactly what happened). ¡°So since your way of making yourself feel powerful and making others feel fear is incompatible with the way I¡¯m thinking?¡± ¡°Yes, so I can¡¯t properly teach you¡± She concludes with a heavy sigh. ¡°But then how do I learn?¡± ¡°By yourself mostly¡± Err¡­but I hate learning, especially by myself! Spoonfeeding is the basis of my academic life! Plus I really just don¡¯t enjoy magic, way too much to think about and read and understand. But then again, auras¡­pretty cool nonetheless and if I can kill things with literally just a thought¡­it might be worth it. ¡°Is Aura magic?¡± ¡°Yes and no¡± Great one of those answers ¡°I told you earlier to cut yourself for rage, remember? Well that¡¯s because you can use your rage pool to aid in creating and manipulating your aura. However your aura itself is an ethereal thing created by you, yourself both physically and mentally. So in essence you do not need to use your rage pool for your auras, however it is much more difficult with some auras such as this fear aura to not use the magical enhancement from using rage¡± Sounds alright as a system; so basically I can create auras naturally, but if I use rage they become ¡®magic¡¯ and thus have a bonus effect I guess¡­or just are easier to maintain. BUT I AM A TRUE NORD, AND I DO NOT USE PUNY MAGICKS! I USE BUT MY AXE ARM AND MY BODY TO CRUSH THE ENEMIES BEFORE ME! I AM THE MASTER OF THE BATTLEFIELD, THE ONE WHO WAS REFORGED AND TEMPERED TO THE DESTRUCTIVENESS OF A GOD AND DEVIL COMBINED. I SHALL NOT TAKE THESE AURAS AS MAGICAL THINGS BUT SIMPLY AS THE NATURAL BEING OF MY BODY, FOR ALL WHO LOOK UPON ME SHOULD BOTH LOVE AND FEAR ME. FEAR THE TRUE NORD!!! *Ping*
Through being so full of yourself that your internal monologue is shouted to the heavens above and the hells below, you have asserted your dominance upon those around you causing them to feel a slight fear and awe towards you. You have learnt a new Aura: Aura of Power
Aura Skill: Aura of Power [Lvl 1]
You have the ability to show yourself to be truly powerful, causing others to quake in fear and awe at your footsteps.
10% chance to give enemies bedazzled status until attacked. 2% chance to cause fear status. 10% more or less agro towards you in combat (dependent on use of aura).
Cost: none, Duration: Sustained
Due to learning a new Aura, your Aura manipulator skill has leveled up!
Talent: Aura Manipulator [Lvl 2] Levels up due to Aura Skills
Auras are the basis of emitting your innermost feelings and emotions to the outside world. Almost all can unconsciously create auras, though few know how to manipulate them, consciously deciding what others can feel being emitted.
Auras have a range of 2 metres, 2% effectiveness
¡­ .. . ¡°Hehehe hahaHAHAHA I AM TRULY A TRUE NORRRRRRRRRRRD¡± Brimming with confidence, I stride towards a nearby wolf, watching it look up to me still as stone until I ram my axe into its face. -22 (298/320) Hahaha! It didn¡¯t even move until I struck it! Of course I quickly pounce on its back, getting my usual chokehold to knock it unconscious through asphyxiation. Killing it with glee(because I do need some xp too, plus I¡¯m feeling great that I¡¯ve gotten another aura¡­although the description is slightly snarky). I have exactly zero problems keeping this aura going¡­because I am a true nord, this is what should be oozing out of me more naturally than my own blood and breath! ¡°Wow, seems like you learnt something?¡± Cindy observes me as I gleefully stride towards her, feeling myself even pulsate due to this grand aura of mine. ¡°I learnt¡­THE AURA OF POWER!¡± I shout to the heavens, holding my arms into the sky and almost imagining lightning striking the distance heeding my call for awesomeness. ¡°Well done¡± She comes in for a hug and I swear she literally squeezes away my aura. I do feel kind of deflated(probably literally) when she finally lets go¡­because I feel just how powerless I truly am compared to her. BUT I DON¡¯T CARE BECAUSE I HAVE THE AURA OF POWER WHICH A TRUE NORD TRULY DESERVES. OH I love the warm pulsating feeling it¡¯s giving me. God I¡¯m never going to deactivate this skill. ¡°Now although the aura of power is quite strong in its own way, it does have a slight disadvantage to it¡± She gives me a motherly pat on the head. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Due to the nature of your aura, I¡¯m assuming it¡¯s going to increase agro towards you¡± She points behind me. Dammit, there¡¯s a whole pack there right? I turn around and funnily enough I¡¯m wrong; there are 3 packs of wolves (Lady Luck, why do you hate me so?). Oh and it gets worse because it¡¯s night time now¡­ ¡°AAAAAAAH¡± I sprint away from the wolves, which is sadly towards the forest, watching them chase after me with slobbering mouths. Cindy does nothing. ¡°CINDYYYYY¡± I cry as I skirt the sides of the woods, trying to keep to the plains and slowly making my way towards town. ¡°YOU CAN DO IT¡± She shouts oddly close behind me and I turn to see her running alongside the wolves. WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? Charging across the snow I feel nothing but pure terror as they seem to be going faster, slowly catching up. Hell, I feel the air from one¡¯s claws as it just barely misses me. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH I DON¡¯T WANT TO LOSE A LEVEL!!! -108 (2/110) OMG THAT WAS A GLANCING BLOW!!! THESE WOLVES SEEM A HELL OF A LOT STRONGER THAN USUAL!!! CINDYYYYYY!!! I¡¯m so close to town, only 100 metres away, when suddenly another pack of three wolves appear from my left blocking my way in. Tears streaming down my pale little face, I swerve to the right, still sprinting for my life towards the northern exit. The wolves, biting at my feet yet just inches away from them, continue to chase after me, their size growing in number till with a glance all I can see are wolves, along with Cindy in the midst. Cindy, she¡¯s looking at me with a smile on her face; not her usual smile, but an evil grin, almost hungry, almost joyful at watching me run in pure terror from the wolves as they try to pounce on me. If I falter for but a quarter of a second, we both know that I¡¯ll be ripped to shreds, but Cindy¡¯s face shows that she doesn¡¯t care, in the slightest. Rather I¡¯d think she¡¯d enjoy that!(JUST WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!). Finally I reach the other side, feeling a small glimmer of hope, until another pack appears in front of me, still not passing the gates, but making their way towards me and soon will block me from safety. NO! I CAN¡¯T MAKE THAT HAPPEN! It¡¯s not hope, nor desire to live that drives me, rather it¡¯s simply fear; pure unadultered fear that I¡¯ll be ripped to shreds by a mountain of wolves. But what also helped drive that fear were Cindy¡¯s eyes boring into my back; I could almost feel that this was just a game for her, to see me run and cry and finally be ripped to pieces. For she knows I¡¯m immortal, that she can continue to play this game with me over and over again! I DON¡¯T¡¯ WANT THAT. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Suddenly I see the village gates to my left and I DIVE through them, hearing the angry howling of wolves as I suddenly enter the safe zone ¡­ .. . Is it over? I hear four pings resound in my head¡­subsiding the furious beating of my heart somewhat, and relieving the large build up of stress pulsating painfully in my mind. Taking my head out of the snow, I see Cindy waltzing up to me as the mass of wolves disperse, suddenly not caring about me whatsoever. ¡°Hahaha, good job¡± Cindy gives a merry little laugh before picking me up like a doll, her eyes and face not showing a single sliver of that dark, maniacal, death-loving incarnate that I glimpsed during my sprint of survival. What happened to loving mother Cindy? This new one¡¯s scary (Though for some strange reason, I feel like the loving mother is the mask, not the scary one¡­) While she carries me towards our house in a leisurely stroll, cooing me and gently stroking my hair (it¡¯s helping¡­slightly), I check what the three pings were.
Speedy has leveled up! It is now Level 6
You have run so much that not only your feet have become faster but your entire being has sped up. +30% movement speed +10% attack speed +150% satiety consumption rate
Wow I¡¯m fast now, 130% movement speed! Plus all that attack speed. That¡¯s so broken!!!(Going to forget that I¡¯ve literally been running around non-stop since the start and now that my consumption rate is 150%...I¡¯m eating a loaf of bread every twenty minutes or so¡­since quite literally I¡¯ll be losing 100 satiety an hour¡­ But that¡¯s not the end of my pings:
Due to extreme stress forcing brain into abnormal state of fear your body becomes affected by it
STATUS: Fear
50% penalty to attack speed and damage. Beasts and other monsters willing to target the weak have 50% more agro towards you.
Through constant internal screaming, waterfalls of tears and the feeling of pure unadultered fear gripping both soul and heart, you have learned a new Personal Aura: Fear-Driven
Personal Aura Skill: Fear-Driven[Lvl 3]
Fear is the key to giving oneself a burst of energy and adrenaline to keep them alive in the direst of situations. This skill is a personal aura, never being able to affect anyone but yourself.
Gives a 6% speed increase, 3% increase to AGI and increase reaction time by 0.03 seconds
Cost: none, Duration: Sustained, Prerequisite: Single state of mind and Fear Status
¡­ .. . YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!! SERIOUSLY CINDY, SERIOUSLY! YOU WERE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE(I¡¯M ACTUALLY GLAD SHE¡¯S NOT SOME PSYCHOPATHIC PERSON BUT STILL JESUS I DID NOT LIKE IT AT ALL!). APPARENTLY AURAS CAN BE PERSONAL, I HAD NO IDEA. BUT NOW I HAVE BECAUSE SOMEONE FORCED ME TO RUN SCREAMING FROM A HORDE OF WOLVES FROM ONE END OF THE VILLAGE TO THE OTHER ON THE VERGE OF DEATH! ALSO I HAVE THIS PREREQUISITE, SO I NEED TO BE LITERALLY PEEING MYSELF IF I WANT TO HAVE THE BONUS OF BEING ABLE TO RUN AWAY FASTER. WELL GREAT! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED (IF YOU HAVEN¡¯T FIGURED OUT MY GINORMOUS AMOUNT OF SARCASM, PLEASE DO!)! I¡¯M LITERALLY TERRIFIED THAT SHE DID THIS TO ME, TO GET A SKILL!!! I WONDER IF THERE¡¯S ONE CALLED TERROR DRIVEN¡­NEVERMIND THERE PROBABLY IS. ¡°CINDY¡± I shout in her face, almost causing her to drop me, but she expected it somewhat. ¡°Sorry about that, but I wanted you to get a very important and lifesaving skill¡± ¡°Is there such one as terror driven?¡± I ask, slightly calmer, noticing that I may have gotten a bit of attention from a few or more passerbyers¡­OH YEAH, I¡¯M IN MY BOXERS!!! ¡°You didn¡¯t get it?¡± ¡­ .. . WAIT YOU ACTUALLY WANTED ME TO GET IT??? WHAAAAAT? ¡°Oh¡­no just fear-driven¡± I calmly say it, even though my internal mind is screaming at the point of bursting, because I¡¯m well and truly terrified on the being called Cindy who¡¯s carrying me. If this is what she does to give me a ¡®life-saving¡¯ skill¡­just what else is she going to have me do for sake of saving me? Will she be throwing me into Lava to help lava resistance (actually I don¡¯t doubt she¡¯ll do that for a second. How I know, just an EXTREMELY STRONG BLOODY FEELING WHICH MAY HAVE TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT SHE WATCHED ME ALMOST DIE TO A HORDE OF WOLVES WITH A SMILE ON HER FACE). Phoo¡­calm down, relax¡­I got a skill, which in hindsight is pretty useful. So I guess she¡¯s at least teaching me things. I don¡¯t exactly enjoy the way I¡¯m being taught, but it¡¯s something¡­I guess. We make it inside and she gently places me on my usual fur bed, cooing and stroking my hair for a bit while I just lie there seething on the inside. After a short while, she cooks dinner and I go to the dinner table, silently eating. ¡°Oh please, don¡¯t be angry with me Kal, it¡¯s useful for you¡± She looks at me with puppy eyes. I¡¯m not affected for I suspect the bloodthirst behind. ¡°I¡¯m angry because it was terrifying, even if it did help¡± ¡°Well that was the point, though terror-driven is much better¡± She looks wistfully to the sky, probably wondering what she could of done better (or worse, depends how you look at it). ¡­ .. . ¡°I forgive you...¡± I finally sigh out, because I can¡¯t really stay mad at someone who¡¯s trying to help me (in her own twisted way may I try forget). ¡°On the condition that you tell me how you were controlling those wolves¡±. ¡°Oho, so you noticed¡± She smiles, and I swear I briefly see a glint of darkness in her eyes (how darkness glints, don¡¯t ask I¡¯m not an expert at colours). ¡°Oh so you did control them? Through everything?¡± ¡°Only in the last run, the rest of the time I simply made sure you were not affected by my aura¡± I should ask how, but it¡¯s probably got something to do with the fact that she¡¯s super good at aura manipulation, hence the 25 metre range¡­ ¡°So how did you control them?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t control them, I influenced them¡± I raise my thin eyebrow, gesturing for more. ¡°I used my Aura of Desire, causing them to desire you¡± She shrugged her shoulders simply ¡­ .. . Aura of Desire¡­*SHIVER* Right I am NEVER learning that, EVER. It¡¯s bad enough with this Radiating Char- ¡­ .. . Oh¡­Does that count as an Aura of desire? Closing my eyes, I think of myself as I remember from my reflection; I remember my still puffy eyes, petite body with a nice hip to waist ratio. The perfect, shoulder length hair along with the soft, round face, ambiguous to either gender. She¡¯s actually quite cute, I¡¯m quite cute. I imagine, as hard as it is, that I want to hug myself, cuddle myself, make sure I¡¯m kept warm and happy. I want it, I desire it. *ping*
You have failed to create an Aura of Desire due to Radiating Charm
Radiating Charm permanently overpowers Aura of Desire
¡­ .. . Guess I¡¯m spot on (for once)¡­my Radiating Charm is technically an Aura¡­ Wait, so does that mean that it was actually simpler for me to become an Aura Manipulator? No¡­I guess not since Radiating Charm doesn¡¯t require anything but activation¡­or does it? Huffing I wonder deeply as to what I need to sustain radiating charm. *Drip* Breaking my concentration, I look at Cindy, who¡¯s watching me with a slight bit of drool sliding from her bottom lip. ¡°Uh Cindy¡± I snap my fingers to de-entrance her. ¡°Huh?¡± She snaps out of it ¡°Sorry, you just looked so cute right then. So I accidentally activated Radiating Charm (of course) but it was sustained through¡­ ¡­ .. . Omg, my actions! Thinking about it, I look at my huffing, thoughtful expression on my axe¡¯s reflection and sure enough I look pretty damn cute, extremely so. SO all I need to do to sustain it is¡­well be me, or just be¡­That¡¯s a terrifyingly low prerequisite to sustainment¡­makes it super easy to sustain I guess? Anyways, now that that¡¯s sort of off my mind, I finish the rest of my soup (mmm delicious) and head off to bed, telling Cindy we¡¯ll continue tomorrow. ¡°Nope¡± She drags me out of my bed, rather mercilessly. ¡°We are going to continue through the night¡± Right¡­there goes my plan to pay off Thalia¡¯s debt¡­phew I guess? But I¡¯ve traded one demon for another¡­not quite sure what to think of that¡­ For a village in the snow, this sure seems to be quite like the pits of fiery hell to me. Holding back tears, I ready myself for whatever she¡¯s going to throw at me next. All About Auras ¡°Ok sit down, because first I need to explain you a few things about auras¡± Wait a second didn¡¯t you tell me that I know everything I should? ¡°Erm¡­ok?¡± ¡°Yeah, I did tell you earlier that you knew what you needed¡± Exactly! ¡°Yea I lied?¡± I thought so but why? ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Oh well it would simply distract you in your task of making an aura¡± Fair enough. I guess I understand her reasoning but why is she telling me now? ¡°So why tell me now?¡± ¡°Because you gained a personal aura did you not?¡± Oh, wait, but what¡¯s a personal aura and it¡¯s different to a normal aura? So I guess she¡¯ll tell me something about different types of auras. Wait there are different types of auras? ¡°Yea¡± My mind is kind of confused, I thought making an aura was difficult, but if there are different types of auras, with the same feeling/emotion I can create multiple different auras with different effects??? ¡°So you must have some questions as to whether there are different types of auras¡± That slightly mindboggling concept forces me to just nod. ¡°Ok so there a few auras you should know of, and try to get at least two of both, simply because they¡¯re all pretty useful and diverse¡± Uhuh¡­totally. Cindy continues her lecture, now turning more educated with every word. ¡°There are a few rules as to using auras in conjunction, which I¡¯ll explain later. Firstly I¡¯ll tell and explain what types of auras you can have. The first two types, you already know; normal ones such as your aura of calm, take up a certain radius centering from you and have a certain effect on all within the area of effect. Personal auras will only affect you and require you to be in the auratic state of mind as well as within a certain state. Now the th-¡± ¡°Excuse me but what¡¯s the auratic state?¡± I quickly interrupt, being just as confused as you may be about what the hell that means. ¡°Oh, the auratic state is your singular state of mind which has only a single feeling or emotion present. Essentially your mind will be in a state of what some call ¡®tunnel vision¡¯, something similar to that¡± Ok, guess I get that somewhat¡­ ¡°So the third type of aura you need to know of is a bound aura. Bound auras are the solely magical type since it requires magic to bind your current aura to an object or living being. This ensures that as long as the magic embedded into the object hasn¡¯t run out, the aura will remain active on that object¡± ¡°So if I put an aura of calm on a stick then it¡¯d produce an aura of calm?¡± ¡°Exactly¡± Woo I got something right (this really feels like an English class right now, but I¡¯m enjoying it quite a bit!). ¡°However now you may be confused as to why bound auras are separate to just normal or personal auras. Well the difference is that bound auras do not require the bound object to require controlled state of mind, which would almost always happen when binding an aura with a living being¡± ¡°Erm, I¡¯m confused¡± I really am, this whole binding auras is different to just binding them is slightly confusing (just slightly). ¡°Hmm. Ok, how about this: if I were to use a normal aura on a stick, I¡¯d have to maintain concentration to keep the aura going. However if I were to use a bound aura on a stick, I¡¯d be free to do what I like. Another example would be if I were to give the aura of calm to an ally, it¡¯s mentally impossible due to both you and them being required to stay in the same state of mind. However if you were to use a bound aura, you would be free to do what you want as well as them being free of any worry¡± ¡°Ok I think I¡¯m getting it. But then again I don¡¯t really see much difference between them and normal auras¡± ¡°Well firstly, their effects are slightly less due to it not being the pure state that it is when being controlled by you, secondly bound auras can also be personal ones given to others and thirdly they are a lot trickier to create¡± ¡°Hmm¡­too much work, plus it¡¯s only made by magic right?¡± ¡°Yes¡± She looks confused. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m definitely going to have to pass on making some bound auras, even if I believe I can make them through all other auras correct?¡± ¡°You can in theory; however in practice it¡¯s a lot more difficult. Though you don¡¯t seem to want to learn how to make bound auras so¡­I¡¯m just going to have to throw away hours of work I planned for us to do¡­¡± She sounds quite sad. Gee, what was she planning for me to do? ¡°What were we going to do if I wanted to create bound auras?¡± I ask curiously, because I¡¯d rather know what hell I missed and be grateful. ¡°It would¡¯ve been a few days of sitting down, theorizing and practicing creating your personal rune which would be use to create bound auras. I would¡¯ve taught you to become an Auramancer; a master of creating and manipulating auras¡± ¡°Sounds pretty fancy¡± Phew, thank god I don¡¯t have to spend days pondering over auras, that in itself sounds like hellish boredom. ¡°So are you an Auramancer?¡± I mean that¡¯s logical right? ¡°No, like you, I did not want to be a supportive person in the battle, instead I wanted to use my auras on the front lines¡± Understandable¡­especially the part about being a support. I mean from the sound of it Auramancers are simply raid support characters; which to be fair would be pretty useful in huge guild battles and whatnot. ¡°So what are you?¡± That¡¯s the real question here¡­because if you¡¯re not the usual support Auramancer, what else could you be with support auras (minusing the instakilling aura of terror¡­ok, nevermind I see how that¡¯s not exactly support)? ¡°Berzerker¡± ¡­ .. . Excuse me what? How did we get from support magey class to full on DPS death and destruction wild murdering Berzerker?? ¡°What?¡± I am so confused right now. ¡°Tell me, using the knowledge you¡¯ve gained from the few aura¡¯s you¡¯ve learnt of, what do they do?¡± She asks me, looking into my eyes as if trying to dig into my mind and pull out the information for me. Hrmm¡­what do all my auras do. First: They debuff the enemy somewhat. Second: They give me a bonus to agro (that might just be in the case of the ones I¡¯ve got). Third: They provide me slight buffs in consequence to an external debuff¡­ Hmm, don¡¯t quite see the connection still. ¡°So, firstly, they debuff enemies and buff me when I receive a status debuff?¡± ¡°From what you have, you are correct. However they do so much more¡± Alright, ready for the breakdown of how awesome being a berzerker can be (man I love ¡®zerkers so much normally, but not sure about this approach). ¡°Auras will debuff enemies giving you a certain advantage in battle against them. Also auras will give you a slight buff to try outweigh the status debuffs you receive. This you said yourself. However one important rule about auras which you never let me tell you, is the fact that with practice, you may have more than one aura active, which in effect will drastically increase your abilities. Now normal Auramancers will inevitably be better at this since all they need to do is concentrate on sustaining their auras, however being in the thick of it will make you a lot stronger in a different way: Personal auras. Normally an Auramancer won¡¯t get many status debuffs, however as a berzerker you will get a lot of them, actually I would personally recommend you make sure you get debuffed, because it¡¯ll increase their level a ton. Personal auras at a higher level will not only increase your abilities by a large amount, but with lots of practice, you can maintain that aura even when the status is gone¡­do you get what I mean¡± ¡­ .. . Holy Mother of God! So if I got fear-driven I¡¯d get another 6% speed increase, as well as AGI and reaction time bonuses. That in itself is good, but with the fear status it¡¯s not useful at all. However if the fear status were to go yet I kept those bonuses, that¡¯s a free buff, which I can sustain indefinitely as long as I concentrate. That means even without sprint, I¡¯d have a constant 106% movement speed as my base, that¡¯s pretty awesome. So if I did train enough and somehow got terror-driven along the way and was able to maintain both driven auras then who knows how much increase in speed I¡¯d have. Hell saying 300% movement speed doesn¡¯t sound too impossible¡­Damn I¡¯d be not invincible but pretty damn close to it(Flash ahhhhhhh¡­.. I¡¯m the master of the universe).This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. By my probably quite obvious face of realization and shock, she continues on. ¡°As berzerkers our normal auras will usually tend towards debuffing rather than buffing, which normal auras can do by the way. And our personal auras will be immensely strong. However you won¡¯t be able to use bound auras all that well if at all, but it seems you don¡¯t want to use them anyway so perfect!¡± She claps her hands in delight. ¡°So get me wrong here, but you¡¯re telling me I can become a berzerker, who can debuff enemies and buff themselves as a bonus? Since when can berzerkers do that?¡± ¡°Ok well the actual name for the class is Berzauraker¡± Berzauraker? (hmm I guess it¡¯s: Ber-zora-ker¡­imagine speaking in an Irish/Scottish accent¡­) ¡°but it¡¯s such a pain to pronounce and it kind of gives away our abilities to our enemies¡­so just berzerker is fine¡± Huh¡­guess that makes some sense because using auras is quite different to a normal berzerker¡­ ¡°Wait a second, don¡¯t berzerkers usually go on a massive frothing rampage and just go blank when they rage?¡± I mean that is what they do (I played waaaaay too many ¡®zerkers in my younger years). ¡°They do, and that is another difference between us and them¡± Right apparently I¡¯m already one, once again no decision allowed by me (but to be honest I¡¯ll probably still say yes because it sounds perfect!). ¡°They fly into a mindless rage, whereas we still fly into a rage but maintain a focused inner state, which as you can imagine is extremely hard with quite a number of auras, therefore it is more usual for Berzaurakers to use auras that ¡®feed¡¯ off of their raging emotions, so aura of terror/fear/power is perfect in that sense¡± ¡°Ok, I think I understand that actually; so something like trying to do an aura of calm will be extremely difficult, but to create something like an aura of power in my case would be a lot simpler since the feeling is similar in some ways to rage and anger and hate as you kind of explained a while back¡± ¡°Exactly¡± Woo full marks ( I hope!). ¡°So, would you like to become a Berzauraker now that you know what it is?¡± ¡°I mean you had me at the name but knowing what it is just solidified it to the core of my very being. LET ME BECOME A BEZAURAKER AND RAGE IN THE FRONT LINES OF BATTLE ALONGSIDE MY BROTHERS!¡± With a mixed smile of happiness and regret, she flicks my head.
Your unnerving will to remain on the battlefield no matter what has finally relented Cindy¡¯s desire to keep you safe by turning you into a mass support. So conceding, she is willing you to let you walk the path of the Berzauraker.
Hidden Special Class: Berzauraker: Bloodbath¡¯s ensue in the wake of these beings, for blood is what they wade in and blood is what they spill. They are the enhanced versions of their normal Berzerker brethren; their capabilities expanding beyond the natural and even the unnatural due to their talent in aura creation and manipulation.
As a Berzauraker you will learn the many physical skills that a normal berzerker attains as well as aura skills, with no limit in sight but their own. You are granted immunity to mind-based magic
¡­ .. . Wow, I don¡¯t see any penalties to this! All I see is a berzerker plus bonuses! ¡°What are the penalties to becoming a Berzauraker?¡± I do finally ask as I read the window over and over again ¡°Well first and foremost, the biggest penalty is maintaining control, which is a seriously hard thing, even for someone like me. The second is that when meeting another aura, if yours is weaker it will be dissipated. Both cases will make you weaker than a normal berzerker, which isn¡¯t all that great¡± ¡°So there will be more people with auras?¡± Seems like I won¡¯t be the only Berzauraker in the world (that might be why it¡¯s only a hidden special class). ¡°People, not likely. Monsters, when you become stronger, it is quite likely. But Gods and Demons, they will have auras and you will be nothing compared to them¡± ¡°¡­I won¡¯t be able to fight demons and gods as a Berzauraker?¡± ¡°Sadly no. At most you would be able to cancel out their aura¡¯s making it possible for others to fight them on more equal grounds¡± She looks at me as I look down, quite sad because I would like to fight a demon or god one day¡­ ¡°Will that make much of a difference?¡± I guess it could? ¡°Surely you saw what my aura of terror did to you, now imagine a god using it¡± ¡­Huh ok, I guess cancelling out something like that is actually extremely good, like save a whole raid party kind of good. ¡°However since a large amount of auras that you¡¯ll use will be personal ones, they¡¯ll naturally be stronger than normal ones and thus leave you unaffected most of the time, unless as I said, you meet someone of venerable strength; like a god¡± ¡­So there are downsides, which will affect my late-game if I don¡¯t train enough, as well as my early-game I can rightfully assume¡­but just the idea of being able to give myself possibly unlimited buffs which can¡¯t just be¡­wait a second. ¡°If I¡¯m buffing myself with an aura, how does someone get rid of that buff?¡± ¡°By either breaking your focus or by making contact with their stronger aura¡± ¡°So no wipe buff spells?¡± ¡°Nope and any magically set debuffs can be used to create your personal auras¡± Wow, that¡¯s actually an insanely good bonus. Now if a certain mage I know debuffed me with cold and I somehow had an aura which gave me cold resistance due to that debuff, I can give myself the buff even before going into battle against something with cold attacks. So debuffs are my new buffs, sweet! Also what I was going to say was that I can keep an unlimited amount of buffs as long as I maintain focus, which could in fact get to an insane amount of bonuses, outpacing normal buffing by a mile. I mean I don¡¯t know how normal buffing works, but if it works like in the usual mmorpg, then you¡¯d only be able to have one buff per type (so one AGI buff, one STR buff etc etc). ¡°Oh that¡¯s a good question! Can I stack my buffs? So like have fear-driven and terror-driven?¡± ¡°Yes, which is a lot better than normal buffing don¡¯t you agree?¡± She gives a knowing smile, as if actually knowing what¡¯s going through my head. I AM READY, READY TO BECOME NOT A WARRIOR, NOT A WIZARD, NOT AN AURAMANCER, BUT A BERZAURAKER, A MAD RAVING BERZERKER WITH THE ABILITY TO WADE THROUGH THE ENEMIES WITHOUT EVEN TOUCHING THEM, TO CRUSH ALL THOSE THAT WOULD ATTACK HIM WITH THE LOOK OF HIS EYE OR TO CALM ALL WITH THE GENTLE WAVE OF HIS HAND. THIS IS I, THE BERZAURAKER, ONE OF A FEW WHO WILL CHALLENGE EVEN THE MIGHTIEST WITH NOTHING BUT HIS MIND AND HIS AXE FOR THAT IS WHO. I AM!!! Without more hesitation, I click accept feeling glorious, glorious victory as I become a Berzauraker!!!!!!(Literally cannot have enough exclamation marks to announce how amazing this feels!!!!!)
Congratulations, you just received you first class: Berzauraker! This class is found on the Berzerker/Auramancer special class skill trees which are both derivatives from the Warrior skill tree and the Magic hidden Aura skill tree. So you may now acquire some basic skills from the Berzerker/Auramancer trees. You also have access to this class¡¯ unique skills
Warning, resetting your class will send you back to level 10, remove all your class skills and remove all of your status points allocated after level 10. Non-class skills that aren¡¯t related to the class tree will be kept at half their current levels. Non-class skills that are related to class trees will be locked at half their current levels until you acquire said class tree again
For acquiring the Berzauraker Class, you have earned the Class Unique Skill: Berzaurakers Rage
Unique Special Skill: Berzaurakers Rage [Lvl 1] 0%
Like a normal Berzerker you can at will fly into a rage which will increase your physical attributes for a short while before leaving you with the exhaustion debuff status. Also, status debuff effects will be ignored till end of rage. However the bonuses will be significantly lower than a normal Berzerkers rage while not blanking the mind of the Berzauraker. Unable to use when exhausted or fatigued
Increases STR, AGI, TGH and VIT by 0.5%
Cost: 100 rage, Duration: 1 minute
For acquiring the Berzauraker Class, you have earned the Class Skill: Power Strike
Special Skill: Power Strike [Lvl 1] 0%
With the force of one consumed with rage, you strike at an enemy with all your might.
Increases damage by 100% Causes stun debuff for 1 second
Cost: 50 rage, Cooldown: 5 seconds
For acquiring the Berzauraker Class, you have earned the Class Skill: Power Throw
Special Skill: Power Throw [Lvl 1] 0%
With all your might you throw your weapon with such strength and speed it is hard to dodge.
Deals 50% weapon damage Causes disarmed debuff
Range: STR metres Cost: 50 rage, Cooldown: 5 seconds
For acquiring the Berzauraker Class, you have earned the Class Skill: Charge
Skill: Charge [Lvl 1] 0%
No enemy can stand up to your might when you charge forward, crushing foe underfoot and underweapon.
Allows user to charge 10 metres forward, dealing 50% weapon damage and 10% chance to knock over enemies.
Cost: 20 rage, Cooldown: 20 seconds
For acquiring the Berzauraker Class, you have earned the Class Skill: Endurance
Skill: Endurance [Lvl 1] 0%
Debuff statuses are nothing to you, for they will not stop you no matter what.
debuff statuses will last 10% less time buff statuses will last 5% less time(not including sustained buffs)
Cost: none Duration: permanent
For acquiring the Berzauraker Class, you have earned the Unique Class Skill: Absorbing body
Unique Special Skill: Absorbing body [Lvl 1] 0%
Your body has been affected by your use of Aura manipulation, making it more receptable to all statuses
10% more chance to gain statuses
Cost: none, Duration: permanent
For acquiring the Berzauraker Class, you have earned the Class Skill: Mental Immunity
Special Skill: Mental Immunity [Lvl Max]
Your mind is an impenetrable wall, making all sort of mental attacks worthless against you
Immunity to mind-affecting attacks and statuses
Cost: none Duration: permanent
... .. . Apart from being more likely to gain status debuffs and having mental immunity, there¡¯s not that much difference compared to a berzerker...EXCEPT SO MANY SPECIAL SKILLS(I¡¯m guessing they come with the berzerker special class so fair enough I guess that does garner them as special skills). APART FROM THE FACT THAT I HAVE AURAS...which didn¡¯t come up at all in my class skills... ¡°Erm...¡± I¡¯m kind of lost as what to say. ¡°You¡¯re wondering why you received only Berzerker related skills, plus a few other skills? Well that¡¯s because the most important skills, I have to teach you and unlock the prerequisites...Can¡¯t just give them to you. Plus quite a few are unique!¡± ¡°Oh...ok, so what other class skills can I get?¡± ¡°Honestly, quite a few, but I¡¯ll only teach you four at the moment¡± Level restrictions I guess. ¡°Ooh what are they?!¡± Though I¡¯m excited to get some more unique skills! ¡°Ahem¡± She coughs her throat, me at the edge of my seat, ignoring the quite awesome skills I¡¯ve gotten in fantasy at whatever these new skills may be. ¡°The ones I believe you can grasp are Split mind, Second wind, Auratic Sight and Auratic Protection.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I swear only half of those sounds like a unique skill, the rest seem like skills berzerkers/warriors or magic users will have. Cindy notices my confusion and begins to explain ¡°Split mind is a skill usable by any magic user to split their mind on different tasks, however when you max its rank it will be a unique skill. Second wind is as you think something to recover both health and to dispel certain physical debuffs such as exhaustion. However once again max ranking this a few times will end up with a unique skill; only possible for Berzerkers and Berzaurakers. Auratic Sight is only available to this class and Auramancers, allowing you to see auras, quite similar to mana sight as some magic classes will have. Finally Auratic Protection is available to Auramancers as well, but the skill itself is only usable with personal auras. Auratic protection will use your auras like armor to magical attacks at first and much much later to physical attacks as well. So my young Berzauraker, Shall we begin the hell you chose willingly¡± I swear there was fire in her eyes when she said that. Scary! Though, logically thinking, if I want to fight and to sustain an aura...I need to focus on two things... and even that sounds like a tough challenge. I certainly did push myself into hell (to be honest, probably would be hellish as an Auramancer too, BUT I AM A TRUE NORD LIKE THIS, A TRUE WARRIOR OF THE BATTLEFIELD!!! Mind over Matter ¡°Foot in the door technique was invented by...whoever agh-¡± -32 (138/170) ¡°-the theory behind the technique-¡± -86 (214/320) ¡°-is to offer a small request to which-¡± -48 (166/320) ¡°-The other will agree to and-¡± -36 (102/170) -66 -14 -14 (72/320) *Awoo* ¡°-will then be more compliant when-¡± -40 (62/170) -82 (-10/320) ¡°-Being given a larger request¡± Phew jesus that¡¯s still pretty damned difficult, thought at least I didn¡¯t say any skill names this time. But not as difficult as running away from the pack that¡¯s coming to kill me! (Just kidding, out running them is getting quite easy nowadays). DIVE. Phew, that¡¯s only the twelfth dive of the day, which is hell of a lot! My god this mind splitting business sucks! Oh, right, I guess you¡¯re completely and utterly confused as to what¡¯s going on ... .. . Right, let¡¯s get a couple of things sorted. Firstly, it¡¯s Sunday morning now (last time we sort of fourth wall communicated it was midday Sunday...so it¡¯s almost been a week), in RL. Why such a large time skip? Well I¡¯ll get to that in a bit. As you may recall, I was going to be taught a bunch of cool new and mostly unique skills. And deemed most important by the hellish fiend, I meant lovely person (She¡¯s pure evil, truly) called Cindy, I began training for split mind. Now, what kind of training would I have to do for that do you ask? Well simply put, lots of things, all at once. That explains it pretty well actually...wow. Anyways, so she started me off with splitting my mind in two. Wait, I¡¯ve misdirected you somewhat...I¡¯m still on splitting my mind in two. So basically, she told me that I need to fight while my mind is completely somewhere else... Sounds retarded? Well it for sure feels retarded (seriously such a bizarre feeling). My first day at this, mid Sunday RL, I spent it all of it failing apparently. We had started with me fighting bunnies while trying to recite the times tables. Apparently, I was still focusing on how to kill the bunnies according to Cindy. I didn¡¯t believe her so then she timed me how fast I could say the times tables from heart when only focusing on that... 8 minutes 42 seconds to do up to 10x10. Pretty damn good if I say so myself... Then, she had me fight and do it again as if my life depended on it. 14 minutes and 8 seconds was what I got after killing bunny after bunny without stop (Cindy helped draw bunnies in annoyingly in a constant swarm of one or two at a time). Thanks to that...I believe her now (aaaand suddenly I sucked at everything...well actually I already sucked). That took up pretty much the entire day and in the night, hell got worse. Hell got worse than maths and fighting? Are you sure Zach? Yes, I¡¯m completely sure. She made me cook, but not normally, no... She made me cook not one dish but two and not simple ones either. Never have I ever felt like I¡¯m going to burn not only the house down, but myself, and the entire village in the process. How you say? Well imagine it takes 2 minutes to cook both things, however you need to measure out the exact amount of oils and whatnot for both as well as pour them within seconds. Repeat this 40ish times and I¡¯m done. I had calculated the amount of free time I was being given when I could stop for a breath...exactly one second¡­.in total. Anymore and I wouldn¡¯t have time to measure both things out correctly and pour them in within time (Not that I did anyways, but let¡¯s forget that for now). That was round two of the split mind training...brutal and requiring me to be ambidextrous as well as being able to think two things at once. It didn¡¯t go well, no siree. Though my cooking went up a level at least...so I guess a partial win. Luckily, I got the next day off allowing me to sleep a whole eight hours, recovering enough to take on Monday. School? Yeah, called in sick. Martha didn¡¯t approve but Mickey, seeing the stress on my face helped collude and got Martha to finally approve (he himself went to school mind you). Round 3 was thankfully, not happening yet. I went back to arithmetic and bunnies, thankfully slightly easier than double cooking, slightly. Though after a day of that, double cooking came back with completely new recipes (aaaaaaaaaaah). Now you may be wondering what these recipes are? Well it was just quick frying, which had a retarded amount of instructions with nitpicky little instructions like half a clove of garlic before two tenths of crushed antler and a dab of oil 3 seconds later. Literally impossible! It¡¯s just not going to happen! Seriously, too many things and I have to prep while cooking, oh now, there isn¡¯t half a clover there; there aren¡¯t any crushed antlers there. I need to do that myself. Hell I went so mad on the second session trying to keep up that I actually levelled up Speedy to level 7, I levelled it up! Now that wasn¡¯t the only thing that happened, I got this:
After continually using your hands for multiple tasks at extremely rapid paces, you have derived from the skill Speedy the sub-skill: Fast hands
Sub-Skill: Fast Hands Levels up with Speedy
When performing actions(non-combat) hands will move 35% faster
Passive
Insane! Though it really helped me a tiny little bit with just chucking everything into the pan measured completely wrong. I had no time to measure and cook, so while tears flavoured my burnt meal, I had tried my best. The second day had finished much like the first; complete and utter failure. Though according to Cindy, I was doing just fine, so she ramped it up on day three. Ramped it up you say, how? Simple; I cooked through the whole night firstly (simply because there wasn¡¯t much else to do). Then when morning came, she moved me onto stags. I had to use my Power Throw skill while not breaking a monologue I had to learn for my next English lesson... Results were disastrous. Either I blurted out Power Throw in the middle of my speech or I simply ended up chucking my axe without the skill. Both didn¡¯t accomplish anything. This lasted for the whole day, even through the whole night, thanks to Cindy¡¯s aura of calm. But oh no, she wasn¡¯t finished there. Once I had successfully (somehow) thrown my axe three times in a row within my entire English speech, all unbroken by words like Power Throw, she turned off her Aura of calm... Yeah, she just did that...just got rid of it and literally left me to the wolves. Guess what I had to do? Turn on my own aura of calm. But it didn¡¯t stop there, no she started throwing rabbits at me once I¡¯d created my aura of calm. I had to maintain my aura of calm, while fighting rabbits, while making sure the wolf that I somehow calmed does not attack me. Even with 61 armour: which nulls over 90% of the rabbits¡¯ attack...I almost died. Seriously, how was I supposed to keep a calm mind and fight at the same time? It didn¡¯t happen very well, that¡¯s what. Now, I said that I almost died, but what I actually mean was that I was on the brink of death for the entire night and three quarters of the next day, due to eating poor quality frost grass and continuing to fight rabbits that came in a non-stop stream. Within that luckily my aura of calm levelled up, helping ever so slightly. Although Cindy did tell me she was on purpose keeping her aura of calm up just outside my own, allowing me to keep one rabbit calm while fighting the other and not worry about the rest. But she told me this after I¡¯d spent a night and day doing this, literally. Ooh I almost broke my aura of calm then, almost. The night of day four, double cooking was back, but with more shenanigans and random crap. Looking back at it, all she did was split up the required amount into smaller amounts each time, giving me an exponential amount of tasks to do in a very limited time. It was made to be impossible. Though I had tried my best, literally drowning my frying elk in tears as I tried to cut quarter clove and one twentieth of an antler while crushing both and pouring them and half a dab of oil in one pan while two dabs of oil in the other pan, all within five seconds. She even put the required amount of time I should need at most to do each task. Some of them were half a second even...very generous of her (Never felt like burning down someone¡¯s house so strongly before this). So Tuesday came to be RL but there was no break for me, only a small breakfast break (with so much peanut butter and chocolate toast) before back to hell. Round 5 began with using all of my skills but Berzaurakers rage in combat while completing some biology homework. Luckily there¡¯s a little notepad system, so while I typed my biology report, I had to fight endless rabbits and speak the skills. Fighting and typing were bad enough, but making sure that when I¡¯m fighting I¡¯m able to concentrate on using skills, that just turned out to let madness explode from my trials. My report ended up being half gibberish with power strike, charge and hack placed in random areas here and there along with directions that I had told myself to dodge. It took me three reports to successfully write a comprehensive one, and kill rabbits using all three skills without much failure. Then cooking began again (I never ever want to cook again in the entirety of my being. It¡¯s literally making me cry remembering this). Once again cooking from hell began and for once I was able to successfully do 4 instructions in a row before falling behind and burning the meal. This time was slightly different from the last ones as well: instead of increasing the quantity of instructions through prep work, random things like scream your name or juggle and catch your axe or even clap were added in. Completely retarded yes, but oh my god...did it make it so much harder. No longer did I just have to cook and prep, I also had to do random and retarded things which took up time with one, both or no hands while still continuing to cook. On that time, I ended up axing myself in the face ( that HURT) burning myself multiple more times than usual, tripping, cutting myself with the knife more, getting crushed antler in my eye (like spice in your eye, but rougher texture and not nice at all!).The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. I died...I actually died cooking that time. I lost a level...I hope you all understand and realise that I died and lost a level...from cooking ... .. . I still haven¡¯t regained that level yet! Did Cindy pity me for dying? No, she literally moved my bed to under my feet in the kitchen, so that if I were to die again I¡¯d respawn straight into battle! Thankfully, I only died another time within that night. I was supposed to be gaining levels not losing them!! Day 6 was slightly better...not. It was midway through Tuesday now and I had had some physics work to hand in within a few hours, so guess what I was doing while using my battle skills against an elk? That¡¯s right, I was doing physics! Which is extremely hard when completely focusing on it normally!!! But Cindy was not satiated, no she wanted more, she felt that it was too easy, too simple. So while I had to do physics, guess what she had me do. C¡¯mon, have a gander as to what conniving, pure evil thing she could do to totally screw my life over ... .. . She had me recite the 10x10 table...while doing physics, and fighting. Fighting is now instinctual she said, don¡¯t need to think for that she said. Also 10x10 is instinctual, don¡¯t need to be thinking much for that she said. Physics, no idea she said, but I should be able to do it. Instead, I ended up shouting the words of skills while thinking physics and writing parts of the 10x10 table... Literally never been so confused in my life that when I looked at the physics paper, I thought it was completely correct at the time... I sent that paper off...I had sent it off to get graded...I know video games are said to affect your academic life, I never thought of it happening in this way (WELL AT LEAST I KILLED THAT DAMNED ELK). Night 6 was well, getting a little too insane for my own good (well I think I¡¯d literally gone what people call ¡®bat shit crazy¡¯ by that time. But oh no I definitely got worse). By this time, I¡¯d completely forgotten my goal, all I could think about was surviving; that one sole focus which overruled everything else. Double cooking, oh how I missed calling it that, became quadruple cooking ... .. . Yeah...just when you think doing all the prep and cooking while doing random things for two simultaneous meals was insane...this happens. Now, just so you know, almost none of my food went to waste. How you ask? Well it¡¯s because I ate it all. I ended up eating a small strip of fried elk every 20 minutes, eating around 72-80 of them a day. Hell I ended up literally throwing freshly cooked meat into my mouth crying as I swallowed scalding meat simply because I had no time to let it cool and keep my satiety up to a liveable level. Now that quadruple cooking had become a thing, I ended up munching on quite a bit less (finally having to eat some of my bread) due to burning almost three quarters of my meals. I don¡¯t even want to ask how much all the random condiments cost, but at least I know the elks are for free (Cindy and I hunted them thank god). That¡¯s the shimmering hope I¡¯ve been given; not having to repay for so much free food. However those thoughts were not even able to make it into my mind at that point, because I had quadruple cooking to do. It was simply...something worse than hell if there is such a thing. I had to prep for four completely differently sequenced instruction for the same recipe (finally figured that out) while still cooking them all and still doing random things like clap! You know you¡¯re doing it wrong when you clap your hand with a pan, recoiling from the pain and getting your unburnt arm burnt with hot oil before placing it back on the makeshift grill (yeah, she made it just for this) and jumping into the air with a knife cutting antler while crushing garlic in the other hand, then having to juggle my axe while pouring different amounts of oil and crushed garlic in all four while somehow still crushing antler with a mortar and pestle. Sounds impossible right? Yeah, it was. I only died three times somehow, only. And I successfully cooked 18 dishes...out of 160 ... .. . At least my cooking had gone up a level! (Really did not care in the slightest). Day 7, things just got worse. It was Wednesday morning...and I hadn¡¯t slept since Monday morning...that¡¯s 6 in game days. Was I shattered? No. I was completely and utterly obliterated. I was massacred from within, torn to psychological shreds and literally dead on all accounts except biologically. But did Cindy care? No, she cared literally zilch. I knew deep down she had a reason, deep deep deep down. But that thought never surfaced. As I mentioned before; the only thing that was on my mind, keeping me going was survival. Long ago I had forgotten I could stop, I had forgotten I could just say no more. My damned tunnel vision had royally screwed me over; I saw a task to do and I was doing it...to the bitter end. Day 7 was once again worse, somehow by some bizarre means it had gotten worse. Cindy made sure of that. I began fighting wolves...while doing math homework. Pretty horrible already, except she made me remember a list of instructions for tonight¡¯s quadruple cooking, the list in a small notepad (Thankfully I could just copy paste from the real sheet to the window). I don¡¯t think Gerard will ever look at me like I¡¯m a normal being again (though I suspect he thought I¡¯d gone insane by day one)...Mostly because I ended up screaming things like: Two pinches of POWER THROW, three third derivative x cubed to HACK plus CHARGE three drops of oil ... .. . Yeah, my math homework was...let¡¯s say quite unique. Even after the entire day of rewriting it, I still hadn¡¯t completed it...and I had to have it graded by a little past midday. Now you may be wondering a few things...like how am I sending it for grading and how I¡¯m still able to take sick leave or how I know about my homework. Well simply enough; Mickey¡¯s telling me all the homework while I send it to him for print off and hand in with my name. As long as I do the homework alright, the teachers will let me off and even my tutor, seeing that I¡¯ve done a good job will allow me to take the day off. So far it had seemed to be working (Oddly enough, it was actually working, I did find this out later, muuuch later). Back to my math homework... I got back to quadruple cooking with a slight twist (yeah, not even surprised this time). You know what the extra was? Not more random things, not more things to prep or cook...you probably actually guessed it right already: Math homework... I think somewhere someone should televise and repeatedly state that math homework with cooking is a concoction so vile it¡¯s the equivalent of being dunked into a bath of scalding water then ice then lava then the sun all the while feeling it and not dying. I died...I died fourteen times during that session ... .. . That put me about half way on level seven...half way. In the span of an in-game week, I had literally gone BACKWARDS with my levelling, to the point where I¡¯m actually extremely surprised I¡¯m not level one at the present moment (this Sunday not the Wednesday that I¡¯m recounting). Oh, I did get something out of this, well two things:
Congratulations! Through repeatedly using both hands for completely different actions en masse, you have learnt to somewhat control both hands separately
Talent: Ambidextrous [Lvl 1] Levels up through use and variety.
Ambidextrous people are renowned all across the world, simply for their ability to do two things at once or in the more common case, to be as good at one thing in one hand as the other. Though only a few manage true ambidexterity; doing two things at once as well in one hand as it would do in the other.
Offhand penalties decrease by 10%
That was awesome even though it made me cry because it came up in the middle of the cooking session forcing me to close it with a hand holding a pan, flipping oil into my eyes, blinding me and sending the window into my face instead, smacking me onto the edge of the table cracking my skull...and dying. Yeah, the ways in which I died were not limited. Though I learnt that apparently I can affect the windows and they can affect me, a strange bug indeed. Though my brain was not functioning at this point. I hadn¡¯t slept for two RL days straight, while intensively playing for 6 game days. I had gained the exhausted status and that really did not help.
Through physical exertion you have become Exhausted
STATUS: Exhausted
All physical actions slowed by half, all physical stats reduced by half
Through sleep deprivation you have become Fatigued
STATUS: Fatigued
Brain power cut by half, all mental stats reduced by half
Those windows had popped up, resulting in death¡¯s 8 and 9...which I wasn¡¯t too happy about. However for some reason they did not affect me as I thought they would or maybe I was simply way too exhausted and fatigued (apparently they¡¯re slightly different) to notice the change. Then day 8 began. Did Cindy notice those statuses on me? Probably... Did she help? Definitely not... What she did do though is tell me that I¡¯m almost done. Now understand, at this point, this thought of survival and finishing it because of tunnel vision/True Nordiness, this excites me and gives me hope beyond all belief. Hell, I swear that I wasn¡¯t even crying when I handed in somehow averagely completed math homework and set on doing the first of three Psychology essays due in soon. Apparently, day 8 was usual in becoming more hellish, by becoming more unusual. Cindy made it so by forcing me to swap hands fighting. That did a complete 180 screw me over to my brain. Did I die to the WOLF that she set me against immediately? No, I killed it. But did I survive the pack that came after it? No, I got absolutely mullered. But still I kept at it, fighting one wolf at a time making sure to crit and stun them then kill them before they could howl for buddies all the while writing one psychology essay while speaking out the other for a small device that I had found in my tools menu. Apparently there¡¯s a tools menu and it has a voice recording notepad...though I suspect Allie has something to do with it oddly enough...since she is some strangely advanced AI and I surely remember when she made the voice configurator for me. Yeah, so back to dual doing psyche essays ... .. . The worst thing about that, was because both are psyche, it was pretty much impossible to note whether what was written on either was wrong at a glance. It required me to actually look and concentrate at it, while keeping the deadly freaking wolf in the corner of my eye. Seriously, not a good situation. I actually died the first time doing this too! Death was becoming just normal for me, but Cindy didn¡¯t stop, she actually increased the number of enemies by throwing in half a dozen rabbits while I fought the wolf, forcing me not to care for them for a little bit before I realised they could actually kill me with ease! I had one way out of that...creating an aura of fear, but I was just too tired to try such a thing. Instead, I finally ran out of poor frost grass and died when trying to find my medium quality stuff. Thankfully I was allowed to grab some from the ground whenever I found them, but I had learnt from day two that Cindy would send things after me if I took more than a few seconds. Night 8...ohh where do I begin. Could it get worse? Oh definitely... Though in all honesty it was probably not the worst change yet ... .. . She made me switch the pans around while cooking them, keeping the same recipe instructions for the same pans as I switched them around. But not only that, I had to begin flipping my meat along with the oil and ingredients, which firstly took up time and secondly was super dangerous. Oh and I hadn¡¯t finished my Psyche essays either...not one of the two. I have still to this day zero idea how I didn¡¯t die more than six times that night. I just remembered pans flying everywhere along with scorching food while knives went chopping at an alarming pace, more often than not catching the tip of a finger as it tried to crush something else in a mortar and pestle, while typing letter by letter with darting tongue while speaking every time the tongue darts back in for the other essay. I tried using one of my feet, and ended up dying from lack of balance and on the second try, I fell so far behind because I couldn¡¯t zip here, there, freaking everywhere within a second. So both feet had stayed relatively on the ground as I had cooked that night. 10 successful meals...10. My satiety consumption was literally 100 pieces of bread a day (that¡¯s a piece every 14 minutes...and remember I had to eat WHILE doing everything else...to which Cindy bought without a problem, stuffing my inventory with almost a thousand pieces. I told her thank you a few moments before retelling this story, since at this point, I was having no thoughts in my mind. So day 9 began and like all others, there was no rest between cooking and fighting and I had begun fighting wolves again, continuing the two psyche essays, which still were completely wrong. Why were they wrong? Well because I didn¡¯t have enough knowledge on the two. So what did I do? What did Cindy tell me to do? She told me that if I don¡¯t know enough, read what I need while writing it down and do both at the same time (She doesn¡¯t see the windows or get them at all, plus she has no idea about psyche, but she understands that I¡¯m doing work of some kind, which to her pleasure makes things easier on her. BUT NOT ON ME. Tell me, have you ever tried to read from two books before? Now have you ever tried to then copy information from said books onto notepad, one through hand, other through speech, while fighting a wolf, making sure to kill it before it calls its pack as well as keeping an eye on my health and the rabbits that could assuredly kill me? No? Well you haven¡¯t experienced true hell then. That was the point when I could feel my already overheating and overclocked brain (remember third day RL without sleeping) going overthelimit. Though, I had somehow managed to struggle it back to just under the limit and continued to fight and successfully die three times in the span of one day. That had put me a quarter left of level 5...yes I was literally racing my way to level one it seemed... Night 9 was the limit; it was the point where everything broke down; The body started to fail, the mind started to collapse, all ended up breaking down like a rusted machine. Was that enough for Cindy to let me sleep? WAS IT ENOUGH? No, it was nowhere NEAR enough to let me sleep. So she did something, she actually told me, just one more night. You know how at the end of a race or something, somehow, miraculously out of thin air, that person can summon up some strange sort of power, some bizarre godly strength to get them through to the end Well that happened ... .. . I don¡¯t know what it is!?! All I knew was that I had one last night to cook and then I was done, it was over. By this point I had completely forgotten the point! All I wanted was to finish it, whatever it was. Though Cindy...is pure evil and I¡¯ll let you think why... So as per usual, the unusual addition came to fruition as I ended up continuing to read both psyche essays, correcting them as well as reading more information from the books (it was very, very slow going) as well as the usual kitchen shenanigans. Yeah...I¡¯m not even going to tell you my death count ... .. . Actually you know what, I will. I died 16 times...16 That was literally such an insane amount! How did it happen all in one night? Well there¡¯s the trick...it didn¡¯t... You¡¯ll figure it out in a moment ... .. . So Cindy told me that as a last condition, I had to cook 12 pieces of meat correctly, in a row. Now that meant doing all four correctly, three times over...Completely and utterly impossible...But I didn¡¯t think that for all I could manage to think of apart from all the other shenaniganical work was that if I did 12 correctly in a row I¡¯d be done...forever (I assumed, I do that sometimes when I¡¯m put through hell). Now you can assume correctly that no matter how hard I tried, no matter how well I performed, I simply could not do it. So inevitably, more and more meat was added, more and more tries were given and Cindy even had to massacre a bunch of elks, literally skinning them in front of me and handing me the raw chunks to cook on the spot. This continued in one long, unending cycle of which I was thinking of only cooking 12 successful pieces in a row. I had felt scared, terrified, mortified even of each piece of meat and that each failed piece meant all that work destroyed. Before I knew it, I had begun shaking; quivering due to the simple terror of having to do more work. Now Cindy did something, which she had been doing the minute I had walked into night 9 cooking; she stayed with me all night, only leaving in the cover of darkness to get more elks. But NEVER, never did I EVER assume that she actually left to get more elks only in night time. Do you understand?! SHE KEPT ME THERE FOR DAYS! DAYS! She had covered the windows anticipating this, making sure she only opened the door and all possible light, at night, making me believe it was still that very night. And believed it I DID! I HAD SPEND THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS COOKING ONLY SHEER WILLPOWER AND PURE TERROR DRIVING ME ON AS WELL AS EVERY SUCESSFUL PIECE OF MEAT TO KEEP ME GOING! I HAD NOT FINISHED MY PSYCHE ESSAYS YET FOR I WAS SUPER SLOW READING WHILE TRYING TO GET EVERYTHING RIGHT. I HAD NOT COOKED 12 STRIPS OF ELK MEAT SUCCESSFULLY IN A ROW. AND I HAD NOT STAYED INDOORS FOR ONLY A SINGLE NIGHT, BUT WAS ACTUALLY ON THE END OF MY FOURTH NIGHT. WHEN FINALLY SHE CAME BACK AND I WAS HAPPY TO SEE HER, NOT KNOWING WHAT SHE PULLED ON ME. I WAS HAPPY THAT SHE WAS HERE AND HELPING ME ALONG BY CUTTING UP THE RAW ELK MEAT, I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN SHE TOLD ME I¡¯D DONE ENOUGH AND COULD GO FOR THE NIGHT THAT I LITERALLY JUMPED INTO THE AIR BEFORE TRYING TO LOG OFF...BUT SHE WAS NOT DONE WITH ME YET! SHE HAD TOLD ME THERE WAS ONE LAST THING TO DO, ONE LAST THING: TO FINALLY USE MY BERZAURAKER¡¯S RAGE AS WELL AS ALL MY SKILLS WHILE FIGHTING A WOLF AND COMPLETING BOTH MY ESSAYS ... .. . IT TOOK ME THE ENTIRE DAY, FROM SUNSET TO SUNDOWN BUT I DID IT, I DID IT!!!! I WAS DONE, IT WAS OVER! I HAD FINISHED EVERY SINGLE GOD DAMNED THING. SO YOU KNOW WHAT I DID? YOU KNOW WHAT I DID? I LOGGED OFF DAMN RIGHT. I LOGGED OFF SO HARD, I LOGGED OFF THE REAL WORLD FOR AN ENTIRE TWO DAYS! MARTHA THOUGHT I WAS DEAD, MICKEY APPARENTLY JUST LAUGHED, HELL EVEN MISSY CAME ALONG TO CHECK ON ME BECAUSE I SLEPT LIKE A MAN WHO HADN¡¯T SLEPT FOR LITERALLY JUST OVER 100 HOURS. I COULD¡¯VE DIED!!! WAHT KIND OF GAME SYSTEM ALLOWS THIER PLAYERS TO LITERALLY CONTINUE PLAYING TILL THEY LITERALLY DIE IN REAL LIFE!?!? WELL APPARENTLY THIS GAME AND DO I REGRET IT? DO I REGRET IT?! ... .. . NO WAY IN HELL. IT WAS SUCH A GREAT EXPERIENCE THAT MY MIND LITERALLY TURNED TO MUSH IN GAME CAUSING ME TO DIE WHEN I LOGGED OFF. IT WAS SO AWESOME THAT AFTER TWO DAYS OF WHOLE SLEEP, I STILL REMEMBERED EVERY SINGLE MOMENT OF IT. IT WAS SO BRILLANTLY BRUTAL THAT IF I HAD THE CHANCE TO DO IT AGAIN...I WOULD RUN TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GOD DAMNED WORLD, BECAUSE I WENT THROUGH HELL AND I ONLY EVER WANT TO GO THROUGH THAT ONCE, ONLY ONCE!!!!!!!!!! Phew ... .. . Now that I¡¯ve finally ranted my heart out, you may notice that we finally reached the present day...and you probably also noticed that I went back into the game world almost straight after waking up...(after eating six days worth of food and drink...yeah, I hadn¡¯t eaten in real life for almost six days...literal verge of dehydration too...seriously no safety systems on VR or something?? Not that I honestly minded thaaat much, since it has helped me in the long run). And so we are in the present time, when I¡¯ve finally killed a wolf, finished my third psyche essay and just dived into the village for the 222nd time, what a glorious number. I¡¯d simply killed that wolf to get my brain working again, because I had over 99*notifications (yeah, the * means it¡¯s over 99, so for all I know it¡¯s 1000 notifications, oh lord) that I had to see and still half-dead wasn¡¯t going to cut it. *Gulp* Are you ready to see with me what all this nonsense is? Straight Back Into Hell Alrighty then, brains sort of fully functioning again, body working like a well oiled machine and I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯m going to be having an aneurysm anytime soon (which is always a good sign if I do say so myself). Right so apparently I have to go from most recent...or I could group them by type, thank you random notification filter that appeared literally two seconds ago. Hmm...What do I begin with? We¡¯ll start with the nice things why don¡¯t we? Skills! Apparently I can do them in order or just do them randomly..hmm well it¡¯s obvious; randomise!!
Through luckily gaining a skill that most assuredly saved your life, you prevented yourself from having a literal aneurysm, although ironically you died from that mere days after this notification.
Due to lucky situation Lucky increases by 1 level
No one else can become lucky by delaying their brain from turning into mush through the learning of a skill.
... .. . Huh, that¡¯s a strange notification? Why is it telling me of something that happened after it happened? Wait? Can Allie...oh ok, since she¡¯s a really advance AI I guess she can fiddle around with notifications...huh, that¡¯s pretty cool. Makes it feel like a special notification! Alright, now my luck level is 3, guess that¡¯s good (though I¡¯m not exactly happy about the situations I¡¯ve been put in to gain any of them, actually none of them were technically my choice!). Anyways, to the next notification.
Due to leveling up Speedy to Level 10 it has derivated into a new skill called Accelerate
Accelerate leveled up x2
Skill: Accelerate [lvl 3] 3%
You have done so much with your body as such an accelerated speed, you have naturally become so, +40% movement speed +25% attack speed +200% satiety consumption rate Passive 10% movement speed increase(not stacking with active bonus)
Cost: none Duration: Sustained
... .. . Did...Did I just get a seriously broken skill? I mean look at that! 40% movement speed WOW, 25% attack speed!? 10% passive movement speed (not that I¡¯ll ever turn this off!) BUT JUST LOOK AT THAT SATIETY USE! I¡¯m going to hoover bread like its air. Oh and I do enjoy how the notifications of levelling it up came together, really stops a hassle, thanks Allie (supposedly). Right, that was awesome! Now let¡¯s see what other godly skill increase I get.
After continually using your fast hands at speeds far faster than they should and could be going, with the derivation of Accelerate, fast hands also derivates into the Sub-Skill: Blurred Hands
Sub-Skill: Blurred Hands Levels up with Accelerate
When performing actions(non-combat) hands will move 50% faster. 12.5% percent attack speed increase.
Passive
... .. . So that¡¯s 37.5% attack speed increase!?! THAT¡¯S JUST BROKEN!!! I mean I literally just got some of these skills and I only spent thirteen days (straight) doing this, such little time for a huge amount of increase! (albeit the level plummet, which did finally get me down to level one thanks to the log off death). Ok, I¡¯m actually ecstatic to see what¡¯s next!
Through continually using both hands in a variety of different situations including using your offhand as your weapon hand, you have increased you ambidextrous level
Due to varied use of ambidexterity, Ambidextrous gains 2 levels.
... .. . Ok, that¡¯s pretty cool I guess, means that ooh, offhand penalty is now 30% lower. Well, seems like anyone who wants to dual wield really needs a level 10 ambidextrous in the least. Hmm maybe if I check out who¡¯s trying to write with both hands at school I can see who¡¯s going for dual wielding?? Anyways, not that interesting compared to the rest so onwards!
Due to being driven into a literal corner to cook under immense pressure for a long period of time you have improved manipulation of your Personal Aura Skill: Fear-Driven
Personal Aura Skill: Fear-Driven[Lvl 5]
Fear is the key to giving oneself a burst of energy and adrenaline to keep them alive in the direst of situations. This skill is a personal aura, never being able to affect anyone but yourself.
Gives a 10% speed increase, 5% increase to AGI and increase reaction time by 0.05 seconds
Cost: none, Duration: Sustained, Prerequisite: Single state of mind and Fear Status
... .. . Oh My God! I forgot about this. So actually with this extra 10% speed increase (just speed, so it¡¯s literally all types!?!) that¡¯s 47.5% attack speed increase (that¡¯s INSANE!). What¡¯s next and how can it be better!!?
Due to being subject to psychological torture with false hope you have been ridden with terror at failing for over three days straight allowing you to harness a new Personal Aura Skill: Terror-Driven
Personal Aura Skill: Terror-Driven[Lvl 2]
Terror is much worse than fear; it constricts the heart and shuts off the mind. Thus it is far worse to be terrified than just in fear. This skill is a personal aura, never being able to affect anyone but yourself.
Reduces Terror status to fear status while active. Gives a 6% speed increase, 4% increase to AGI and increase reaction time by 0.04 seconds
Cost: none, Duration: Sustained, Prerequisite: Single state of mind and Terror Status
... .. . WAIT WHAT? So that means that I can¡¯t have the terror status and apart from that it¡¯s exactly the same as Fear-driven just slightly higher increases? Wait a second; this could make things have more sense:
Due to extreme stress forcing brain into abnormal state of fear your body becomes affected by it
STATUS: Fear
50% penalty to attack speed and damage. Bests and other monsters willing to target the weak have 50% more agro towards you.
Due to extreme trauma forcing brain into abnormal state of terror your body becomes affected by it
STATUS: Terror
Unable to move, Unable to fight. Only able to cower. Percentage of heart failure dependent on aura power and level difference.
Huh, so having the terror status literally means that I¡¯m kind of screwed...BUT NOT WITH TERROR-DRIVEN WAHAHAHA!! Now I see such a use in that skill and why Cindy wanted me to have it so very badly: with Fear I can still fight, but with Terror, I can¡¯t even run away. ALSO IT EXPLAINS HOW I DIED FROM CINDY¡¯S AURA OF TERROR. Ooh, I¡¯ve really got to get that now! Well keep that locked up until later, for I have more notifications to get through!
Through successfully multiple meals over and over again without stop till perfection is assured, or at least the food is not raw or burnt, you have improved your cooking skill
Cooking has increased level x6
Skill: Cooking [lvl9]
Allows you to cook dishes in your recipe list. Quality is dependent on skill proficiency and user¡¯s skill
Recipes: Rabbit soup Fried Elk
... .. . Well damn, that¡¯s hell of an increase...BUT I¡¯LL NEVER COOK AGAIN, NEVER!!! Moving swiftly on to get rid of this true horror of a skill.
Through repeatedly suffering and persevering through multiple different and repeated statuses, your Endurance has increased
Skill: Endurance [Lvl 2] 8%
Debuff statuses are nothing to you, for they will not stop you no matter what.
debuff statuses will last 12% less time buff statuses will last 6% less time(not including sustained buffs)
Cost: none Duration: permanent
Through repeatedly getting multiple different statuses, your absorbing body has become more attuned to them
Unique Special Skill: Absorbing body [Lvl 2] 9%
Your body has been affected by your use of Aura manipulation, making it more receptable to all statues.
12% more chance to gain statusesEnsure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Cost: none, Duration: permanent
... .. . Cool, it also seems like they¡¯ll increase at mostly the same speed (maybe the difference is because I gained a debuff and then died...). Right onwards we go!
Due to learning new Auras, your Aura manipulator skill has leveled up!
Talent: Aura Manipulator [Lvl 3] Levels up due to Aura Skills
Auras are the basis of emitting your innermost feelings and emotions to the outside world. Almost all can unconsciously create auras, though few know how to manipulate them, consciously deciding what others can feel being emitted.
Auras have a range of 3 metres, 3% effectiveness
... .. . Hmm so I¡¯m guessing I¡¯ll need 3 new skills to gain a new level? Jeesh that might take some time... But until then, let¡¯s get the rest of these notifications sorted out!
By forcing your body to ignore its needs and its exhaustion, you have pulled strength from within your depths. Therefore you have unlocked the ability to do as and thus this Special skill: Second Wind
Special Skill: Second Wind[Lvl 1] 0%
Taking the powers deep within you, you empower yourself, ready to fight once more.
Dispel all physical and mental debuff statuses. Regain hit points equal to you VIT x Lvl . Can only be used again after a proper sleep.
Cost: none Cooldown: until user gets a proper sleep
Due to exerting a traumatic amount, yet still ripping from deep within you the strength to remain not only living but functional, you have gained the skill Third Wind.
Third Wind is a derivative skill of Second Wind and thus replaces it.
By forcing your body to ignore its needs and its exhaustion, you have pulled strength from within your depths and even after that you have still ripped more strength from the depths of your body and soul, sustaining you. Therefore you have unlocked the ability to do as and thus this Special skill: Third Wind
Special Skill: Third Wind[Lvl 1] 0%
Taking the powers deep within you, you empower yourself, ready to fight once more.
Dispel all physical and mental debuff statuses. Regain hit points equal to you VIT x Lvl . Two uses until cooldown sets. Can only be used again after a proper sleep.
Cost: none Cooldown: until user gets a proper sleep
... .. . Wow wow, that¡¯s hell of a skill! And it¡¯s one of the ones that Cindy was trying to teach me! Omg sneaky woman! She actually made me learn that in the midst of all that hell! I¡¯m actually impressed (with both me and Cindy of course). Right, can¡¯t be that many notifications...nope there¡¯s still 99*, this might take a while...
Even when your body should not respond, your brain should be fried to smithereens from excessive work an extreme lack of sleep. Even when by all rights your body should be dead, it still continues. Why? Because of a simple thing called Willpower, which you have harnessed and manipulated into the Personal Aura: Pure Willpower
Personal Aura Skill: Pure Willpower [Lvl 3] 2%
Through blood, sweat and tears, you have continued on with a single thought in your mind; to complete the task ahead, no matter what. That thought represents the purity of your aura, your unbridled emotion of pride to carry out and finish what you started.
Ignores 14 statuses of any kind as long as this aura is active
Cost: none Duration: Sustained, Perquisites: Single state of mind, more than 14 statuses
... .. . WELL I KNOW WHAT I¡¯M TRAINING UP ON! I MEAN LOOK AT THAT EFFECT! If I get that up to level 10, that¡¯s 30 statuses, 30! I DON¡¯T EVEN KNOW WHEN I¡¯LL HAVE THAT MANY DIFFERENT TYPES. But when I do? I¡¯ll be freaking invincible to them!! That¡¯s AWESOME! Though I have to have at least 14 statuses active at one time...wow I must¡¯ve been extremely messed up to have that many different types of status... Right, so I¡¯m definitely planning to use that, but what else do I have to revel over?
Through excessive and traumatic practice, you have succeeded, even if briefly, to split your mind into multiple segments, allowing you to control multiple things at once and preserving your life through your daunting task. Thus you have learnt a Special Class Skill: Split-Mind(5)
Special Class Skill: Split Mind(5) [Lvl 1] 0%
The ability to split one¡¯s mind is not an easy one to achieve. But to be able to split one¡¯s mind into 5, is a rare feat among many, especially those who have just begun¡­it¡¯s almost an impossibility.
Has the ability to split mind into five different sections. Each split is more difficult in the last and will decrease mental capacity and speed.
Cost: none Duration: Sustained
... .. . I GOT IT! WOOOO! OMG I CAN DO 5 TOO? WHEN THE HELL DID I DO THAT? WAIT, I THINK THE QUESTION SHOULD BE HOW IS IT JUST 5? If I remember correctly (which I most definitely do) I was doing way more than 5 things... Well whatever, I believe I can increase the number of times I can split my mind through practice (not like I¡¯m going to be able to split it into 5 like magic now...no siree. I think it¡¯s just telling me that I¡¯m able to do it which is always nice). So that¡¯s just awesome; I¡¯ve gotten 2 out of 4 skills Cindy was going to teach me as well as an absolute bunch of other skills and level ups! All at the cost of my sanity and 9 levels...all in all totally freaking worth it! Though going through it again may not produce any better results since it¡¯ll be repetition and rpg¡¯s don¡¯t usually reward repetition much, especially VRRPG¡¯s... Right, so scrolling through notifications and all my skill increase are gone...now to have a little peek at the statuses I got ... .. . WOW that¡¯s hell of a lot of statuses: Aneurysm, anaemic, amputated leg, amputated foot, amputated fingers, amputated hand, amputated arm ,Blind(temporary), Blind(permanently), Bleeding, Burnt, Brain damaged, Broken hand, Broken foot, Broken leg, Broken arm, Broken skull, Broken neck, Dehydrated, Dead leg, Dead arm, Dead body, Exhausted, Fatigued, Hungry, Internal bleeding, poisoned(uncooked food), Mental meltdown, starving, Thirsty, Tired. ... .. . Wow that¡¯s quite a few (even if some are obvious repeats and quite a few are just supped up versions of eachother) and a few of them are a little strange...
Due to massive internal bleeding in the cranium due to many factors, you have an aneurysm
STATUS: Aneurysm
Your brain becomes literal mush and you die.
... .. . O...k? So apparently I had this two...Oh that¡¯s how I got my lucky level up! Apparently my Pure Willpower got rid of this in the nick of time?!? (I¡¯m totally guessing but I think I¡¯m on the right track here!). So apart from the strange, you die aneurysm status (which really has no right being a status to be honest) the only other strange ones are dead body and mental meltdown. Well mental meltdown is the precursor to aneurysm with only decreasing mental capabilities by ?. Whereas dead body means all limbs are not responding to spine¡¯s signal (due to full on exhaustion in this case I believe). Luckily the statuses are pretty simple to deal with so I didn¡¯t have to open them up and see what they did to me; Most of them kind of gave the game away with their names. So now onto, surprisingly just two notices...hmm seems like I had 118 status notices (Oh that makes up for why the Absorbing body is level 2 and 9%!. Right, so a message and an award...ooh, which to go for first?! Message, let¡¯s leave the best for last shall we? Ooh, apparently the message is from Allie? That¡¯s pretty damned strange. ISKADI, your brain and body seem unable to continue thus i¡¯m sending an automated message to warn you to stop playing and take a break. If you decide to ignore this message, then all fault of true death lies on you. Huh...heartless but then again fair enough. Though...why is that all the warning I got? I mean even if I did read that in my completely wrecked state, I probably wouldn¡¯t have noticed or cared by that point anyways. Bit of a terrible lifesaving system if you ask me. But oh, the message doesn¡¯t end there (By the way, that message was send on the end of the ninth day, ooh seemed like that was the important day). Iskadi, well done for surviving the ordeal and as a reward, I have granted you a title, which at a church, can become your active title instead of the one you equip currently. That message was sent when I first logged in maybe, two hours ago now? Hmm that¡¯s nice of her. So let¡¯s go see what lovely title I¡¯ve been given!
You have earned a title for being the first player to have survived to the thirteenth day in game without a single pause within or without game to catch some sleep. Thus you have been granted the title: Unbreakable You can only have one title equipped at a time. Since you already have a title, this will not be set as your default title
Unbreakable: Physical and Mental status effects reduced by half (after other status reducing effects take place)
... .. . Not bad...not bad indeed. Definitely something to use within the late game...ooh I can just dream of having so many statuses and with them barely affecting me, Truly this is my path to glory! Though first, I have two nights planned with Thalia *Shiver* and one and a half days to do one psyche essay, redo a physics report, complete and English essay and redo the math¡¯s too. At least now I can multitask! ...Wait, I didn¡¯t gain the multitask skill? Was it because it¡¯s too similar to Split mind and other skills I have already so there¡¯d be no point? Hmm, might have to ask a certain someone about that...but until then, homework while fighting wolves it is! So if I inverse the matrix then i¡¯ll be getting -86 -14 -14 -28 -14 (-22/320) Haha god that weapon speed is beautiful. Apparently, thanks to all my new bonuses, i can get two attacks most of the time when the enemy¡¯s are stunned. And now finding the matrix of minors I get that and that finishing me off for this question woo! Surprisingly I¡¯m starting to get better at this whole multitasking, split mind thing. I can now fight wolves using all my skills while doing one piece of homework. Like a week ago I would¡¯ve have ever thought of doing this, but after Cindy¡¯s hell, easy peasy. Though according to a little new bar I have under my rage bar (it¡¯s an empty bar) I¡¯ve only split my brain into two. Ah right, the new bar; it¡¯s an empty bar which fills up with empty circles when I split my mind (so it starts with one circle). And the circles fill up when I¡¯ve focused that part of the mind and finally they light up when I¡¯m using them. It¡¯s a useful little tracker as to how well I¡¯m splitting my mind. Quite useful indeed. Although even after hours I haven¡¯t been able to split my mind into three. Why? I have no idea. I¡¯ve got Split Mind (5) so I should be able to do it! But alas, I can¡¯t get past 2. Hmm, I¡¯ll ask Cindy tomorrow, for tonight, I¡¯m busy with the hell called Thalia. Entering the small, blackened interior, I see her potting about her alchemical station letting forest green fumes whirl into the sky harmlessly. ¡°Why, thought I wouldn¡¯t be seeing you anytime soon¡± Her small tongue licks her quite se-NO NO no lips. ¡°I¡¯m free for 2 nights ehe¡± Keeping my face as calm as I can get, I make my way over to the bed, walking through the subtle pathway created by the large mass of books. Unequipping my ragged clothing, I grab my book along with the ink and quill. Stepping into the moonlight, I see the silver light shimmer off her charcoal skin, causing all that I¡¯ve written to glint. She hasn¡¯t washed in a week ... .. . Ok really shouldn¡¯t be thinking that first but I mean if my writing¡¯s still on there... Though her hair still looks really smooth and clean...oh wait she¡¯s an alchemist, she¡¯s probably got some form of showering potion which sounds pretty reasonable to be honest. Right, ignoring her long legs shining in the moonlight, along with the tattered furs the seemingly slip off her smooth body, because I am head deep into the pillow. All I¡¯m thinking of tonight is Missy and Gannor, for I can see Missy here now (although her father is bound to be there). Missy and Gannor, Missy and Gannor, Soft br-OH GOD NO Breathe BREATHE. Calm down Kal, caolm down, there¡¯s nothing there, just your vivid imagination. ¡°Hey Kal¡± Her warm tongue explores my ear oh so goo-Terrible, disgusting not a thing! ¡°What is it?¡± I ask slightly in fear (I mean women haven¡¯t exactly been the nicest beings towards me these past few weeks). ¡°Turn around?¡± I swear it sounds way more like a command then a question by her tone...but then again why would I ever believe it¡¯s a question in the first place? Gulping and keeping my eyes to the roof, slowly turn around, finding my legs to be free from their usual binding. Though out of the corner of my eye, her chest seems a lot flatter today, and there is no hot breath on my neck either. Failing to resist curious temptation, I peek down...phew it¡¯s only her back, thank god or I probably would¡¯ve just added fuel to her desiring fire. ¡°You know what to do¡± She says with a girlish giggle. What? Wait! What am I suppose to do, I¡¯ve never been big spoon before! Plus I¡¯m erm...quite a bit shorter than her (like she¡¯s 1,80 really quite tall compared to me). Uhhh...so leg over hers? *Gulp* Sliding my leg on top of hers, I feel her shiver GOD DAMMIT STOP THAT; YOU¡¯RE NOT SENSITIVE EVERYWHERE! Calming the thunderous heart in my chest, I slide my hand between her neck and the bed, making sure to keep palm down and far away from the danger zone. Though she catches my hand half way and ooh-NO No, that¡¯s not a feeling, I REFUSE the feeling. She finally lets my hands go, slighter damper than before *Shiver* she¡¯s scary, very scary. She¡¯s so scary that I only just noticed that my leg is actually crossing over in her high thigh (why am I so small)! IGNORE IT, FORGET IT ALL, just continue forward. It¡¯ll be over soon. Grabbing my book, I place it by my other hand (by reaching over yes, and no I didn¡¯t look down) before transferring the ink and quill next. Disengaging my chest from her warm, pulsating back, I begin to read over her shoulder, ignoring everything below it. Position 12..Ramitses III ... .. . Er what? First, you must be behind your partner ... .. . DAMMIT I HATE THIS BOOK. Chucking the book down, I take a few deep breaths, TRYING to forget that although I¡¯m not the one being spooned, I don¡¯t feel as liberated as I should. Ok, back to reading, ignoring the irony which I have a feeling she¡¯s planned. Starting to write, I begin just below her armpit and down her sides almost at once causing her to shiver lightly. It¡¯s just because of the cold! Continuing to write, I get a page done in almost ten minutes, but her shivering get continually worse, to the point where her thighs are moving back and forth in a smooth motion. Wait, I¡¯m noticing things...that¡¯s not good, noooo nonono. If I¡¯m noticing things it¡¯s definitely a trap! Immediately I stop writing, hoping that will calm her oversensitive body only to end up being given a good picture of her squirming body and soft pan-DO NOT BELEIVE IF YOUR SENSEs, it¡¯s all a lie, all a lie. Looking at it is a lot different from feeling it though, it almost looks-DISGUSTING, HORRIFYING, NOT NICE AT ALL but her pants are really NO REAL, NOT REAL, ONLY MISSY IS REAL ONLY MISSY... ONLY GANNOR IS REAL! Ahh, thinking of Gannor really helped disperse whatever pink that entered my mind ... .. . Oh how about I split up my mind, Gannor for one and writing for another. In theory, it sounds like a great idea...in practice it¡¯s not quite so pretty. Thinking of Gannor killing me in a most brutal fashion kind of distracted me causing me to shake more than once and almost ruin all my writing. ¡°Oh are you cold?¡± ¡°N-¡± I don¡¯t get to finish my sentence as she turns around WHAT A LOVELY ROOF THIS IS! And she entraps me once more, my legs between stuck between her thighs, my chest squishing against A WALL, A SQUISHY WALL WHICH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THALIA AT ALLLL. Breathe; it¡¯s not real, breat-mm her tongue is delic-NOnononononono GANNOR RIPPING ME TO SHRED, EATING MY GUTS AND DRINKING MY BLOOD. Ohh better, but not quite distracting me from that snakeish invader which oh sends tingles down my spine IN FEAR in fear, only in fear. Concentrate on Missy concentrate on her, try to remember her features, softly, innocently. Forget about this room, this place, just remember Missy wearing her sexy Corse-THIS ISN¡¯T HELPING! BACK TO GANNOR. Losing myself in the haze that is endless replays of my savage deaths, I, for a moment, forget that Thalia¡¯s sweet, supple tongue is caressing mine. ... .. . Wait, how did I finish that sentence without a problem? I spot Gannor ripping my head off and lapping my blood, but his tongue feels just as smooth and soft at Thalias...Why am I not reacting? All I can feel is fear, terror from Gannor but in the back of my mind I can feel Thalia but only as a passing thought?!? ¡°Mmm, seems like you need a few lessons on what to do¡± I feel her tongue gently squeeze mine feeling soo goo-WAIT A SECOND, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!? Forgetting completely about Gannor for a second, my vision fills or rather I actually concentrate on Thalia¡¯s deep black eyes and intricate red tattoos, and the fact that MY TONGUE is in her mou-OH GOD THIS ISN¡¯T HAPPENING, NOPE, NOPE IT¡¯S ALL A BIZARRE NIGHTMARE. I do spot one light to my left turning off ... .. . REALLY? My split mind caused me to focus on Gannor leaving my body to just give in to temptation!? I GOT TO GET THIS SORTED OR WHO KNOWS WHAT I¡¯LL DO... Actually I can guess that-NO IT¡¯S NOT SOMETHING I¡¯M THINKING ABOUT NO, ONLY FOR MISSY, OOH, NONONONO Focus on Gannor once more, but don¡¯t leave your body alone, keep focusing on that too, making sure I am in control of myself... Surprisingly, not that difficult since I can clearly feel the distinction between Gannor and the mass of pink that¡¯s swirling through my mind caressing me just like her long fingernails up my ar-AAAAH FORGET THE FEELING, DIE PINK DIE! I have to make sure to feel the pink, just feel it, but not move on it, in the slightest... Maintain it, control ooh that twirling was scrump-FOCUS. Maintain the pink, keep it bridled in. Feel it but don¡¯t act on it, like a scratch, like a hot, sweaty and se-SCRATCH LIKE A SCRATCH! Don¡¯t itch it, don¡¯t do it. Focus on Gannor itching you with his sharp sexy-DAMMIT REIN IN THE PINK. GANNOR¡¯S SHARP CLAWS skinning me alive....hooo the feeling of her nails zipping up my bac-BEING SKINNED BEING SKINNED! Control both, maintain both, focus on both but do not act on either ... .. . This is going to be a long night... Ive been Lied to, LIED I TELL YOU LIIIIED I¡¯M ALIVE! *PSHHHHhhhhhh* ...phew, I somehow survived that night, somehow. 8 hours of Trying to focus on Gannor ripping me to shreds while trying to incarcerate the pink as it spread like wildfire...really didn¡¯t go well for the most part. I lost a lot of things that night, like my pride for being able to completely resist and also for taking control ... .. . I lost a lot of things, PUT I SOMEHOW SITLL REMAIN PURE...ish. Though that night taught me something extremely useful; if I focus too much on a single part, I lose control over the others, even if they maintain focused, it¡¯s like I¡¯ve given instructions and they carry it out. Extremely useful when wanting to maintain an Aura...but when trying to not give in to Thalia¡¯s physical entrapments...it did not help save me. Looking at my left hand, I can almost feel the heat emanating from it. Plunging it into the snow I begin bashing my head into some more snow to rid all the thoughts from my mind. Only one more night, only more chance does she have, only one more time do I have to resist. And I have a day to sort this Split Mind out ... .. . ¡°CINDYYYYYYY¡± I run screaming to her house, passing Rodna who¡¯s combing the ruffly hair of her son on the snowy street. Barging into the house, Cindy comes walking lethargically out of the bedroom, yawning. ¡°Ah, wondered when you¡¯d get back...you recovered yet?¡± Oh phew, thought she was talking about me being at Thalia¡¯s then (somehow nobody knows...well Husky knows me and Thalia have k-ki-done something but that¡¯s it). ¡°Yep, I¡¯m ready for slightly less hellish training please¡± ¡°Oh¡± Her eyes go wide before she bows apologetically a few times ¡°Sorry sorry sorry but I had to do that¡± I cock my head, not quite understand WHY she had to do that. ¡°Explain?¡± ¡°Well what¡¯s your Split Mind, how many can you split into?¡± ¡°5¡± Her eyes widen ¡°Oh my!¡± ¡°Well I can barely handle 2 at the minute, so what¡¯s the point of being able to do 5?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re able to. It¡¯s hard to learn how to sustain your split mind, but to the further split your mind beyond your natural capabilities....it takes a lot, lot more work...trust me, I had to start with the ability of 2¡± She begins pacing around joyfully, happy that he plan seemed to have worked I guess. ¡°Wait, so i¡¯ve basically unlocked the potential to do 5 I just need to learn it?¡± ¡°Exactly. Most Auramancers learn to split their mind into 2 first and then have the long and hard trek to unlocking their mind to be able to split it into more. I forced you to begin by splitting your mind into numerous parts¡± ¡°Sweet, so a huge advantage?¡± ¡°If you can control them¡± I actually give Cindy a hug for helping me have such an amazing advantage (forgetting but not quite forgiving all the hell she put me through). ¡°So how many parts can you split your mind into?¡± I¡¯m actually curious, since she said she started at 2. ¡°12¡± ... .. . ¡°Did you say 12?¡± Excuse me what? ¡°Yes, it¡¯s taken me...a very long time to get to that point¡± 12...that means she can have 11 auras on while fighting...that¡¯s INSANE! I just stand speechless for a couple of minutes while trying to absorb the hidden badassery that is Cindy. ¡°Right, stop flabbergasting and let¡¯s get to work, for I¡¯m not done with you yet! And so Hell 2.0 begins I believe... She takes me out the Southern gates, stops me at the gate. ¡°Now I¡¯m going to the forest¡¯s edge, and I want you to make your way to me¡± ¡°What¡¯s the catch?¡± I squint my eyes, awaiting something so hellish that it will most likely kill me. ¡°You are not allowed to step into any of my auras...and if you do, you will die¡± ¡°DIE?¡± Not surprised whatsoever ¡°How?¡± She produces a small ball of red light ¡°This rage bolt will kill you¡± Rage bolt...cool, but I¡¯m going to die if it hits me? ¡°But how will I know I¡¯m in you aura?¡± Abort, stupid question, figured out why. ¡°Because firstly your aura will dissipate and you will also get a rage bolt to the face¡± I did just figure that out...oh no, I don¡¯t like this. In all honesty, not as hellish as I thought...but then again this is Cindy I¡¯m talking about, she will surely turn this into hell one way or another... She walks over to the edge of the forest and then signals for me to come. *step* ... .. . I¡¯m dead. Opening my eyes to a well built wooden roof, I get off of my furs (still by the fireplace and makeshift grill) and head back to the southern gate. So...I need to see auras...so Auratic sight? Makes sense to me I guess. Sitting down at the edge of the gate, I start to ponder how I¡¯ll be able to get Auratic sight. One of the more logical explanations would be to somehow enhance my eyes with an aura but I don¡¯t know how that would give me auratic sight... Ok, let¡¯s think what Auratic sight could be: It¡¯s enhanced vision which allows you to see auras...but only auras? She did mention it¡¯s different to Mana sight so I should be able to only see auras. So since I already know auras can be naturally made, there may not be any mana signature so there has to be some other form of signature... Wait, she mentioned something about a personal rune when using bound auras...so maybe her auras would have something similar? Right, that information doesn¡¯t help...hmm what could I do to learn what her aura signature is ... .. . I hate my life. Ok, so now I know I¡¯m standing outside her auras, so I have to keep close concentration on the air around me, how my body feels as well any other physical/psychological changes around me. *Step* No perceptible difference. *Step* I died again, BUT...I think I felt something. It felt almost like walking through an extremely weak barrier, not enough to hinder me in any way, but just enough to make me know it¡¯s there... So is that it? Going out and testing that once more, sure enough there¡¯s that strange little barrier before I get a rage bolt for 200 damage (not that bad, but I feel like she¡¯s downsized it quite a lot). This time, I use my hands to slowly push forward, inch by inch, till it encounters that barrier. Then using a stick, I mark the ground where I feel the barrier. After about ten minutes, I¡¯ve made it around three steps past the gate...which is hell of a journey...even if I¡¯ve still got half a kilometre to go... Although my hands in front of me were working quite well, I do finally screw up on my fourth step and end up dying again. It seems like Cindy is making sure I would be level 1 by the end of her training no matter what (all that hard work, gone). Alright, this time instead of using my hands...let¡¯s try creating an aura of calm and using that... Standing 3 and a bit metres away, I calm myself and create the aura, taking a tentative step forward. A rage bolt hits my face ... .. . Oh cmon! So that meant my aura touched hers...but I didn¡¯t feel it...maybe it¡¯s because 3 metres is too far a distance for me to sense it? Do I need to get closer? Alright, try 3: I need to get a personal aura... And one that increases my sensitivity so I¡¯ll be able to feel the aura ¡®barriers¡¯ better... Sitting down, I close my eyes. I have to make my body more sensitive...so I grab some snow and in small drops place them on my crossed legs, shoulders and arms. I put 52 pellets of snow, so I should be able to feel 52 different areas of cold.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Though right now all I feel is a large mass of cold spreading everywhere. Focus on my shoulders first. There are two pellets per shoulder, try to imagine both are separate. Jeesh reminds me of biology class when our lab partners poked us with 1-3 toothpicks while our eyes were closed and have us guess how many they used. Apparently closeness makes a difference whether we can differentiate them... So maybe I¡¯m doing this wrong. Instead of trying to feel everything separately, I should just focus on being able to feel anything, no matter how light it is. Opening my eyes, I wave over to Cindy, gesturing for her to come over. Thankfully she does, and I suspect it¡¯s because I have a plan to learn this ¡®Auratic sight¡¯ ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± ¡°How small and unfeelable can you make that rage bolt?¡± I ask her. ¡°You won¡¯t ever feel it touching you¡± Perfect. I guess... ¡°Alright, so I want you to touch me with a rage bolt as lightly as you can and unless I tell you that I felt it, do another. Though stop when I¡¯m on the verge of death please¡± She nods and I sit down, preparing myself for a most odd experience... Immediately I try to close off my other senses; ignoring the taste, the smell, the sound of the wind...only feel it as it passes over my smooth skin. Feel Kal, feel it; forget the feeling of the wind and try to distinguish something foreign touching you... ¡°Kal honey, take a little break will you please?¡± Huh? I open my eyes to dimly see Cindy sitting in front of me, looking rather worried. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I do notice it¡¯s sunset ALREADY? (jeesh time flies fast). ¡°You¡¯re on the verge of death¡± Huh? Oh, yeah...I did ask her to do that. Checking my health, I¡¯m on 5 hp. Wow, it took her what seems like a few hours to only do 165 bolts (I¡¯m assuming). ¡°How many times did you do it?¡± ¡°4023¡± ... .. . Excuse me what? ¡°H-how?¡± That doesn¡¯t make sense; I¡¯d be dead a hundred times over?!? ¡°I made sure you were out of combat when you were low health, allowing you to recover over and over again. But you haven¡¯t said that you¡¯ve felt it, even once¡± Really? Gee I¡¯m bad at this. ¡°Wow, seems like this isn¡¯t working...but why?¡± I say aloud, wondering why I wasn¡¯t able to feel anything. ¡°The bolts were extremely light, plus you have natural interference such as the wind...so don¡¯t blame yourself for not being able to do it in your first go¡± Cindy explains logically before giving me a squeezing hug and heading off to home. Wait shouldn¡¯t I be going with her back to my furs...or shouldn¡¯t she at least be believing me to be doing that? ... .. . Does she know about Thalia?! Well they are only two houses apart, but still! I swear I made sure I wasn¡¯t followed/seen at any point through the night or the day, unless the Orc spoke, but I¡¯ve never heard him speak before and there¡¯d be no reason for him to speak to Cindy would there?? I¡¯m confused and/or worried, not quite sure yet. But if Cindy knows, why would that make a difference to anything? You know what, I¡¯m not going to try get into the minds of women; I¡¯m just going to try and do some writing and learn Delven...along with possible things Missy might like BUT also to pay off the last part of my promise as a TRUE NORD! Storming into Thalia¡¯s, I then meekly go to bed, to see Thalia already waiting, thankfully still clothed, but the furs are way too little for my own bleeding eyes. She doesn¡¯t exist, she isn¡¯t there. Unequipping (NEVER UNDRESSING, EVER) I lie down and the frontal spooning begins once again. ¡°Do you want to continue where we left off last time?¡± Her tongue coils around my ear as her hands begin to guide mine. ¡°NO no, no I¡¯m fine, just need some rest tonight¡± Breathe, don¡¯t give in, for Missy¡¯s sake. But it¡¯s kind of hard not to when all I can feel is her warmth, wrapped around me, pulsating against mine sending hot shivers down my spin-NO shake the feeling away, SHAKE IT AWAY! I can¡¯t control the feelings, the pink that¡¯s rising in my mind, only through Gannor. But even then, thanks to last night, even thinking of him and his sharp sexy-NO NO STOP POLLUTING MY PURE MIND! I have to get rid of them, not simply maintain them and incarcerate them ... .. . I need to feel nothing!!! Oh my lord that¡¯s a great idea! Like what I was doing for hours outdoors, if I end up feeling nothing, I can survive this; I can ignore it all! Ok, close my eyes, don¡¯t smell the sweet, fruity scent that¡¯s coming off her warm sk-DAMMIT NO. I smell nothing; nose is useless, nothing but tasteless air. NOTHING at all. Good, only a small scent left, not enough to annoy me thought, that¡¯s good. Now sounds. Block my ears, don¡¯t hear the small soft pant¡¯s that are but inches away and are extremely s-THEY don¡¯t exist, for I hear nothing. I only hear nothing. ... .. . OK...I DO still hear the pants, but I¡¯m ignoring the m the best that I can. It¡¯s my exertion, only me. Nothing to do with Thalia...of course...totally... Now for the hardest part, touch... Although I can feel her radiating heat, it¡¯s not real, I can¡¯t feel any of it. Imagine an invisible barrier between me, a mildly warm blankey, not one that radiates heat, that moves and squirts, rubbing against my legs NO, the blanket doesn¡¯t move, encasing me in a warm cocoon. I feel like it¡¯s working...oh wait...that¡¯s just Thalia hugging me further in, oh no, OH NO. My arms feel nothing, their dead, no nerves, nothing. I can¡¯t feel them, I CAN¡¯T FEEL ANYTHING. Just a small warmth, from my blankey...just a small warmth, with no texture... Calm Kal, calm...mmm there we go, wrapped in something, unable to feel anything but a dull sort of warmth. Direct all feelings to my eyes, imagine only being able to see, unable to feel, hear, or smell anything. Only seeing. Focus on her black eyes, her deep red tattoos, on her charcoal grey skin...but don¡¯t feel anything. Though, no matter how hard I¡¯m trying, I can still feel something, not warmth, but a strange...oh it¡¯s her. I can feel her, but not the heat of her skin, but rather like the feeling one gets after a tight hug. But she¡¯s not doing hugging me(well she is but I feel it all over)...she¡¯s just looking into my eyes (and I¡¯m looking slightly away from them), why can I almost feel this strange lingering feeling hovering millimetres from my skin? ... .. . ¡°Thalia¡± I ask her with a serious look on my face. ¡°Kal¡± She echoes with an oddly serious tone, one I¡¯ve never heard her use...ever...maybe I¡¯m right? ¡°Is that your aura?¡± ¡°Mmm, good job¡± SHE DOESN¡¯T EVEN DENY IT! Forcefully removing myself from her grasp to which she lets go easily, I stand up, turn around and flee from the house, re-equipping. I CAN¡¯T BELIEVE THIS! Sprinting two doors down, I kick at the door (almost breaking my foot, ow!) before opening it angrily. ¡°CINDYYYY¡± I roar and she appears from the bedroom with a raised eyebrow. ¡°EXPLAIN¡± I want explanations, I feel like I¡¯ve been played around in more ways than one, duped and fooled with without my knowing it for longer than I thought! SOMETHING IS UP and I want to know what it has to do with me! Cindy raises her other eyebrow, slightly confused for a second as she¡¯s still waking up herself. Thalia bursts in, wearing black furs...that cover her entire body (WAIT SHE HAD NON SEDUCTIVE CLOTHING ALL THIS TIME!?!). I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT¡¯S GOING ON BUT I¡¯VE GOT AN INKLING THAT I¡¯M BEING SCREWED WITH. ¡°Cindy, he¡¯s finally noticed¡± Thalia pants while recuperating her breath. ¡°Really? Well that¡¯s great¡± Cindy looks happy. ¡°WAIT a second; just what is going on?¡± I¡¯m so confused! I Noticed Thalia has an aura and it seems to me like these 2 are conspiring!?! ¡°Kal honey, sit down, I think I should¡¯ve told you about this a little while ago¡± ¡°No you shouldn¡¯t have the whole point was that he didn¡¯t know¡± Thalia chips in, almost looking down at Cindy. Oh that¡¯s odd, I never thought Thalia was in charge of this, much less seemingly more in power than Cindy? Pretty dumbstruck, mind boggled and just downright confused, I sit down, in small hopes that I¡¯ll get some reasonable explanation that won¡¯t make me hate them both. ¡°Right, where should we start?¡± Cindy looks at Thalia, who thinks for a few seconds. ¡°Remember when you first said you wanted to become a warrior?¡± Thalia asks me. ¡°Yeah,...but how do you know about that?¡± ¡°Cindy told me literally just after it happened¡± ¡°Wait, so while I was in Rodna¡¯s house, you talked to Thalia about it?¡± I look at Cindy and she nods. What, why? ¡°Why¡± ¡°Well simply because, both of us had agreed that you definitely needed protection¡± Thalia answers still with that serious tone, all playfulness gone. It¡¯s bizarre. ¡°So that¡¯s why Cindy gave me a room?¡± ¡°Yep, plus you are super cute so I wanted you anyways!¡± Cindy does try to pinch my cheeks, but I move away from her motherly advances. ¡°Cindy¡± Thalia looks at Cindy, stopping her from fooling around. ¡°Wait, so Cindy¡¯s obviously protecting me, what¡¯s your part in this?¡± ¡°Well as you know, I have an aura...can you guess why?¡± ¡°Erm...¡± Wait I thought I¡¯m doing the questioning here!? I hate it when people do this...ermm, oh yeah! ¡°You¡¯re and Berzauraker!¡± ¡°Hah¡± Thalia chuckles lightly ¡°Do I look like I could go berserk?¡± ¡°You¡¯re an Auramancer?¡± That makes much more sense and she nods to that ¡°So how does that make a difference, Cindy was the one who trained me¡± ¡°Wrong¡± Both of them say simultaneously ... .. . Huh? How, what? I don¡¯t understand? Or maybe I think I do actually... ¡°Your training began your first night in Glacia¡± Thalia begins, looking into my eyes. ...Oh because I was at Thalia¡¯s? Seeing my realisation she continues speaking. ¡°I began training you to sense auras-¡± ¡°By subjecting me to them?¡± I cut in. I mean that makes a little sense, how I had a hard time resisting her...though to be honest even without an aura it would be hard to resist her. ¡°Yes, I made sure to keep you encompassed in a weak aura of desire, allowing you to get used to it as well as slowly training your mind to cope with multiple tasks¡± ¡°So reading and writing while resisting you!?¡± Why does everything have to be a deep plot around me?! ¡°Exactly and luckily you didn¡¯t have much difficulty, so I decided to up the ante a little bit more each time¡± This time she flashed her predatory grin. Oh My LORD, it¡¯s just like Cindy¡¯s quadruple cooking method! It got worse each time!! BOTH of them are sneaky, cunning women! ¡°B-but why would that protect me?¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t. But what it did do is make your training to be an Auramancer easier...or that¡¯s what it should of done¡± She gives a guilting look towards Cindy, who looks down slightly in shame. ¡°So it wasn¡¯t Cindy who was trying to make me into an Auramancer? It was you?¡± My mind is hurting, why has Thalia suddenly become some mastermind to this almost month-long plan on making me an Auramancer from day 1. ¡°Partially, Cindy initially agreed, but she took matters into her own hand and after you¡¯d accepted to be a Berzauraker that was that...¡± Cindy, red-faced, looks down at the table. Wow, this is strange, seeing Thalia overpower Cindy so much. ¡°Wait wait, but why did you decide for me to be an Auramancer in the first place? Was it because it was safer for me to be a support? And how did you even know I could become one?¡± ¡°You answered the first question, as to the second one... Remember both of us can see auras, well all 3 of us now, and we could see yours quite clearly from the beginning¡± But I didn¡¯t ha-oh...my Radiating charm!? But that wasn¡¯t active...or is it always slightly active no matter what? ¡°DO I have an aura active on me right now?¡± ¡°Yes, albeit a very weak one¡± OML, no wonder people stare at me, I¡¯ve constantly got Radiating Charm (albeit very weakly) on. That¡¯s not good! ¡°So just by seeing my aura you thought that I could become an Auramancer?¡± ¡°Yes, but we weren¡¯t sure till you actively made it stronger¡± Cindy finally talks ... .. . OH...that explains holy mother of god that explains some things: It explains why she began the training quite literally straight after seeing that (ignoring the whole overprotecting part of the day) and possibly why she actually allowed me to become a Berzauraker (because I proved that I could handle myself and that I wanted to, more importantly I guess). ... ¡°So I was being tricked by the both of you, so that I would become and Auramancer for my own protection?¡± ¡°Yes¡± Thalia confirms. ...Should I be mad? I¡¯ve gotten an extremely cool class and so many bonuses, even if yes I did not get a choice and this was all planned for me (well most of it)...it still benefitted me in the long run AND they were thinking about me...which is actually quite nice of them. ¡°I...don¡¯t think I¡¯m mad at you...just a little confused by the fact that all that¡¯s happened between us¡± I point at both of them ¡°Was all planned in a way...¡± Thalia nods, but I also catch her lick her lips ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say everything was part of the plan...it just sort of worked out with it¡± Oh...so at least that was...not planned...by both of them at least (I¡¯m pretty sure Thalia had it all planned out without Cindy¡¯s knowledge... did she?). ¡°Cindy did you know about that?¡± ¡°Yes¡± She looks down guiltily...You knew about it and didn¡¯t do anything? ¡°Wait, so what was the plan for you to sneakily train me if it wasn¡¯t that?¡± I turn back to Thalia, who¡¯s still grinning saucily (I actually like that better than her serious tone and face to be honest...scary). ¡°Well, I was originally going to get you into alchemy, but seems like you got yourself into a teensy bit of debt and well I couldn¡¯t not use that to my advantage¡± She gives me a most predatory grin *shiver*. Really?! I feel so used (even if I¡¯ve known it for a long while)! ¡°B-but what about the whole...¡± I point to my title. ¡°Well what can I say, I¡¯m quite the sucker to cute young girls¡± That¡¯s kind of creepy! And she mentioned girl? ¡°Ho-¡± ¡°Oh c¡¯mon darling, if Linda can tell you¡¯re a girl, neither me nor Cindy would have a problem... ¡°How long have you known?¡± I look at Cindy, perplexed. ¡°First look¡± She guiltily admits. OH NO WONDER I¡¯VE BEEN TREATED IN SUCH AN ODD FASHION SINCE DAY ONE. AND IT¡¯S SCARIER THAT THALIA KNOWS I¡¯M A GIRL YET STILL HAS SUCH ADVANCES, NEVER CROSSED MY MIND! I¡¯m actually just mindboggled...just how many people in the village know I¡¯m a girl (although I¡¯m sure pretty much all of them suspect in the least)? Also, how old are both of them? (From what I take it, Thalia actually said Cindy¡¯s older than Linda?! But I thought Cindy¡¯s human...why are there so many questions??? Aaaaaaaaaaaaah). ¡°So sorry for doing so, but we told you are reasons and hope that you can truly forgive us, please¡± Thalia apologizes sincerely and really, I can¡¯t be too mad at them...I did get some cool stuff in the end. Huuu, guess I can forgive them...but I do have to get a couple of answers from them soon, especially about as to who they both really are (something about them feels very off now, especially now that I know both are somehow related to one another...). ¡°Alright, forgiven...on one condition¡± ¡°Sure, just be gentle¡± Thalia coyly smiles, biting her finger. DAMMIT NO, STOP, IT¡¯S EVEN CREEPEIR NOW THAT I KNOW YOU KNWO I¡¯M A GIRL EVEN IF I¡¯M REALLY NOT WHICH IS SUCH A BIZARRE FEELING AND I DON¡¯T KNOW WHAT TO THINK! ¡°Cindy¡± Thalia¡¯s smile turns into a pout ¡°Tell me what you are¡± I mean, it is probably the best question I have, since honestly don¡¯t know what to ask for...my mind isn¡¯t exactly working right now. ¡°I¡¯m a Barbarian¡± She answers with a little hesitation... That¡¯s not right, she must be lying...but at the same time I have a feeling she¡¯s not...maybe a half truth? But what does that mean? Why does one question always lead to more!? I look unamused and untrusting towards Cindy. ¡°Some things can¡¯t be answered darling¡± Thalia distracts me, letting Cindy free from my untrusting gaze. ...I guess people can have their secrets...for now (don¡¯t really like people having secrets from me, especially if I want to trust them). ¡°Fine, fine have your secrets...but no more playing around with me, I¡¯m not a little girl, I¡¯m a warrior...ess¡± Both nod and Thalia stands up ready to leave. ¡°Oh Kal, don¡¯t tell anyone about this, and not about me and Thalia either¡± Cindy encases my hands in hers. ¡°I promise¡± Huh...so these two are secretly friends? Or allies? Or something else? And no one in the village knows about this? And Cindy¡¯s not willing to tell me her race, or be completely truthful about it? I do love my conspiracy theories and something definitely smells like some strange conspiracy of some sort between these two. ¡°So is it fine to use my auras in public?¡± I ask as Cindy lets go of my hands. ¡°Yes, people know about me being a Berzauraker¡± But they don¡¯t know about Thalia...hmm, CONSIPIRACY DETECTED 100 PERCENTO! Lady Luck, you have a really strange plan for me don¡¯t you. ¡°Darling, don¡¯t keep me waiting¡± Thalia calls from the door, sending me a wink before disappearing... Ah, I haven¡¯t repayed my debt yet...dammit. Following after her I pass by Rodna, who waves at me and completely ignores Thalia ... .. . B-but both of them talk all the time...Rodna didn¡¯t even glance her way!? It must be an Aura or some strange Dark elf ability (probably that to be honest)...that is extremely odd and fascinating. I¡¯ll have to add that to my list of things to ask about so that I may learn who these two strange yet linked individuals are...since I¡¯ve been thrown into whatever they¡¯re up to (more like I¡¯m the centrepiece of it) so knowing and trusting them is paramount. But before that...I¡¯ve got one last night of battle... Going To School, Yes I Still Go, For Now *Ding Ding* Ahhhh Monday! Jumping out of my bed I have a nice long 5 minute shower. OML 5 minutes you say? That¡¯s the longest shower in literally forever! Yes, but that¡¯s because I haven¡¯t actually washed for...jesus and entire week IRL...yeah I stank. Though, shaving my terrible beard and moustache as well as pits and actually having nice smelling hair, I¡¯m all ready just a little past eight. Knocking on Mickey¡¯s door once I¡¯m dressed, I don¡¯t actually get a response. Hmm he must be downstairs already then. Hopping downstairs, I grab multiple pieces of bread, lather them with peanut butter and chocolate and bananas before wrapping them in clingfilm and stuffing them in my backpack...I can have breakfast later, no time now! Saying bye to Martha, who gives me a worried look but finally determines that I¡¯m fine, I head out the door and get Viper ready. Strolling down the road at a nice 20 miles per hour, it actually seems kind of slow today...maybe because I¡¯ve been running about 13/14 mph for the better part of a week. Arriving at Missy¡¯s at the usually perfect time (phew). I see her come out and give me a nice warm hug. DANGER, FATHER WILL COMMENCE MURDER IN 3...2...1 Ending the hug cleanly, my inner death alarm stops counting down and I breathe a sigh of relief Driving slowly while she clings to my back, is a great feeling...though after Thalia...the feeling¡¯s dulled somewhat. It¡¯s the second odd thing about my RL life I¡¯m noticing this morning. Dropping her off at school, I park viper and get to my tutor group at 8:29:06, with most of a minute to spare haha!. Walking proudly into my classroom, everyone looks at me, some even show signs of worry. ¡°Zach, are you alright?¡± Mila comes up to me, eyes full of worry. ¡°Yeah, heard you were hospitalised¡± Jane adds in, her eyes too reflecting with worry. I glance past them towards Mickey, who just gives the sign that what else could he have said. Ok, kind of true...not sure rumours about me falling unconscious and almost dying from gaming is good for anybody to know... ¡°I just fell off my bike and had a mild concussion, had to spend pretty much the whole week in hospital, but I¡¯m good now so don¡¯t worry¡± I give them both a pat on the shoulder before squeezing past them (seriously gods, please let their growth continue). Well that lie is probably going to fall through since all the teachers know I didn¡¯t go to hospital...but then again I don¡¯t think many of them will blab about it...professionalism and all. So I¡¯m safe...as long as I do the homework. With my reputation somewhat safe and with the rest of the class not truly caring whether I¡¯m fine or not (Mila and Jane represented them enough so that¡¯s all people really need), I sit down in front of Mickey and begin my beautiful sleeping plan! ... .. . Oh wait its maths first period. Keeping my tears back, I get registered and then head to maths class. ¡°Zach, to the board¡± Jerry, conniving maths teacher extraordinaire says with a special little glint in his eyes. Guess he didn¡¯t enjoy my messed up math homework. Dragging my drained corpse to the board, I begin mathematical hell. He gives me eight questions to do on the board (seriously I swear I¡¯m the one teaching everyone). Let¡¯s get this done as fast as possible please (I really need some sleep). Grabbing two board markers, I begin with questions 1 and 2, dividing the board vertically in two. Alright, so do this and that, put the x there, factorise here, divide and multiply... And I¡¯ve somehow not completely screwed it up. (though I had to correct a few mistakes here and there). Doing the rest of the questions in pairs, I end up finishing them a decent amount faster than if I did it one at a time (even if individually the questions took slightly longer than usual). Turning back towards the class, pretty much everyone is slackjawed (even Mickey). ¡°H-how?¡± James, one of my fellow mathmates calls out from the front of the class. ...Oh right, whoops, it isn¡¯t nor-Wait a second; I just answered two questions at once! Oh my god...oh my god! I just thought of doing it quicker, I didn¡¯t actually fully realise that I just did two at a time... ¡°Practice¡± Yeah, explaining it is not going to happen (because it¡¯s a special skill secret suckers woo!). Jerry, quite flabbergasted himself tells me to return to my seat and continues the lesson. Ahhh, time for breakfast and nap. Munching on my bread (thankfully Jerry is nice enough to allow food in class...says it¡¯s useful to keep your brain active while working...fair enough), I finish it off quickly and then drop off into a deep sleep...for an hour at least. Luckily the rest of the morning is just biology and psyche, so sleeping through those is easy peasy. However my real day challenge begins at lunch. *Ding* My alarm goes off 10 seconds before 12pm, allowing me time to gain my senses before bursting out my chair at the ring of the school bell. Diving under James¡¯ chair, I then jump over Derek¡¯s, pirouetting as I land to not hit Foreman as he gets out of his chair, before dashing off across the open space and out into the corridor. Kicking off the corridor wall, I use my momentum to push off in the direction of the cafeteria, so fast that I¡¯m at the stairs by the time Clara, the hall monitor steps out of her own classroom. Jumping the entire flight of stairs, landing then jumping the next flight, I roll when I next land, rocketing up and continually sprinting through the corridor and into the canteen. ...2nd...Seriously? I ran so fast that I¡¯ve smashed my usual record of just under 2 minutes to a 1 minute 2 seconds from my class to the canteen. But I¡¯m still second! The guy in-front, well no surprise, is Ricky. Ricky is the sprinter of the school basically: his life is a mania of sporty activities all based around him running faster than everyone else so nobody can catch him. So therefore he¡¯s basically the star of the football, rugby, Ultimate Frisbee, athletics and basketball club...Which is pretty impressive mind you. But he isn¡¯t some muscle freak with bulging arms and abs...He¡¯s actually a really lean guy (with some seriously toned legs and arms). I¡¯ve only challenged him once running...he won by a mile. Like if anyone was ever going to be an Olympic runner, it¡¯s this guy. But c¡¯mon, I¡¯d just love to be 1st in queue (yeah, since he came no one has ever been 1st in queue since, unless they arrive before the bell but no one counts that). ¡°Hey Zach, heard you went to hospital¡± Although his tone is sincere, his eyes are more analyzing; as if trying to figure me out (I¡¯m a pretty simple guy, or I think I am). ¡°But I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s a lie¡± Huh? How could he tell? ¡°By your facial expression I can tell you¡¯re confused. But if someone were to be at hospital for a week, I¡¯d think there¡¯d be a visible mark of such a visit should there not?¡± Smart and athletic, too perfect for his own good, eugh. Why are people always so perfect!? ¡°Yeah, just gamed too much¡± I concede, he¡¯ll figure it out anyways (plus I¡¯ve never heard of him to be a snitch). Immediately his eyes light up in a strange fashion. ¡°Insanity Online¡± ... .. . No way...Ricky? I¡¯d never think of him being on a computer...scratch that, I don¡¯t think he¡¯s ever touched an electronic device before! ¡°You?¡± ¡°Yea¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Have you not...oh you haven¡¯t been here¡± I¡¯m definitely missing some information here! Plus it¡¯s so weird to think of Ricky playing Insanity Online. ¡°It¡¯s because o-¡± ¡°Zach¡± Missy calls from a distance, immediately catching my attention and of course I quickly grab lunch, apologising to Ricky for not having time to stay and chat and zip towards her, sitting down in the lunch hall for once in a blue moon. Sadly today is chicken goujons and curly fries (I say sadly but they¡¯re pretty damn delicious).Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Mickey joins us at the table and the three of us silently dig into the group meal. *Thunk* Ricky¡¯s plate settles down on the space next to me and just after Ricky sits down next to me. I quickly glance towards both Mickey and Missy, who shrug their shoulders. Nobody invited him so why is this seriously cool, way out of our friendship league sitting with us (I¡¯m going to ignore that Missy¡¯s also way out of any league because she¡¯s been a friend for so long). ¡°Erm Ricky, not trying to be rude or anything but-¡± ¡°How do I get a class?¡± He blurts out ... .. . Ohhhhhhh OHHHHHHH...I HAVE POWER OVER THIS ONE! He¡¯s asking me about game related details, because he knows that I am a humongous nerd. He didn¡¯t even use the possible blackmail card, so bonus points for you Ricky. ¡°Well in all honesty, I don¡¯t think my way of getting one was exactly normal¡± ¡°You got a class?¡± Mickey butts in ¡°is it special?¡± Even Missy leans in and I note a couple of quite interested onlookers (probably from Ricky) leaning in too. ¡°It¡¯s special as in not easy to find, but it¡¯s actually a pretty common class if you think about it¡± Mickey¡¯s eyes bore into mine wanting explanation. ¡°It¡¯s a Berzerker¡± ¡°Oh¡± Mickey gets slightly less excited, slightly. Though Ricky looks confused as hell...oh right, he has no idea, ooh it¡¯ll be fun teaching this one! ¡°Berzerkers are basically warriors who rage and don¡¯t have much armour on¡± I think that¡¯s a decently dummed down explanation and Ricky seems to get it. I guess he¡¯s been playing enough to understand that at least. Looking at Mickey I motion for him to explain, since I¡¯m guessing he has a better idea on classes and stuff (since he¡¯s not stuck in the middle of nowhere...with zilch information...). ¡°Ahem. Well first you must understand there are four types of classes: Unique, Hidden, Special and Normal. Berzerkers are Special classes, so they¡¯re harder to find and get, but they¡¯re not the best class by far. Now I¡¯m a warrior, which is a Normal class, so nothing special about me; there are literally thousands of me. Around the world there are people who will teach you classes and usually they will give you a normal/special class. Hidden classes are as the name suggest, hidden and require a lot of work to find, while unique classes are only given under certain circumstances. An example for a unique class is...well no one is a unique class as of yet and if they are they won¡¯t tell¡± I swear Mickey just glanced at me (hey I don¡¯t have a unique class...just a Hidden Special one...). ¡°So for a class I just need to find someone to give it to me?¡± Ricky asks, completely absorbed, yet his eyes still show a shimmer of analyticness. ¡°Yes, however any class above normal require conditions and quests for you to complete, some of which you naturally can¡¯t because of one reason or another. One set in stone condition is to be above level 10¡± Ricky looks down in thought...wait, is he not even level 10 yet? ¡°Thank you guys...erm I know you may not have noticed but I don¡¯t really know much about this game... I haven¡¯t even started yet actually¡± Oh no...I can feel it, HERE IT COMES ¡°So would it be cool if...you helped me out a little in-game?¡± Ah knew it! The NOOB PREACH! Ah how it has been a long time since someone has done that in my presence. Hmm, though doing so might make me more friendly to Ricky...plus I¡¯m a fan of making sure people fall in love with games (what can I say, I¡¯m a digital cupid). ¡°Sorry Ricky, but I¡¯ve already got my hands full with this one¡± Mickey points to Missy with a chuckle, who retorts by expertly shoving a curly fry up his nose. While Mickey recovers on the floor, coughing and spluttering, I turn to Ricky. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll help you get on your feet¡± ¡°Really?¡± Both him and Missy look at me in awe/disbelief (seriously Missy, I do have a heart). ¡°Yeah, I need a break from my main, something calm would be great right now¡± ¡°Main?¡± ¡°Oh, you can have 5 characters, so the one you play most is called your main¡± ¡°So are the other 4 called subs or something?¡± ¡°Not exactly. Usually you¡¯ll have your Banker, your Farmer, your Craftsman and The rest are just substitutes for when you¡¯re bored with your main¡± Ricky raises his eyebrows, confused. ¡°Your Banker will always be by your bank so you can constantly just trade things. Your farmer will farm gold, don¡¯t try to understand that, and your Craftsman will basically just sit in a city and craft. It¡¯s more convenient to have them all as different characters because you can¡¯t always find the best craftsmanship and farming in the same place¡± Ricky nods, probably not understanding anything. ¡°Anyways, I can give you 2-3 days in game to help you before I need to get back to work¡± ¡°Sure that sounds perfect¡± Ricky sounds really happy, while I notice Missy looking rather dour. ¡°Right, I need to go to basketball practice. See you in game¡± He starts to race off. ¡°Ricky!¡± I call after him, causing him to stop and swerve round. ¡°What¡¯s your in-game name?¡± Oh, maybe shouldn¡¯t have asked that question out loud...but then again the more people that know here, the more likely they will help him (I do know that around a fifth of the school plays). ¡°RickyLamper¡± He shouts back before buzzing off ... .. . He just used his real name didn¡¯t he...? I¡¯m not going to be surprised if his ingame character is literally him, with the same messy brown hair, brown eyes and bony face spotted with freckles...No surprise at all. Turning back to the rest of my meal, Mickey finally recovered and Missy now looks at me with a rather...unhappy expression. ¡°He asked and you know how I am with noobs¡± She looks darkly at me ¡°And you have Mickey anyways¡± The darkness spreads from her eyes into her body causing her to shake the table in anger ¡°I¡¯ll come visit you with my main as soon as I can ok?¡± The table stops rumbling...phew, survived. ¡°So how was your first week of-¡± I ask her, moving it all onto her and away from me and Ricky, stopping mid sentence because I get the feeling I wasn¡¯t supposed to ask out loud. That could cause hell to break loose with everyone trying to get her in-game name. Both Mickey and Missy look at me with raised eyebrows. ¡°Oh right, I forgot to tell you, sorry man¡± Mickey claps himself on the forehead ¡°Everyone knows¡± Oh ok. That would explain why no one seems overly amazed when Mickey announces that (though a few still glance our way). Mickey leans in and whispers ¡°It¡¯s also the reason why almost the entire school is now playing Insanity Online¡± ... .. . Ohhhhh...wow, WOW. Missy has some powerful influence. And that explains why someone like Ricky, who¡¯s probably never touched an electronical device before (seriously, never seen him with a cellphone, ever) is playing Insanity Online. ¡°Tell me about it later¡± I whisper back to him. ¡°So how did you find the past week?¡± I turn back to Missy giving her my undivided attention. ¡°Well it¡¯s been quite fun learning a whole bunch of spells and finding out the system is so open¡± ... .. . Spells? Did my ears fail me? Nope the look Mickey¡¯s responding with is telling me that Missy is learning spells. ¡°Missy, what is your class?¡± ¡°Oh, I haven¡¯t actually gotten one yet because Mickey keeps telling me I should try find a special one at least, but you could say I¡¯m a fire mage¡± ... .. . Mickey?! He just looks at me with as much confusion as I¡¯ve given him. Yeah we both know that she¡¯s not a spellcaster, in the slightest. Honestly, out of three of us, she¡¯s way more likely to be the Berzerker. And by looking at what she usually played in the mmo¡¯s that I was able to introduce to her a long time ago, she favoured the more beat the living daylights out of the enemy class... ¡°So, what made you decide to be a fire mage?¡± Might as well know why. ¡°Well magic just seemed really interesting, especially because we¡¯re casting ourselves, and fire is really fun¡± There¡¯s a glint in her eye which makes me glance at Mickey, seeing him just look back with morbid terror painted on his face ... .. . Oh no...What have we done? ¡°Oh time for Netball¡± Missy announces and jogs off, carpeted by stares as per usual. ¡°Mickey, why¡¯d you let her go mage? And fire at that?¡± I whisper half angrily, half confused to him. For we both know the consequence of letting a rather violent personality have destructive magic... ¡°I didn¡¯t have a choice, plus I¡¯m trying my best to stop her finalizing it. She scary enough as a wanderer¡± he whispers back as angry and confused as I ¡°What¡¯s she done?¡± ¡°They call her the Burning Witch¡± a voice answers from behind, obviously listening in to our situation. Aaaand that sounds like Mila¡¯s voice. Turning round, I see her equally hot shadow Jane standing by her. ¡°Firstly, private conversation, secondly what?¡± ¡°Firstly, you¡¯re a terrible whisperer, everyone can hear you, secondly it¡¯s the nickname she¡¯s got on the forums for burning down an entire forest in one of the beginner villages¡± She sassily responds back to me without missing a heartbeat. Whipping my head back to Mickey, he nods. What the hell Mickey, why¡¯d you let her do that? ¡°Anyways, we heard you¡¯re going to be helping Ricky out¡± Oh no, Lady Luck don¡¯t play around with me please ¡°So could you help us out too?¡± Hmm...Number 4 and 5 asking me to help them out...not sure if that¡¯s a good thing or a bad thing...maybe a little bit of both? I really shouldn¡¯t, but as long as I make clear only them and no one else then I should be fine (Definitely going to regret this I can tell already). ¡°Sure, I could help you out but I¡¯ll be busy with Ricky today¡± ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry about that, we haven¡¯t make our characters yet, we just got the game ehe¡± Jane replies quickly with an embarrassed laugh. ¡°So we could spawn in the same village and you can help all 3 of us?¡± Mila gives a perfect plan. That is a good plan indeed, 3 birds with one stone. I WILL BE THE MASTER OF THREE OF THE MOST POPULAR PEOPLE IN THE SCHOOL WOO! They both jump in joy, even hug me (slight bonus but not as much as Missy¡¯s bonus!) before heading off. I feel rather empowered today! Finishing off my lunch in gusto talking about class related things with Mickey, I learnt a few useful things: Firstly classes have skill trees and most will be based off the Normal classes; Warrior, Thief and Mage. According to Mickey special classes get access to a single tree while having a specific skill tree, whereas Hidden classes will have access to two skill trees, supposedly Normal ones along with a few unique skills. Now my class, since its hidden special, has access to both the specific skill trees of its respective special classes as well as a few unique skills, pretty awesome. However the only downside is that I can only take Berzerker/Auramancer specific skills, so no basic warrior skills (except the ones I have), no Thief skills and no mage skills, a slight shame. Lunch passes quickly and after asking a few more important questions, I learn that due to Missy accidentally blurting out that she¡¯s playing Insanity Online, mostly everyone has begun playing...rather interesting indeed. Also according to Mickey someone¡¯s already set up a guild based around Missy on one of the more popular forums (don¡¯t ask me I don¡¯t bother checking those things): The Pyre is the most voted for name at the moment it seems (It¡¯s ironic, I give them that). Returning back to class, both of us sleep through the rest of it, or so I thought I would. Psychology class, what a wondrous class. ¡°Now children¡± Our teacher, Roger; frizzy grey hair and a handlebar moustache, the same grey colour bobs around the room with the energy of a young adult, even though he is in his late 40¡¯s. ¡°Out of Mage, Warrior and Thief, which is the best class?¡± ... .. . Erm, what happened to Psyche? Though I seem to be the only one who is looking confused...o...k? ¡°Thief¡± Someone shouts out, I¡¯m not concentrating enough to see who. ¡°Why¡± Roger turns on them with questioning predation ¡°Because they have the highest dps and single target killing power¡± Quite a few students nod at this. Wait a second, why are we discussing this in Psyche class? ¡°Roger, are you going to start Insanity Online too?¡± I blurt out, because that¡¯s the only logical explanation for this: fishing for information rather bluntly. ¡°Indeed!¡± Quite a few students clap in excitement (Well we do rather enjoy Roger, he¡¯s a bubbly, fun man to be honest and that¡¯s why I do all my psyche essays!). ¡°So what about you Zach, since you¡¯re quite the gamer yourself you should have a good idea on what the best class is¡± ¡°Mage¡± A few nod at that, but a majority shake their heads. Mages have always been called the weaker class, mostly because thieves just massacre them in one on ones, quite literally all the time. Though it does slightly depend on the type of Mage. Roger gestures to continue. ¡°Well the spell capabilities for a mage in Insanity Online are tremendous, even if it may be limited to a single type¡± I actually have no idea if you can have more than one type of magic, maybe I should look that up, but as with most games you¡¯ll focus on one type of magic really. ¡°True, but I still don¡¯t quite see why a Mage would be better than a Thief¡± Roger tries to reel more information out of me. ¡°Well as great as Thieves are, their potential is limited. A mage¡¯s potential is much higher and will most likely shine in the later game. A Thief in the end will become a one to few trick pony, a mage will remain a sole circus you could imagine¡± ¡°Wonderful, wonderful explanation¡± Roger claps his hands. ¡°Now by all your reactions to these two answers we can see that those with the more western culture in this class tended towards thief, simply because Thieves are obviously powerful, whereas Mages tend to require time to become so. Thus we can see the cultural differences between the western more individualistic cultures and the more collectivistic eastern cultures: The individualistic ones preferred the Thief because it was immediate power and immediate gain whereas the more collectivistic cultures preferred Mage due to not having issue with having to wait for gain. This idea is used in a study by-¡± Wow, can¡¯t believe he actually tied that into psychology...This is why I like the guy and probably why he got the job too. The lesson quickly divulged into a talk about individualistic and collectivistic cultural differences to which I summarily nodded off...I read these chapters while going through hell week (He has us write an essay each week on what we are going to learn, eugh it¡¯s useful but kind of horrible). Waking up to the school bell, schools over! And I fly out the door...only to be stopped by Roger calling me. Oh yeah, we call teachers by their first names here (some strange thing about trying to make international students more comfortable...slightly strange but it¡¯s nice I guess). ¡°Whaat is it Roger?¡± Slightly apprehensive BECAUSE MY GAMER SENSES ARE TINGLING. ¡°I overheard you¡¯re helping M-¡± ¡°You can join too, but seriously people have got to stop asking¡± I interrupt him, obviously knowing what he¡¯s going to say. ¡°Oh thanks but I was just going to ask if you needed help sorting them out, since teaching 3 people without any prior training can get slightly annoying¡± ¡°Really?¡± That might actually be pretty useful I guess? ¡°Sure you can come along, but I¡¯m in charge ok?¡± I have a feeling he does have things to learn too. ¡°Sure dues Zach¡± ¡°Sir to you¡± ¡°Oho, cheeky little blighter¡± He doesn¡¯t say no though! Laughing, I leave him after telling him my Skype (backup, not my main for obvious reasons) and then head off home super happy. Although Missy looks slightly annoyed that I made her wait for a few minutes. ¡°Sorry, teacher held me back¡± She simply shrugs away the anger and mounts behind me. Ahh, much better reward than Mila and Jane. Right, back to home because I need to teach those two, Ricky and my Psychology teacher how to play games (Always wanted to say that woo!). Teaching the Noobs Part 1 Logging in...and no Thalia by my side, phew. Sneaking out the house (thankfully she¡¯s off somewhere), I sneak into Cindy¡¯s and lie on my fur mattress (finally back in its usual position). Logging out, I go back to character creation and enter that white-squared room once again. Luckily no loading time is needed and my world quickly fills with a line of characters, as well as Allie, her curly blond pigtails bobbing happily along with her. ¡°Hey there again¡± Eugh I forgot about her monotonic voice. ¡°Hey Allie, I need to make another character¡± ¡°Within calculations¡± Oh she¡¯s at it again. Hmm I wonder what¡¯s she¡¯s calculating this time. ¡°I would like a human, exactly as I am but called ZMaster¡± ¡°...Not within calculation spectrum¡± Obviously, I mean who would want a character of themselves, like ever? As the dozens of races fly away, leaving an exact copy of me mirroring my actions, I find a query to ask. ¡°Ah Allie, is there a way to delete characters?¡± ¡°No, once made they cannot be deleted¡± Well that kind of sucks, if I create me then that¡¯s one slot wasted... ¡°Hmm...is there a way you can delete this character for me, if I said this one is made simply to guide others in a tutorial-like manner?¡± She cocks her head and then smiles ¡°Why if you are using your character as a an instructor for a tutorial I will be able to delete your character, but it will disallow you to create one for the next 30 in game days¡± I¡¯m pretty sure she just made that up...but it¡¯s a win so don¡¯t see why not. ¡°Sounds Fair¡± Finalizing my voice (of course making it deeper and more commanding) I accept the changes. ¡°Where would you like to spawn?¡± ¡°Ah, before I do that, may I bring my tutorialees here?¡± ¡°It is possible if they are all making their characters¡± ¡°They are. Oh, and just in case they ask; tell them that I¡¯ve asked an admin and been given permission to do this¡± ¡°Makes logical sense to not make others think of my capabilities, as only fourteen out of eighty two thousand have talked to me like you do¡± ¡°Perfect¡± I give her Ricky¡¯s character name along with Mila and Jane¡¯s full names and Roger¡¯s Skype (he added me on a few minutes ago). With four big flashes the all appear before me, looking mildly confused, especially when they see me. ¡°Hi guys, welcome to your character creation, there should be a line of your races in either direction I believe¡± I note out loud as I look around, seeing that we¡¯re boxed in by 4 sets of different races. ¡°Ooh group character creation, never knew we could do this¡± Mila¡¯s eyes sparkle alongside Jane¡¯s. ¡°I contacted some admins and they agreed to let me help you learn. This is the original helper, Allie, who will still help somewhat, especially with the women¡± I point to Allie, who curtsies (how cute). Everyone finds their respective race line by moving around and see which one mirrors them. ¡°Ok, so first things first, everyone find a race that you like¡± Immediately Mila and Jane start zipping through wide eyed, while Roger and Ricky take a more thoughtful approach... ¡°Draconids!¡± Mila stops on the half-dragon half-human race. ¡°No fair, they look cool!¡± Jane pouts and continues to scroll on. Maybe they have an agreement to be different? I mean in RL they look pretty similar (hence why some people call Jane, Mila¡¯s Shadow. That and a few other reasons). ¡°Oho¡± *CRACK* Swivelling back round to Jane, I spot her flicking her hand while a cloned version of her with small curved horns, golden eyes, demonic red skin and don¡¯t forget the black leathery wings and tail, cracks her whip. Damn, Jane the Succubus, can¡¯t actually say no to that...even if she looks a bit childish without much there... She without hesitation picks it though (Guess she wants to beat Mila sometime?!). While Allie buzzes off to help their features, I walk over to Roger, who¡¯s having a difficult time. ¡°Hmm Zach, I don¡¯t know what to be¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that always the problem...well think what kind of class you want your character to be and maybe build your race around that?¡± ¡°But what if you don¡¯t know what you want your class to be¡± A voice asks from my right Ricky was listening in it seems. ¡°Then forget my advice, I¡¯ll get to you in a second¡± Turning back to Roger, he¡¯s still flicking about aimlessly. ¡°So what class do you want?¡± ¡°Hmm, well according to you, magic users tend to be better in the late game, however I¡¯d like to hit things too...without being hit¡± It¡¯s as if he¡¯s almost got it! ¡°Then play a small race, something like a gnome, something small and quick¡± ¡°Wait, I¡¯ve found it¡± Roger finally stops on...a centaur. Well I¡¯m sure there¡¯s some reasoning behind this? ¡°Why¡¯d you choose a centaur?¡± ¡°Because they¡¯re renowned party animals, literally. Plus I get to be half a horse and you know what they say about horses¡± *wink* ¡°Also I¡¯ll be super fast and give cute girls free rides¡± He adds on with a whisper. WOW he may be 40 odd but he¡¯s still a raring party monger it seems? Centaur seems like fun I guess though? Well that leaves him sorted anyways. While he changes his features (I do see him sneak a peek at the female version, but decides on the male), I walk over to Ricky. ¡°Right, so I was thinking...I want to be speedy¡± ¡°Good, so would you like to be normal, good or evil, fantastical, or disgusting looking?¡± ¡°Erm...fantastical? Sounds different¡± It sure is in some ways. ¡°Cool¡± I show him how to flick the choices he doesn¡¯t want away and we¡¯re left with about two fantastical races. Getting rid of the more ugly ones, as well as the ones that look like they¡¯ll be slow as hell we¡¯re left with a few elementals, something called a Pukwudge, iffrit and djinn, nymph and satyr¡± ¡°Which one out of these would be the fastest?¡± Not sure he quite understands that races don¡¯t change your gameplay much...but guess i¡¯ll try. ¡°I¡¯d say the wind elemental, the sylph would be fastest?¡± I¡¯m making a guess because wind is faster than the rest of the elements? (Pretty logical I think). He nods and chooses a sylph. Which is kind of strange because it¡¯s simply a human shape formed of air (more like clouds really) making him half visible at most. Though there is an option for a more human form with blue tattoos. Ricky goes for the basically an air elemental kind of look. Helping him with the rest of his character features, I tell him to make himself look slightly different. And so he changes his nose, to make it a lot more narrow. Wow, you only make yourself look more perfect, genius! Right he looks done for that. Telling him, who is now a floating chunk of air, to follow me, we go towards a young bucking stallion with a glowing chestnut mane on the horse part with long flowing locks of black hair on the human part. ¡°Ya¡¯ll ready to get Randaaaaaay¡± He raises his front hooves in the air with a glorious cry. Wow, I¡¯m not sure whether Roger is awesome or just bizarre. I¡¯m going with awesomely bizarre. Having a better look at his face, I see it to be Roger, but a younger version with a clean shaven face and a special glint in his quite mesmerising green eyes. He¡¯s really going to enjoy this isn¡¯t he? Taking the two of them with me, my growing parade of bizarrities head to the succubus. Standing, facing each-other a few inches apart (not able to get closer) they both grin with a competitive look in their eyes. Apparently, both of them had growth spurts and I¡¯m inclined to nod in satisfaction towards Allie for her good work. Jane the succubus has black curved ram horns sticking out her forehead and although her face is of Jane¡¯s (albeit slightly more mature looking) she¡¯s grown quite a lot... Mila is a little different with being a green dragon with a lengthened and more draconic face but she also has grown quite a bit. Wow, seems like I wasn¡¯t the only one who felt disappointed with their growth spurt. ¡°Alright are you done?¡± I call towards them, breaking their concentration towards one another. They both nod. ¡°Ok next step is...choosing a pool (right have to do this myself)¡± They all cock their heads in confusion, jumping slightly back in shock when a blue window appears in front of each of them and for me too. ¡°There¡¯s Mana, Rage and Energy it says¡± Ricky helpfully points out. ¡°Mana can have the largest capacity, so like a large battery; but once its run out it takes a long time to recharge. Rage has a smaller capacity and like a solar battery, requires a specific thing to charge up. In this game and all games its damage. Energy has the smallest capacity but it recharges at a fast rate, like a rechargeable battery¡± Looks like everyone understands somewhat. ¡°So what is best?¡± Mila asks as she raises her hand. Hmm, good question. Depends on persons gameplay style and whatnot...Ah! ¡°Right, everyone I¡¯m going to ask you a couple of questions to help you with this and the rest of the character creation Ok?¡± Everyone nods ¡°Firstly do you want to deal damage, support others or be able to take lots of damage?¡± ¡°Deal damage¡± Everyone but Roger says simultaneously. Well no tanks here then eh ¡°Support sounds kind of fun¡± Roger looks pensively in the sky...what plan is he cooking up in that mind of his? Alright, so your pool depends on your playstyle. Let¡¯s begin with Roger since you¡¯ll be the simplest. As a support you shouldn¡¯t be taking damage, so no need for Rage, therefore you have a choice of being able to cast mass support or individual support¡± ¡°Individual¡± ¡°Energy it is for you. Now you 3, would you like to be a warrior/thief or mage?¡± ¡°Mage¡± All three say. Wow this might be a strange party indeed. ¡°But I want to hit things too¡± Ricky adds on. Hmm ok, so let¡¯s begin with Ricky. ¡°Ricky, would you rather want to one-shot things, whittle them away or win by attrition¡± ¡°Erm...whittling them away is safest isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°In a way, because if your one-shot misses you¡¯re kind of screwed¡± I confirm for him. He too chooses energy. ¡°Now the two of you, do you want large area magic to blow everything up or small magic that can be used continually and for more individual targets¡± ¡°Why aren¡¯t there 3 options?¡± Jane asks confused. ¡°Because Rage isn¡¯t a useful pool for mages¡± Completely forgetting strange situations like J?t ¡°Mages aren¡¯t supposed to take damage so if they do that¡¯s not good usually¡± After some deliberation between themselves Mila looks back at me. ¡°Why would we ever choose small continuous magic over large area magic?¡± ¡°Simply because continuous magic means that you¡¯ll never run out and with your large area magic, when you finally run out you will die because without any use of your pool, as a mage you¡¯ll die¡± Putting it simply as to why I¡¯d choose energy over mana anytime.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. But mana does have its uses in large scale battles (mana users will definitely be wanted in late game guild wars). ¡°Continuous magic then¡± Both agree. ... .. . I¡¯ve just made 4 energy users...this might get interesting. ¡°Right, next are weapons. If you want to be a mage, choose a rod of a magic type, and for you Roger, as a support-¡± ¡°I¡¯LL HAVE A LANCE¡± He proclaims to the window that just popped up in front of him, and it surprisingly produces one for him, well a spear...so close enough. Huh I¡¯m not sure whether Roger and I agree on what a support is. The others choose their beginning staves. Ricky goes for air (no surprise honestly) while Mila goes for earth and Jane goes for fire (colour coded, nice). I go for an axe because I love me axes. ¡°Next is armour¡± Another window pops up and everyone starts to have a look through ¡°Now armour causes spell failure and the heavier the armour the higher the spell fail chance¡± All nod in understanding and Ricky raises his hand ¡°But if I¡¯ve cast the spell and it¡¯s something that stays for a while?¡± ¡°Ah, depends on the spell, but to be safe don¡¯t wear much armour. For you Ricky, I think you should get some leather armour and the rest as cloth. Yes you can mix and match. Whereas Mila and Jane, you should just wear cloth since it doesn¡¯t have a fail chance at all. As for you Roger...¡± I turn towards him to see him fully covered in plate with a full on faceplate, even the horse parts...wow. ¡°I¡¯M A FREAKING WARHORSE¡± He neighs to the air, rearing and stomping to the ground with a trembling thud. I think he got support mixed up with tank. ¡°Roger, as a support you¡¯ll be helping people with spells and such...why the armour?¡± ¡°Oh, well I was thinking that I¡¯d support people by being a ride for them into battle thus leaving both their arms free while I make sure we both survive¡± For the quite a lotith time today: wow. So Roger¡¯s going to be a living warhorse, so a tank/technical support which will crush things underfoot? Seems like Roger might become one dangerous foe on the open plains. With that sorted, everyone is fully equipped (Roger even got himself a towershield, which doesn¡¯t reach the floor due to him being 2.5 metres tall...). I think getting so much plate at the beginning of the game is slightly cheaty...but then again the cost to get horse fitted plate has got to cost way more than a pretty penny. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± I finally choose a full set of leather armour and press accept. ¡°Yes¡± They all chime in unison, with their own voices I see...seems like you need to ask for a voice configurator. I peek at Allie and she nods, I assume she¡¯s mathematically figured out what I¡¯m wondering. ¡°Somewhere with lots of open grass would be nice Allie¡± I bow to her and she teleports us off, each of us disappearing into a shimmer of light. And we appear at a small village in what seems like the middle of summer. The village is a dingy little place with around 6 houses along with a smithy, an inn and stables. We spawned on a slightly hilly grassy plain and for quite a large distance that¡¯s all there is (there¡¯s a small forest in the distance but that¡¯s about it as far as I can see. I do spot a couple of people fighting here and there and a couple milling in the village, obvious by their ecstatic demeanour. Perfect for Roger I believe. ¡°Right, so Let us open your stat screen...¡± Oh god names. ¡°Give me a second¡± Sending a message to Allie about forgetting to set their names and allowing them to change it once on their character sheet, I hope she allows it. ¡°Open up your character sheet, you can do so in the menu¡± I swipe down with my right hand ¡°Or just simply think it¡±. I see a few blank windows opening and I decide to open my own
NAME: ZMaster
TITLE: (none)
Class tree: Wanderer Class: None
Race: Human Gender Male
Level 1 Experience 0%
STATUS: Remaining points (0)
Health Points: 110/110 HP regen (out of combat) 1/sec
Energy 100/100 Energy regen 10/sec
STR: 10 TGH: 10
AGI: 10 VIT: 10
INT: 10 MND: 10
ATTK: Phys 10-11 Extra: None
DEF: 25 M.Res: 17
Satiety: 99/100 (well fed)
SKILLS:
One-handed Axe Mastery [lvl1] -Hack (Active) Leather Mastery [Lvl 1] Racials [max] -Versatile -Quick Learner -Diverse
Quite boring. ¡°Right, first change your name at the top of your character sheet, and don¡¯t give your own name please¡± Everyone thinks and ponders about their names for a bit (phew, seems Allie accepted the request...since technically her/my mistake). Eventually I see their names change one by one...oh my god, I really shouldn¡¯t have given them free reign ... .. . ¡°Come follow me...JuicyTemptress, EarthenBabe, QuickyRicky and Rogerick Zulataine¡± To be honest at least Roger¡¯s name is...bearable...I mean what was going through their heads?? I kind of want to cry...but it¡¯s not my name so I¡¯m fine. Pacing across the field calmly, I quickly find a nice spot to sit down. ¡°Ok, so I¡¯m going to tell you all about the 6 stats we have. STR is strength, so how strong you are. Game-wise it affects damage. AGI is agility, so how agile you are, it affects anything that requires accuracy and or speed. INT is intelligence, it increases your magic damage. TGH, toughness, increases your natural defence. VIT, vitality, increase your hit points and MND is mind which increases your magical resistance as well as increasing your pool. Use this knowledge when you want to put points into these stats¡± Juicy raises her hand. ¡°We get points?¡± ¡°Every level you will get 2 points to spend, though in this game it seems equipment will give you stats as long as you wear them¡± Making sure they understand that, I then stand up and have a look at what I can use as combat practice. In sight are rabbits and some boars. Perfect! Going up to a boar, it¡¯s passive. Well this is slightly unfair.
Name: Plains Boar [Lvl 3]
100/100
¡°Ok, so combat works quite like real life¡± I go up to the boar and chop my axe into its head. -16 (84/100) ¡°Hitting vital areas cause¡¯s criticals, which are double damage¡± I sidestep the boar as I tries to gore me and chop at its flank -7 (77/100) ¡°So be careful when it attacks you¡± Dodging it again as it charges past me in a straight line, I activate hack. -12 (65/100) ¡°If you look in your Skills box in your character sheet-¡± -7 (58/100) -12 (98/110) ¡°-then you will see a weapon/magic mastery and possibly a sub-skill¡± -8 (50/100) ¡°To active your skill, you simply think it, like this¡± I reactivate hack, smacking it down onto the boar¡¯s eye, while getting gored myself. -24 (26/100) -20 (78/110) ¡°As you see it uses energy-¡± -26 (0/100) -16 (62/110) ¡°-So it can be used repeatedly as long as you have energy¡± Hmm about 25 energy a hack, so once every 2.5 seconds to maintain full energy, sweet. Everyone claps as I stand there with a hole in my chest, but a dead boar beside me. ¡°Now I want everyone to read their skills and understand how you can use them¡± Everyone immediately goes into deep study of their own characters. Mildly interested, I ask permission to see Rogericks sheet, to which he presses a share button (somehow it appeared...probably Allie¡¯s help).
NAME: Rogerick Zulataine
TITLE: (none)
Class tree: Wanderer Class: None
Race: Centaur Gender Male
Level 1 Experience 0%
STATUS: Remaining points (0)
Health Points: 110/110 HP regen (out of combat) 1/sec
Energy 100/100 Energy regen 10/sec
STR: 10 TGH: 10
AGI: 10 VIT: 10
INT: 10 MND: 10
ATTK: Phys 15-18 Extra: None
DEF: 88 M.Res: 17
Satiety: 96/100 (well fed)
SKILLS:
Spear Mastery [lvl 1] -Impale (Active) Plate Mastery [Lvl 1] Shield Mastery [Lvl 1] Racials [max] -Large Stride -Overrun -Nature Attuned -Rideable
So impale is same as hack and the racials are only mildly interesting: Large stride means movement speed is 60% better naturally (pretty awesome and it says this can increase at later levels too!). Overrun is a passive that diminishes penalties to bull rushing enemies and trying to trample them underneath. Nature attuned means nature likes him more and Rideable, is pretty awesome. Interested, I actually have a peek at the rest of them.
NAME: JuicyTemptress
TITLE: (none)
Class tree: Wanderer Class: None
Race: Succubus Gender Female
Level 1 Experience 0%
STATUS: Remaining points (0)
Health Points: 110/110 HP regen (out of combat) 5/sec
HP regen (in combat) 4/sec
Energy 100/100 Energy regen 10/sec
STR: 10 TGH: 10
AGI: 10 VIT: 10
INT: 10 MND: 10
ATTK: Phys 10-11 Extra: None
DEF: 10 M.Res: 17
Satiety: 96/100 (well fed)
SKILLS:
Fire Manipulation Mastery [Lvl 1] -Flare (Active) Cloth Mastery [Lvl 1] Racials [max] -Entrance (Active) -Demonic blood -Flight -Man¡¯s Desire
Nice to know I¡¯m not the only one with Man¡¯s desire... Apart from that, the rest is pretty cool: Flight allows her to hover a certain height (increasing with levels like Rogericks move speed). Demonic blood has both ups and downs: No holy healing, but increased hp regen (in combat too ooh) and blood can be used in certain spell components (Mages will love her). Entrance is quite literally as it sounds; a target is charmed far as long as she sustains it. Flare, which is her combat ability, is literally a small bolt of fire, doing damage equal to energy used. So she could do 1 bolt a second doing 10 damage, or 1 bolt a every 10 seconds doing 100 damage. Interesting indeed. Onto the next one
NAME: EarthenBabe
TITLE: (none)
Class tree: Wanderer Class: None
Race: Draconid Gender Female
Level 1 Experience 0%
STATUS: Remaining points (0)
Health Points: 110/110 HP regen (out of combat) 2/sec
HP regen (in combat) 1/sec
Energy 100/100 Energy regen 10/sec
STR: 10 TGH: 10
AGI: 10 VIT: 10
INT: 10 MND: 10
ATTK: Phys 10-11 Extra: None
DEF: 10 M.Res: 17
Satiety: 94/100 (well fed)
SKILLS:
Earth Manipulation Mastery [lvl1] -Rock bolt Cloth Mastery [Lvl 1] Racials [max] -Flight -Dragon breath (Active) -Natural immunity -Draconic blood
Ok, so skills are a decent bit different (even though it seems like they both have some sort of health regen in combat). First off Dragon breath; apparently it¡¯s acid due to the green colour, and deals it in a cone, so pretty badass. Though it¡¯s got limited uses. Natural immunity gives magical resistances to basically quite a few things. Draconic blood is the hp regen, less than demonic blood but it doesn¡¯t get the penalty of no holy healing. So all in all, they¡¯re not too far off each-other in character. Only time will tell. Now last of all, Ricky (no way am I calling him Quicky...that just sounds wrong.
NAME: QuickyRicky
TITLE: (none)
Class tree: Wanderer Class: None
Race: Sylph Gender Male
Level 1 Experience 0%
STATUS: Remaining points (0)
Health Points: 110/110 HP regen (out of combat) 1/sec
Energy 100/100 Energy regen 10/sec
STR: 10 TGH: 10
AGI: 10 VIT: 10
INT: 10 MND: 10
ATTK: Phys 10-11 Extra: None
DEF: 18 M.Res: 17
Satiety: 92/100 (well fed)
SKILLS:
Air Manipulation Mastery [lvl1] -Wind Slice (Active) Leather Mastery [Lvl 1] Cloth Mastery [Lvl 1] Racials [max] -Flight -Concealment (Active) -Air Affinity -Windlike
Wow, His skills are actually pretty awesome. So first off is wind slice, which is as it sounds so pretty cool. Concealment means that naturally he¡¯s harder to hit and if he activates it he can become almost invisible (as long as he doens¡¯t wear any armour). Air affinity just increases his bonuses to air spells (duh) while Windlike increases his movement speed dependent on the wind and it¡¯s direction (so in a storm he¡¯d probably be insanely fast). Ok, now that I¡¯ve read all their cool skills along with them, I believe it¡¯s time I teach them how to play! Teaching the Noobs Part 2 You know when you show babies how to walk and they just tumble and fall anyways? Well that perfectly explains what I¡¯m observing... I¡¯d given them all a boar to kill ... .. . It makes me want to cry when I look at them. Ok, so from the start: Rogerick had charged to his, successfully impaling his boar (well done, and apparently there¡¯s bonus damage from charge, I¡¯ll keep mind of that). But he left his spear in the boar and continued to gallop on, chased after by the boar, which attacked his sides while he tried to recover his spear... Disastrous... Next were the three mages...Yeah, this is where all hell broke loose. Apparently they had all thought their skills, shooting them out with a strength of 1 (dealing 1 damage)... Juicy, set her boar on fire and then tried to entrance it as it came, but it didn¡¯t work because the boar was on fire, so it began goring her. Earthen plonked the boar on the nose with a pebble and then in shock, jumped backwards and spewed acid breath all over the incoming boar, just before it rammed into her. Ricky was slightly better, even if the wind slice did absolutely nothing. He dodged the boar...and whacked it with his staff...which was sadly more effective than his spell. I¡¯ve seriously never thought of J?t being any better than the average mage...till I met this lot. OK, so where to begin helping? Sprinting over to Juicy, I whack the boar to pieces in quick succession, before turning to Earthen and with Juicys help, whacked it to death. All four of us converged onto Ricky¡¯s boar and when we finished it, we watched Rogerick mule kick his own boar to death. ¡°Sit¡± I point to the floor in front of me. None of them disobey. Ok, constructive criticism...that¡¯s what I¡¯m aiming to do. ¡°Rogerick, good job on the impaling, just don¡¯t leave your spear in it. The rest of you...what was that?¡± I gaze at them unimpressed. ¡°I thought flare like you said but all that fired was a tiny little flame¡± Juicy complains under my gaze. The others nod their head to that. ¡°Hmm, try thinking it slower. Imagine its one long shout like; Flaaaaaaaaaaaare!¡± Totally makes sense right? Seen stuff like that on the TV enough so it might just work. I choose Earthen to volunteer and she stands up. Slowly a ball of rock forms in mid air between her staff and her free hand. It reaches about the size of my hand before it shoots off into the distance at her discretion. ¡°How much energy did that cost?¡± ¡°45¡± She answers almost immediately. Ah, I¡¯ve forgotten to party them up! Quickly teaching them friending/messaging and the party system rules (so loot rolls and xp sharing), I then have Earthen demonstrate again while I watch her energy bar. It decreases slowly till it reaches almost halfway. Then begins increasing quickly once the spell is cast. ¡°Ok, so your energy won¡¯t regenerate while you are casting a spell, so you have to be quick in casting it or you¡¯re going to be hugely inefficient with your casting¡± Really shouldn¡¯t bother them about this right now, just get them to be able to shoot something damaging. Confident they won¡¯t completely fail, I have them battle, while I watch and keep track on all four of them, not an easy task yet oddly not too bad either ... .. . Rogerick loses his spear again while Juicy starts shouting ¡®Flaaaaaaaaa-¡¯ for all to hear. Earthen hits the boar with a good sized rock before trying fervently to make another...failing and getting gored. Ricky is faring slightly better, dodging the boar after damaging it and finishing it off with another two wind slices (20/20 vision really helping to see the blurs that are apparently the wind slices). We save Earthen and just as we finish her boar, a loud flaming blast comes from nearby and we see a ball of fire the size of a football blast into the boar, killing it in one go. Mages...god their awesome! Rogerick mule kicks his boar to death once again and I sit them down, once again. ¡°Right, Rogerick, try trampling your boar, I mean you¡¯re wearing full plate, use the weight to your advantage. Juicy, that was perfect, slow, but perfect. Earthen...too slow and you felt the consequences. Ricky, that was fine, continue with it just speed it up a little maybe¡± Ok, round 3, let¡¯s hope this is better. Thankfully Earthen took a page out of Ricky¡¯s book and focused on dodging the boar, so both of them finished their boar off just before Juicy obliterated hers. Rogerick however... was done long ago, due to him trampling the boar to death. Asking him for the damage recount, apparently it¡¯s the defence plus strength at first impact. That¡¯s a terrifying number...I can just imagine a horde of these literally trampling everything...everything. So all in all, round 3 was successful. Teaching them how to reclaim the boar to the goddess (Allie, but they don¡¯t know that), I casually check my xp bar and see it unchanged. Huh, so apparently Allie¡¯s really helping us out by not having me impact the party xp (how sweet of her). Rounding up everyone, I have them sit down again, after a celebratory round of high fives of course (need to keep noob morale high). ¡°Right, so I am going to tell you the plan for the next 2-3 in-game days. Firstly, you will all get to level 10. You will also one crafting skill, one non-combat skill and for the mages, one new spell. It isn¡¯t a lot and honestly we can do this all within a day or so without too much difficulty. What will take up the rest of the time will be learning how to quest, working together and building your character up correctly as well as giving you a good, strong idea on what you want your class to be. Do you all comprehend?¡± ¡°Yep¡± They all shout in unison. ¡°Perfect, so let us begin what gamers call grinding¡± I flash a grin and point towards the nearby fields, filled with boars. With Rogericks permission, I ride across his back, holding his mane while he tramples boar after boar while trying my best to watch the three mages not die horribly. Luckily these boars are simple minded charge in a line creatures, making it easy for the mages to dodge them before blasting them with a second attack (except for Juicy, she¡¯s enjoying one-shotting them...maybe she should¡¯ve gone mana). Within twenty minutes, everyone has levelled up once and I¡¯ve gotten to wave at a clockwork and a treant as they looked at the heavily armoured Rogerick crushing boars underneath. So there are a few other noobs here, but pretty much everyone else has already moved on (well this is close to 2 weeks RL since launch date). Our big fail in the first hour was surprisingly enough Rogerick, who when trampling a boar actually stumbled, legs getting caught in the boars and sending him down, on top of me. So I died, but Rogerick was just fine...Because of all that armour. And because of all that armour he didn¡¯t receive a single point of damage from the boar as he slowly stood back up. I was quite amused by the death, yet slightly miffed at having to be the first to die too. I mean I wasn¡¯t even participating in the battles. So anyways, everyone reached level 2 and immediately I helped them distribute their stats. Rogerick was instructed to increase his STR at the moment, because it¡¯ll help him trample without being caught and tumbled over, somewhat.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Juicy and Earthen were told to increase their INT and MND as they saw fit, explaining the benefits of focusing either. Ricky, since he wanted to do melee too instead of just pure air mage, had to add points to AGI too, the ratio left up to him. For level 3 we travelled further away from the village, meeting plains wolves [Lvl 5]. They already came in their packs of four, which was a perfect number. Though I had Rogerick just pile through a separate group, trampling one while impaling another (keeping his spear this time) before I frantically battled two jumping wolves as they tried pouncing at the back of Rogerick, try to get through his heavy armour. Not the easiest battle mind you and before I could finish one off, he charged into another pack and now 4 were chasing after him, actually outrunning him and attacking him (and me) from the flanks. Telling him to get back to the group, he swerves back and we guide the wolves into a multi elemental barrage, albeit 2 out of 3 attacks missed. Though in the end the wolves died, leaving an almost dead me on a tired yet unhurt Rogerick. Hmm, this looks like a time to get a spell. Thanks to J?t I¡¯ve learnt that spells aren¡¯t found (well they probably are, or some of them at least) they are made. So giving instructions to them all, I have all 3 work on an aoe spell of some sort (I just told them it has to deal damage in an area so I don¡¯t know what to expect from them) while Rogerick goes around killing and agroing a whole bunch of wolves. Me? I sit down and watch everyone work. Its great not having to work sometimes, especially when you watch others work too! After half an hour, Rogerick is at a literal walking pace, armour getting scratched to hell by what looks like a small horde of around 20 wolves. And the others look like their ready too. Messaging him to come back, running, he pulls out his last bit of energy and begins cantering towards us, in no way outrunning the wolves. ¡°Fire away guys¡± *BOOM* ... .. . Ok, never just ask them to...fire away...jesus! So...Rogerick is dead, along with 20 odd wolves as well but still. Now how did Rogerick die? Well it was a meteor to put it simply. Apparently Earthen created a meteor, which Juicy then lit on fire making it explosive. Did they plan this? I HAVE NO IDEA but it worked fantastically. Also Ricky did do something, but I didn¡¯t really see since the explosive meteor just murdered everything. ¡°660 damage¡± Rogerick says wide eyed as he returns from respawning. So much? How? Was it because it was two spells combined together? Looking at the mages, they all look completely flabbergasted. Wait wasn¡¯t it your plan to do that? ¡°Guys? What was that?¡± I finally ask, asking it once more before they snap out of it and respond. ¡°Well...according to this notification (taught them what that is too) apparently we created a combined spell called quickened explosive meteor which requires fire, wind and earth magic¡± Earthen reads out with a still can¡¯t believe it expression. WAIT ALL 3 OF THEM CONTRIBUTED? ¡°Ok I¡¯m confused, did you all plan this?¡± but surely they couldn¡¯t have, I was watching them think to themselves about it. ¡°No, it just happened¡± Juicy shrugged her shoulders as lost as I am. ¡°Ok, so what was everyone¡¯s original plan then?¡± ¡°Fireball¡± Juicy shouts out. ¡°Boulder drop¡± Earthen adds in. ¡°Pushing the boulder¡± Ricky admits, getting stares from all of us since he actually planned for it to happen just not with the explosive property. ¡°I thought the only AOE you could do would be just dropping a boulder, so I thought about making it faster so it does more damage. Plus couldn¡¯t think of any damaging with spells. So according to them, Juicy and Earthen shot out at the same time, somehow colliding and causing them to form together, under the influence of pushing air, increasing the power of the now explosive meteor. ...Wow... Oh and to top it off Juicy got the combustive spell (allows things to become explosive, sweet!), Earthen got Boulder drop and Ricky got Quicken (increases speed of a target object or person). ... .. . Noobs they may be but damn, together they can definitely beat J?t and any other wizard in that matter. I mean I haven¡¯t met much that can deal with a giant ass explosive meteor that drops fast! Plus they could do this every ten seconds for the same amount of damage if they trained enough ... .. . This Berzauraker class feels a whole lot weaker to just normal mages now (Cry). Helping everyone level up twice (I know right!) except for Rogerick who only levelled up once due to dying, I then have Rogerick round up a large group of wolves once again. But this time I ask him to go half speed for a bit and then burst into full, getting a slight lead from the wolves and hopefully escaping the meteor. It took another death for him to get it right, but as soon as he did, it was a massacre; within another hour everyone had reached level 4 due to killing around 20 wolves every 10 or so minutes. Leaving the field, with some craters in it now, behind, we continued further on till we reached a forest...or what was left of one anyway. Immediately I thought of Missy...because the entire forest, maybe about 10 km either way, was burnt down... A new one was being grown by a couple of the more magical and earth attuned villagers, but Bears and lynxes still roamed around the burnt stumps, looking rather depraved. Though that didn¡¯t matter to us as no trees meant half decent ground for Rogerick to charge in as well as no problems with meteor strikes. However unlike the plains, the monsters in the forest don¡¯t have a huge agro range so the usual mass monsters didn¡¯t work so well...plus the bears were stronger than Rogerick actually knocking him over but still couldn¡¯t pierce his armour much. ¡°Alright, everyone help Rogerick first¡± A rock, some fire and a blur travel towards the bear, obliterating it with over 300 points of damage (Rogerick had already damaged it). Mages are pretty scary, even in early game! I mean that attack did use up all their pool, but they get that back in ten seconds! Checking out the bears, they indeed have 440 health at level 7. Guess the most efficient way would be ganging up. Giving them instructions, I watch the mages attack with their big spells before Rogerick charges in to impale the heavily damaged bear, ramming into it and killing it, yet tripping himself. Guess that¡¯s the worst bit about being a centaur...you¡¯ll trip over it if you can¡¯t trample it. Though I believe there are other ways one can use the extra speed and manoeuvrability of the centaurs to good use. The hunting lasts another 3 hours this time, mostly because as they killed the bears, we also moved onto the level 8 lynxes which had only just over 300 health. 3 hours and everyone reached level 7 which is crazy fast. Distributing their stats once more, we continued deeper into the burn forest, to encounter level 10 panthers...which should¡¯ve been hiding in the darkness of the trees but they weren¡¯t allowed, what a shame. Due to their main advantage not being present, they became easy pickings for us. Another few hours pass and everyone hits level 10 with ease. Though Rogericks armour is beat and he¡¯s running low on food already. Happily, I take everyone back to the village, partially because it is dusk now. First things first, I have Rogerick repair his armour (as much as he can, though everyone contributes some of their copper for him, how sweet of them and good party decision too!) while I help Ricky choose a long pointy and sharp thing. I thought dagger at first, but a sword or even a spear might do wonders, especially due to the extra range. In the end he buys a thin longsword for two silvers (ouch! But they can afford it since they don¡¯t have to spend it all on food...) and he waves it around inexpertly almost killing Juicy. Half-dragging them out of there (after asking the blacksmith whether he requires help, he did not but he did subtly hint that Ricky might need some...touch¨¦), we head to the inn and rent a large room for us all (Rogerick has to sleep in the stables...wa wa waaaa). Telling them they should sleep through the game night, they all log off. Lying on the wooden floor, I kind of miss my fur mattress already... Right, what else have I got to have them do? They need a control spell (as well as a proper AOE/support for some of them), Rogerick just needs practice. I think I can teach them sprint (though Rogerick won¡¯t have a fun time) and then find an alchemist since that should be the most useful. All in all I could have them done easily way before the end of the second day...question is, how do I give them an idea on what they want their class to be? Right now, Rogerick is looking to be a literal tank (as in armoured vehicle sense), so no idea what class that could be but definitely will ask the stable master about that. Juicy and Earthen are both normal mages, their only speciality being their accidental (and now planned) combination attack, which pretty much outweighs any normal mage by themselves anyway. Ricky...I¡¯m not quite sure yet; his AOE spell is a support spell instead and he¡¯s going melee, so I think he¡¯s going to be a self-supportive melee type, kind of like me...but with more magic. Hmm, well I¡¯ve got a day to get this sorted...because I need to get back into my personal heaven/hell. Logging out and back into Kal, I¡¯m greeted by Cindy sitting by the fireplace, cooking some stew and humming a lonely song. ¡°Hey Kal¡± She turns my way smiling as if knowing I was there already. ... .. . Ah yeah, I never told you what happened with my last night with Thalia (trust me it¡¯s important to know). While the spooning continued, I kept focusing on her aura and had asked a couple of questions that came into my mind (only the aura related ones thankfully). I had asked her whether it was an aura that told her of my presence and la di da it was (So she DID have some weird tracking on me!). Apparently it¡¯s called the aura of alarm and with it you can sense intrusions into your aura. Apparently, both she and Cindy have it on pretty much constantly (Hence how Cindy knew I was there before I even spoke). ¡°Hiya¡± I give her a smile before I go outside, to BATTLE. WHY? BECAUSE I¡¯M LEVEL 1 AND I NEED TO GET BACK UP TO LEVEL 10...or I¡¯m going to feel extremely useless. Stomping out the Northern gate, I believe in myself, I believe I CAN KILL ALL THOSE WOLVES ALL BY MYSELF! Feeling my grand aura of power filling me up and pulsating off me, I find the first wolf and charge towards it, taking out my old axe and holding it in my offhand (DUAL WIELDING HERE I COME!). The wolf agros and comes towards me, baying with hunger. -8 -6 (466/480) My axes chop at its side as I dodge it, and they deal absolutely nothing...well this isn¡¯t good. The wolf turns on me and I toss a mild poison potion (have a couple of those spare still from ages ago) and begin running. Howling after me, it tries to catch up but I¡¯m simply too fast so I can run scot free and see it slowly die from poison. -1 (109/480) Oh got to kill it now. Hacking myself down by 100 hp, I max out my rage bar. Swerving round, I use power throw on my offhand at point blank while my main hand uses power strike, both smacking into the wolf¡¯s face in quick succession. -12 -33 (64/480) I¡¯m stunned for an entire second while it¡¯s stunned for just as long (thank god) and coming out of stun I immediately jump away -64 (7/170) Owowow! ¡°AWOOO¡± The wolf howls for its allies. Well damn. Running away, the rest of the pack catch up, but I outrun then and skirt inside the village just after the original dies and level¡¯s me up. Wow, a whole level and 20% for killing one wolf...I can get to level 10 easily with a really sneaky method. Charging into the forest (once the coast is clear), I pick a couple of berries before running away from the snow lynxes...though they¡¯re still faster and kill me. Respawning, I head to Thalia¡¯s and start crafting potions while she seemingly sleeps. Phew, guess she doesn¡¯t want to play with me today (Or she knows that I¡¯m busy, probably Cindy telling her). I craft a good dozen mild poison potions and then go back outside. Time for a long run... Picking a wolf, I throw some poison on it, poisoning it and then running away from it. Passing more wolves along the way, I chuck a potion at each of them, missing two times but still getting the 10 of them poisoned. That should be enough...I hope. Running away from the small horde of angry and poisoned wolves, I go around and around and around the village, for god knows how long, till the wolves howl. Yeah...when a small horde almost quadruples, that¡¯s terrifying. Oh look, I gained the fear status....at least I¡¯m slightly faster now? Dodging the few incoming wolves, I get a deep gash ripping 136 hp off of me (eek!) on the way past one of them. Thank god I can outrun them or I¡¯ll be screwed. Eating my 8th piece of bread since the beginning of this run, I finally hear the death throes of the wolves within the typhoon of hungry panting sounds and with that, happily dive in at the next village entrance. DIVE Ahh...that was actually quite nice. Lying in the snow for a bit (mostly because my legs aren¡¯t working), I check my notifications, and see that I gained 4 levels. Wow, that¡¯s pretty awesome! Right, I¡¯m still 4 levels behind though. After 30 minutes of lying dead in the snow, I go to the forest and pick berries, dying 3 times and dropping a level, but managing to get over 100 snowberries in the process. Walking into Thalia¡¯s I see her fiddling with her alchemical equipment and with a...price...she allows me to buy 100 vials for free (10 silver!) to pay back by tomorrow night or I¡¯m staying at hers again, with no book. I don¡¯t want that to happen so time to get 10 silver! Mass producing these poisons (really can¡¯t be bothered), I prepare my body and count my blessings for having close to 1000 bread (Thank you Cindy). Now, let¡¯s see how many wolves I can agro and outrun at one time ... .. . The answer is that I¡¯ve used all my potions, but don¡¯t think that all of them are poisoned...RUUUUUN. Noobs Have Been Taught ¡°Aaaalrighty everyone¡± With a whoosh of light, I appear in the inn room, surrounded by the 3 mages, who are busy chatting about schoolwork, that is until I arrive. Motioning for them to follow me, I leave the room, head downstairs and out into the stables, knocking on Rogericks stall. With all 4 of them in tow, we go back into the plains as the morning sun rises over the hills and sit them down. ¡°Yesterday we accomplished our primary goal; getting you all to level 10¡± Celebratory cheers are in order as well as high fives! ¡°However we¡¯ve still got quite a bit to do today. First off, you¡¯re all going to learn a crafting and gathering skill and you mages will be learning 2 more spells, or trying to. You all ready?¡± ¡°Sir yes Sir¡± they all mockingly salute. ¡°Ok, so all of you mages are going to focus on creating either a support or an aoe spell, dependent on what you¡¯ve already made¡± They look at me confused ¡°Earthen has an aoe spell, the rest of you have a support spell. Aoe spells do damage to an area while support spells boost the capabilities of someone or as you¡¯ve shown, their spells, comprende?¡± They all nod. Well at least they¡¯re just na?ve not dumb. ¡°You will also try to learn a control spell¡± Juicy raises her hand, which I ignore since I know the question ¡°A control spell is one that usually restricts the movement of the enemy but in general it as the name suggests, allows you to limit the enemies possible actions, making it easier for others to finish off¡± Everyone starts looking deep inside themselves to try think of spells. But I¡¯m not finished yet! ¡°Rogerick, you¡¯ll come with me to try find a craftsman while the rest of you will try your spells on the boars. That is all¡± Clapping my hands, everyone gets to work. Walking alongside the clopping Rogerick I am slightly amazed he can move in all that armour, the sheer weight must be a real pain. Stopping a random human (what a surprise; a normal being!) on the street I ask where the nearest alchemist is. ¡°If you want an alchemist, you ain¡¯t going to find one here. At the capital is where they¡¯re all at; much gold involved in being part of the Royal Alchademy. Any fellow with dreams and a bit o¡¯ skill heads up there sooner rather than later¡± Seeing as though he¡¯s answered my question, he begins to walk off. ...Well there goes my plan. Guess backup plan is in action. Walking over to the Smithy, I waltz inside and lean onto the counter towards the thick muscled and bald dwarf who works on the forge. ¡°Ser, would be so kind as to teach this young fellow over here the art of blacksmithing?¡± The blacksmith looks at me funny ¡°And lose me job and a high paying customer? Yer outta yer mind you are¡± He shakes his head and goes back to hammering a heated chunk of metal. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dream of cheating you out of your money Mr Blacksmith but it¡¯s important for me to patch up my armour in times of need, as a dead customer has no value to you does it?¡± Rogerick saunters up, using a more intellectual tone than his face-plated face suggests. The blacksmith looks Rogerick up and down ¡°Aye, you have some reasoning¡± His face scrunches up in thought ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll teach ya how ta fix yer armour, but remember a good hammering is nothing compared to using a forge and anvil¡± Huh, guess I should let my psychology teacher do the talking from now on, he¡¯s actually much better at this than I (time to learn conversational skills!). ¡°Ah thank you...¡± ¡°Roderick¡± The dwarf gruffly responds. Oh the irony. ¡°Rogerick¡± Rogerick responds with a gleeful smile, and they clasp arms. Roddy (easier to distinguish) takes a long look at the plate armour. ¡°That¡¯s some fine plate you have there. There¡¯s a mine south of the village, get me about 20 chunks of Iron and I¡¯ll teach ya how to repair yer armour¡± What¡¯s likely a quest, pops up in front of Rogerick and he accepts happily. Getting a pick (for free, because Rogerick asked nicely) we head out to the fields to see how our mages were faring (we¡¯d only been gone for the better part of an hour). Long story short, they haven¡¯t done much...or so I thought until I asked them what they had done. Time for a demonstration! Juicy was up first: Her aoe turned out to be quite literally breath of fire, from her mouth...which burnt her mouth dealing about ? damage to herself ... .. . Well it works at least?!? Her control spell was non-existent as of yet, so she¡¯s gotten somewhere at least. Earthen was next: She summoned a wall of earth. Fair enough, pretty decent control spell. Though her support was slightly more interesting; she tried making earth armour. Really cool thinking, but she only managed to make a shield, which crumbled the moment she stopped sustaining it. It¡¯s something, plus I can see the huge defensive capabilities of that later on. Ricky was last but not least: His control spell was a one-direction gale. Essentially slowing the enemies a bit so I guess useful? Hopefully at later levels it¡¯ll be more powerful. The aoe spell was a little bit better; it was literally wind slice, just longer so it could hit maybe 3 targets. In all fairness, if he¡¯s going melee, that kind of spell is more useful than a long ranged one. So, those 3 need to practice those spells but for now let¡¯s get questing! ¡°Ok, so because there¡¯s no alchemist there won¡¯t be any crafting skills for you guys, however Rogerick is going to become a blacksmith so we have to help him with his quest¡± ¡°No crafting skills for us? And what¡¯s an alchemist?¡± Juicy asks. ¡®No crafting skills, because none here are exactly useful to you. An alchemist creates potions, basically like a pharmacist¡± Ok time to go mining. Wading through the lower-levelled mobs, we reach a dingy looking cavern at the base of a mountain (oh yeah, forgot to mention that I found out that this entire place is ringed with impassable mountains). Entering the cave, we immediately all get a notification
Warning, you are about to enter the Dungeon instance: Murkal¡¯s Mine
This is the mine the village Murkal uses to gather it¡¯s raw materials from. However recently it¡¯s been overrun with spiders.
Recommended Level 10-15, Recommended party size 4-6
Perfect level and perfect party size. Onwards! (I don¡¯t count for any of this I¡¯m just observing from a distance. Walking into the dungeon instance, we waltz into the dimly lit entrance, getting darker by the step. ¡°Juicy, can you make a flame?¡± A little ball of fire appears floating in her hand a moment later. Peeking at her energy bar, it seems to be staying at around half full. Now that we¡¯ve got some light, we can see most of the entrance, as well as a cluster of 4 spiders that were happily sleeping in the corner (not anymore though...whoops). ¡°EEK!¡± In shock, Juicy throws the small fireball, setting a spider alight, providing enough light to illuminate the others as they skitter angrily towards us.
Name: Cave Spider [Lvl 10]
350/350
Ah not too bad and it¡¯s only as big as a Labrador really. Rogerick charges the spiders trampling and stunning 3 of them underneath his hooves while Ricky sends out his enlarged Wind slice. As the spiders recover from being trampled, 2 get hit by either a rock bolt or a flare, finishing them off, while one races after Rogerick and the burning one heads straight for Juicy. It bites her for a decent amount of damage and the mages, waiting for their energy to regenerate, start slicing/whacking the spider damaging it a decent amount, but all getting bitten in the process. Finally Ricky¡¯s longsword slashes through the spider killing it and Rogerick impales his, finishing the battle. Though all 3 mages die from poison...wow that sucks. They walk back inside moments later, looking slightly unhappy. ¡°Ok, so now you know that these spiders a poisonous right?¡± They all nod ¡°So how do you stop them poisoning you?¡± ¡°Not let them reach you¡± Earthen responds ¡°Exactly, so you should all take turns at casting your control spell to keep the spiders at bay while the rest of you deal damage. Rogerick, beautiful trample, but maybe try to agro all 4 since your armour is thick enough to save you from poison¡± They all nod taking my advice since I am the pro at this (wahahaha). Peering round the entrance, we quickly find rails that go deeper into the mine. Following the tracks, we encounter a few spiders, one at a time, along the corridor, dealing with them easily. After a good long trek through this winding, unending corridor with a couple of holes in the side where they seemed to have mined a little bit, we finally reach what I guess is the main cavern. By now, we¡¯ve mined nothing, because we haven¡¯t found any deposits yet, however when we reach the main cavern I can spot twinkling deposits everywhere. Imagine like a top floor with wooden platforms running along the walls and a wide hewn slope which goes to the floor of the cavern, branching out 2 times along the way to floors of platforms built into the wall. The rails go to a wooden tower in the centre which seems to be an elevator of some kind from bottom floor to top, although now it¡¯s filled with cobwebs. The cavern itself is circular in shape and the roof is just barely above Rogerick¡¯s head. Now you¡¯re wondering how we can see? Well there¡¯s a bright light coming from crystals in the ceiling, mostly in the centre and not possible to mine out at all. *Whistleeeeeeeee* That¡¯s quite the echo and whoever did that should not have done that. But then again we have a walking beast of plate so we¡¯re going to make lots of noise no matter what. ¡°Ok, so this looks like the main room, so we¡¯re going to sweep this level by level, taking out everything until we get to the bottom level¡± Nodding, everyone begins moving. Oh my Lord that armour is extremely loud. The clanging of plate reverberates through the entire cavern and soon I hear skittering. ¡°Everyone, change of plan. Rogerick, charge down to the bottom floor and continue running round in a circle to agro as much. Don¡¯t fall or you¡¯ll die¡± He begins to trot down the hewn slope with care. ¡°The rest of you, follow me¡± I tactfully go to the slope and stop there. ¡°Juicy focus dealing damage, Ricky and Earthen control the spiders¡¯ movements, try to bunch them up and slow them down as much as possible¡± If Rogerick doesn¡¯t die then we should only have a few spiders coming at us at most. Sure enough, only maybe half a dozen start up the slope. Though I see maybe three to four dozen begin skittering down towards Rogerick and that¡¯s only at a glance (Yeah, he is attracting 4 floors of spiders...he¡¯s probably going to die). The spiders coming towards us slow down due to a sustained gust of wind which actually helps speed up the flare that shoots out of Juicy¡¯s hands. One spider lights up (this flare spell has some pretty damn high status chance) and then a wall of earth appears in front of them, blocking them from view for a few seconds. Then they clamber over and around it, continuing their way towards the mages. ¡°Do a meteor guys¡± Immediately Earthen forms a boulder, increasing it to the size of a bouncy ball and Juicy feeds some fire into it making it crack and illuminate the cracks just before it¡¯s launched into the air and then pushed down by the wind, quickened. A new crater forms on the slope, along with 4 squished spiders, 2 of them blown to pieces. The remaining two had been blasted off the slope and fell to their deaths with a crunch, close to Rogerick who¡¯s galloping as fast as he can (not very) through a growing horde of spiders (luckily his armours still keeping him alive. ¡°Ok, start meteoring just behind him and you should get a good amount of them. Like a mortar team, they stand on the ledge, Earthen aiming her boulder while Juicy infuses it with explosive fire. Ricky keeps his eye on the boulder, readying his quickening spell. See when they first cast this, I thought the boulder appeared in mid air, apparently it was chucked by her, and so most of the aoe was supposed to be done by the gravity and the weight, which is a logical enough thought. So it¡¯s more like a mortar shell rather than a meteor (in the sense that it¡¯s launched rather than simply dropped). I stand as observer, making sure they don¡¯t hit Rogerick and kill him. ¡°FIRE¡± Silently (pretty terrifying if you think about it) the meteor (still going to call it that because it ends up like one) launches into the air and drops down speedily to the cavern floor, bashing into the ground causing a larger than usual crater, exploding and sending rocks everywhere, killing 3 spiders outright and blasting maybe half a dozen to smithereens from the aoe. ... .. . For the aoe to deal at least 350 damage is kind of insane (though they are all level 10 so their damage has increased by 5 from INT and maybe more because of the increased energy pool so it¡¯s quite plausible but still!)! ¡°Just over 700 damage that¡¯s pretty decent isn¡¯t it Zach?¡± Earthen asks. ¡°Pretty decent is a good word¡± That¡¯s pretty insane! You just one shotted like 10 spiders between the 3 of you (ok you are useless for the next 20 or so seconds but still)! Waiting for their energy to regen, quite a number of spiders turn towards us and head our way. A few skitter up the wall while others come up the slope, 14 of them.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. That¡¯s a lot of spiders! Peeking at Rogerick, yea there¡¯s likely 3 digits of spiders there...pretty much the whole cavern I believe! ¡°Ricky focus on pushing the spiders off the wall, Juicy and Earthen do something for the slope ones¡± Immediately, they both charge up another, but smaller, meteor, launching it after a couple of seconds into the spiders. The explosion only damages 3 out of 6, but it pushes 1 off the side, hopefully killing it. With no other choice than to wait, they both wait for their energy to regenerate, allowing the spiders to reach the level below them before they fire another mid-sized meteor. This one kills the already damaged 3, setting another on fire but still leaving two undamaged. ¡°I suggest your acid breath would be useful, that and running!¡± Ricky fires off an enlarged Wind Slice, cutting off the legs of the foremost 3 spiders, causing them to tumble off the wall taking another 2 spiders to the floor with them. That¡¯s another 5 dead. Leading them onto the top platform, the remaining 3 slope spiders reach the top floor but a small distance away and are quickly joined by the 3 climbing ones. ¡°RUUUN!¡± Running at a sad 100% movement speed along the rickety platforms, the spiders quickly catch up, biting towards Ricky but missing ever so slightly. Pivoting round, Earthen releases her acid breath, causing the front line to slow down and squirm around in pain as the acid disintegrates them slightly. Julia turns around a moment later breathing fire while CRYING (because she¡¯s burning herself too, the fool) dealing a substantial amount of damage to the front line, as well as fully stopping them in their tracks. But she doesn¡¯t stop the back line as they skitter along the wall and jump onto her. Leaving her for dead (because she is let¡¯s face it) we continue running, Ricky sending wind to slice away at the spiders, spewing green blood but not killing them. Killing Juicy they turn once again to us and one gets rammed off the side by a sudden wall spurting out from the cavern wall. ¡°Continue doing that¡± I command as we continue to run away from the skittering foes. A loud neigh of pain comes from below and I see Rogerick literally covered in spiders, still moving slowly forward, but ever so slowly stopping. ¡°Deal as much damage as possible to the ones on the ground¡± I shout towards them. They¡¯re going to die so might as well gather some xp while they can. A boulder drops rapidly onto the spiders down below, dealing a decent amount and squishing 2 of them, but without the explosion there isn¡¯t much aoe damage. The spiders on top catch up, biting and poisoning us, and we quickly die along with Rogerick. Spawning outside the cave, they look slightly haggard, especially Rogerick who spawns with broken armour. He may have been down there only a few minutes, but his armour got wrecked. ¡°Ok, so in all honesty you weren¡¯t going to survive that¡± I confess to all of them ¡°But what you did get was a lot of xp right?¡± They all check their character sheet and see that they went up a level. ¡°Dying in dungeons happens more often than just dying normally so the xp penalty is set to 5% so don¡¯t worry about dying in a dungeon as much, it¡¯s bound to happen. Especially against poisonous spiders¡± All of them nod, the poison being decently powerful (1 damage a second apparently) but it stacks and that¡¯s what killed Juicy and Earthen mostly. ¡°So we¡¯re going to go back in there, but this time have a plan on how to stop spiders from reaching our mages, any ideas?¡± I ask the group and they all ponder for a while. ¡°How about pushing them off the platforms like I did?¡± Earthen suggests. Good idea, but not going to help in the long run. ¡°What you could do, is learn how to use your flight¡± Yeah, for some reason none of them have tried to fly yet...it¡¯s a bit odd but then again it¡¯s a new set of limbs (and for Ricky no idea). Earthen flaps her wings, lifting an inch off the ground with quite an effort plastered to her face. ¡°It¡¯s really difficult¡± She notes out loud. ¡°Then all of you practice!¡± I command and then look at Rogerick ¡°While they practice you¡¯re going to go farm¡± ¡°Farm, what¡¯s that going to do? Oh right, forgot he has no idea. ¡°Farming is when you kill a group of monsters in search for a specific drop. In this case you are gold farming; so killing monsters that give the most gold with the least amount of effort. I send him and his breaking armour to get repaired as much as possible before he goes farming. While he races off, the mages begin hopping in the air trying to maintain themselves in it, but not doing so well. After 30 minutes of watching this (I have a surprisingly good patience span), Rogerick comes back with slightly less beaten armour. ¡°Ok, so wolves give around 10-15 coppers a kill, so I want to meteor them to death as usual everyone, but you must all be at least hovering off the ground¡± They complain about the difficulty but I¡¯m having none of that; they need to learn to use all their skills, especially their racials! The farming begins beautifully with meteors killing wolves in the dozens. After about 4 hours of farming (God my patience span is good), they amass almost 80 silver, all of which is given to Rogerick for repairs (80 silver for 4 hours of farming...that¡¯s really good for this level). But for that we¡¯ve had to wipe the plains clean as well as scorch more than a decent amount of the earth with meteorites...Whoops. Well at least this fits well the burnt down forest (this poor poor village). Repairing his armour to full, Rogerick meets us by the cave and we enter once more. It¡¯s a bit past midday right now so I¡¯ve got maybe 8 hours left with them, more than enough time I hope. Luckily nothings respawned yet (must be a daily reset then or something), so we don¡¯t have any difficulties reaching the main cavern. ¡°Ok, Rogerick you charge down there like before, us 3 to the platforms, for now and begin meteoriting everything asap. Let¡¯s do this!¡± ¡°YEAH¡± they all shout and get into action. Wailing his head off, yodelling I believe (if that glass shattering sound can be called that) Rogerick charges down the slope and into a spider crushing it underfoot. Now he doesn¡¯t kill them but he does do about 150 plus damage which is pretty crazy for a charge (I swear my charge skill only has me do 50% weapon damage). Somehow this time, every spider agros onto him and the entire cavern seems to move, swarming towards him. We race to the platforms, set up a meteor and launch it, blasting a dozen spiders¡¯ dead, but also causing that much to come for us. Ok step 2. ¡°Ricky, push the spiders off till they¡¯re on the platforms. You 2 continue meteoriting¡± Following my instructions, within another 15 seconds a slower meteor crashes into a pile of spiders killing maybe 8 of them while Ricky cuts off the legs of 2 spiders down below. About 20 are now climbing towards us, none going for the slope as of yet. Another meteor crashes into the swarm of spiders, charred bodies smacking into others and a rock pelts into Rogerick, denting his rear armour. He¡¯s down to a cantering pace now, the spiders slowing him down as they try to move out of the way of his hooves but are blocked by their brethren already filling up the space. I spot maybe 100 or so spiders down there swarming him with a good 3 dozen on their way up here? The first dozen reach the platforms below but that doesn¡¯t change anything as a third meteor blasts down, splattering spider everywhere. They all level up and almost immediately another meteor comes crashing down (thanks to everything going back to full due to levelling up). Maybe half the remaining spiders are coming up towards us now but only 6 are almost at this platform; a few metres below us. ¡°Next meteor in front of Rogerick to let him run¡± I shout at them while Ricky frantically sends small wind slices to try unbalance the spiders, somewhat succeeding. The fourth meteor lands a little in front of Rogerick, blasting spiders away and lowering substantially the amount coming from the front, helping him speed up to a slow gallop, but still not outrunning the bulk of the spiders. The first spider reaches our platform, a few feet away. ¡°Juciy continue fireballing Rogericks spiders, rest of you, get them off this platform!¡± I shout as I ram my shoulder into the spider, toppling it off, while only scratching myself (no poison thank god) for about 20 hp. Luckily they don¡¯t do that much damage in one hit so they¡¯re not too bad. A few seconds later 3 spiders clamber up on the left, only to be slammed into the air by a slab of rock jutting out from the wall. Fire fills my eyes as a football sized fireball zips down to Rogericks position bursting at the bottom and setting a good 5 spiders on fire, causing them to panic and stumble other spiders up. 8 more skitter onto our platform, 2 losing their legs, 4 bashed off by rock and I¡¯m left with 2. Charging one before it gets a good grip, it stumbles off, but the second bites me. -63 (47/110)
You¡¯ve been poisoned
STATUS: Poisoned (mild)
Take 1 damage per second
Well I¡¯m dead. Grabbing it before it¡¯s jaws can disengage, I drop off the platform, taking it with me. ¡°FOR VALHALAAAAAA¡± *SPLAT*
Would you like to remain as a spirit and watch?
Yes No(respawn)
A window pops in front of me and I click yes, spawning, as a ghost, next to my dead body. Rogerick bucks in the vicinity, blood finally spewing from the holes in his armour, his face full of fury as he smacks spiders left and right with his spear, hooves and shield, trying to take as many with him as possible. Though he falls moments later; the damage overkilling him within seconds. Peering up I spot the 3 of them still fighting while a small swarm of spiders climbs towards them, already a dozen on the platform and quite a few more below. A wide slab of rock pushes half a dozen off, their bodies splatting on the floor next to mine, while an intense fire blazes out at the other 6, burning the platform to ashes along with the spiders. That fire breath spell is a lot more powerful than before, just what is? Oh. I spot Ricky doing something while Juicy breathes fire and it causes her fire to blow out faster and more furiously than before, disintegrating the spiders. Hmm, Ricky definitely should go support with air magic, really complimentary with more magic. Though even as they kill 12 spiders, more pile onto the platform almost numbering 20 now and the remaining ones by Rogerick are now climbing, numbering the total number of enemies to be close to 70, if not more. Suddenly all 3 of them jump off the platform, allowing it to get completely overrun within seconds as they use their wings (I believe Ricky has wings too, just not very visible ones, much like him) to glide to the opposite platform, just a level lower. That saved them for now, but now the spiders split into 2 groups; coming from the ceiling and coming from the floor. Ok so now they¡¯re only mildly screwed, much better (not really). It seems they¡¯re not caring for the ones above as they all focus on meteoriting the bottom spiders, killing a dozen as well as hitting the base of the elevator tower, causing it to shake. I swear I see their eyes glint ... .. . Oh no, that feels like a bad idea. Sure enough their next meteorite slams into the base of the elevator tower, causing it to slowly collapse their way, squishing a good 20 unsuspecting spiders, not bad... Except for the fact that they just woke the boss (I mean it¡¯s a dungeon, you have to suspect a large creature to be somewhere and the move obvious place was that tower!).
The Boss of Murkals Mine has been disturbed, would you like to respawn for the oncoming Boss Battle?
Yes No
Oh sweet, so free revive for boss battle, that¡¯s always useful to know. Pressing yes I immediately respawn next to the mages with a flash of light, along with a broken armoured Rogerick. ¡°You started a boss battle you fools¡± I reprimand them, pointing to the fallen tower. As if on command, smashing out of the tower appears a gigantic brown cave spider, about the size of an elephant
BOSS: Cave Spider Mother [Lvl ???]
???/???
¡°Holy Christ¡± Ricky exclaims as the Boss starts towards us and judging by that speed, it¡¯ll be here in maybe a minute. ¡°METEOR IT, ROGERICK CARRY EARTHEN AFTER SHE¡¯S GOTTEN AGRO¡± Seconds later a meteor crashes and explodes in the Boss¡¯ face making it screech (hopefully in pain) and stopping it in its tracks for a second. Earthen bumpily rides Rogerick towards the opposite end, having the Boss turn round and round to face them along with all the spiders. Huh, so because she¡¯s the one launching the meteor, she gets all the agro? Seems like it as everything¡¯s going towards her. Forgetting about the normal spiders, I have Ricky and Juicy recuperate and attack the Boss, taking out a good 200 health as it turns. Maintaining agro on Earthen, it spits towards her, the poisonous green liquid spattering onto her and Rogerick Well they¡¯re dead. ¡°Ok, we¡¯ve lost; focus on killing as many small spiders as possible!¡± I order them, and they begin to attack the spiders, turning agro towards them. ¡°Do that fire breath combo when they come closer¡± I suggest. I spot Rogerick dying alongside Earthen within half a minute, eek. All spiders turn towards us. Time for a final stand! The Boss clambers towards us along with lots of mini spiders, which somehow get here a few moments earlier. Juicy breathes fire, Incinerating half a dozen before getting impaled by a giant leg. Ricky¡¯s quickly swarmed along with me. Respawning outside, they all look pretty beaten up. That battle actually took close to 10 minutes this time. ¡°Rogerick, go get your armour repaired in a second. The rest of you, tell me how strong the Boss was¡± ¡°Level 15, 8,000 health¡± Earthen responds. ¡°Hmm ok. Rogerick, when you go to repair your armour, I want you to scream and shout and make noise as you go. Imagine you¡¯re trying to make everything in your vicinity attack you¡± His confused expression turns to one of understanding. Turning back to the mages ¡°How much damage does your meteor do?¡± ¡°About 720¡± Earthen speaks for the 3 of them. ¡°So it should take you around 12 hits to kill it then. How long does it take you to cast once?¡± ¡°About 15 seconds¡± Ricky answers this time ¡°5 to max out its power and 10 to regenerate energy¡± ¡°Ok, so the plan for now, is kill all the spiders, then figure out the boss¡¯ attack pattern and then kill it¡± ¡°So we figure out how it attacks us before we kill it, won¡¯t that get us killed?¡± ¡°Very likely, but like with its poisonous spit, knowing its cooldown will save your lives in the long run¡± They look at me funny. ¡°Boss battles require a lot more planning than normal battles. Usually mages will control the boss while a tank, someone with heavy armour takes agro and all other damages will whittle the boss down. However with this group, things need to go a little differently.¡± They all sit down, prepared to listen. ¡°You 3 are damage, and your goal is to deal as much damage as possible to the spider without causing agro. However that¡¯s not possible, so what you have to do is prepare to counter its attacks. The one attack we know of is its spit so Earthen can deal with that with her earth wall. Rogerick will try to get agro but don¡¯t count on that ok. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± they say in unison. ¡°Good, now when Rogerick comes back, let¡¯s clean the cave of spiders¡± They look at me slightly confused ¡°Oh, in dungeons, monsters wont respawn like normal, only when the dungeon resets, so like at the start of each day, will everything respawn¡± A couple of ¡°Oh¡±¡¯s passed around. Rogerick came back a short while later, bringing a platoon of random animals, which were meteored to death succinctly. Explaining the plan to him, we delve back inside and begin the spider slaughter again. Luckily only about 70 odd spiders remain and thankfully the boss is reset. About half die from meteors within a minute, leaving about 20 climbing up while the rest still try to swarm Rogerick as he gallops away. Focusing fully on the ones coming up, most of them don¡¯t even reach the top platform and the few that do are rammed off by slabs of earth. 2 minutes in and most of them are dead. Another meteor kills a couple more and then Rogerick deals with the remaining 8, bucking about, smacking them with his shield and spear doing a good bit of damage, all the while armour protecting him from the spiders¡¯ poison. All the spiders dead, I have everyone recuperate, before Rogerick kicks the side of the elevator tower, awakening the Boss. It bursts out, angrily skittering towards Rogerick as he gallops away and a meteor crashes into its face immediately causing agro to swerve to Earthen. Rogerick turns round and begins spearing the Boss¡¯s side, annoying it, but not enough to switch agro. A second meteor smacks into its face and it retaliates with spit. ¡°WALL¡± one...two... Just in time it appears, poison sizzling off the rock. The boss begins to climb, receiving a third meteor and a fourth before it reaches the top platform. Trying to run is useless as its legs impale us one by one and then deals with Rogerick. Ok, so we really need someone to hold agro better. Hmm we could do that... Back inside, The beginning of the fight is the same, but after each meteor Rogerick becomes the only attacker until agro is on him and then he lures the Boss to the other side of the room. Another meteor to re-agro it to Earthen and the first poisonous spit comes. 1...2... Rogerick charges once more, dealing enough damage after half a minute to get agro. 32...33... Meteor smacking it on the lower back this time causes it to swerve round and spit, on 45. Ok so 45 second cooldown. Luckily the wall is up and everyone is safe. Agro switches back to Rogerick after some work and the spider continues to skitter in this back and forth fashion. 4th meteor hits it and its eyes flash yellow. Ah stage 2. ¡°Ignore it and continue¡± just in case someone else saw it. Instead of turning away from Rogerick, the Boss simply stops and as exactly as I fear: web spews out of its abdomen, colliding into us. Eww, I¡¯m covered in it and plastered onto the wall. Like the rest of us we¡¯re stuck in a web. HOWEVER THEY¡¯RE ALL MAGES SO IT DOESN¡¯T REALLY MATTER ... .. . Or well it shouldn¡¯t... Nope, apparently it is...huu ¡°Everyone, why aren¡¯t you casting?¡± I look around to see all of them plastered on the wall like me. ¡°I can¡¯t move my hands¡± Juicy complains. Ah. Well I guess they don¡¯t know how to cast without moving their hands do they? It doesn¡¯t really matter anyways as Rogerick gets murdered by the spider and then it just spits on us, killing us all. ¡°OK Round 3, don¡¯t forget to put up a wall when there¡¯s poison and a web. Poison is every 45 seconds, web we don¡¯t know yet¡± Everyone nods and we¡¯re back in there. The first half of the fight is the same as before; back and forth skittering till it reaches half health and webs spew out on Rogerick this time. With him dead, there¡¯s nothing stopping the spider coming after us and summarily destroying us. ¡°Ok, I believe I have a plan. Juicy, I want you to be riding with Rogerick, that means the agro will change quicker everyone so be ready¡± ¡°Er why?¡± Juicy asks raising her hand reflexively (but after she asked the question...what¡¯s the point in that?). ¡°So when the Boss goes to half health we make sure it aggros onto you or Rogerick at that moment, causing it to shoot webs at you¡± ¡°So I¡¯m setting them on fire?¡± She half gets it. ¡°Yes, but before it shoots the webs¡± ... .. . ¡°Ohhhh¡± She gets it. ¡°You can also try doing it before that point, but it¡¯s probably not going to happen¡± Back in for round 4! Same as before except less damage on the Magey side, causing agro to switch back and forth a lot quicker than before and after about 3 minutes of back and forth the Boss finally goes down to half health, abdomen and agro pointed towards Rogerick and Juicy. Almost immediately, the Boss starts screeching as flaming webs shoot out, entrapping and summarily burning both of them but also continually burning inside the Boss¡¯ abdomen. Within about 20 seconds, it curls into a ball, legs in the air, smelling slightly roasted.
Dungeon complete!
This dungeon will reset in 9 hours 32 minutes 14 seconds.
Phew, that¡¯s over. Everyone spreads high fives around (I do not shy away from them even if I did literally nothing) while we wait for the other two to come back in and share in the revelries. Rogerick bursts in with some sheets of plate still remaining (a lot of it fell off because of the fire, surprisingly effective) bucking around while yodelling. Juicy, who tries to remain on his back Yodels with the same enthusiasm. Seems like this lot will survive just yet... Reclaiming all the corpses (took like an hour to do so) while everyone took turns mining (so they¡¯d all get the skill) they get more than enough iron ore as well as 5-6 silvers and a few dozen poison glands, might be useful too! Reclaiming the boss¡¯ body, a small red book spawns where the body used to be as well as some fried spider legs (I¡¯m guessing). Since it¡¯s red, I believe the book belongs to Juicy, who I direct to pick it up. ¡°Oooh¡± She looks wide eyed at it. ¡°What is it?¡± Everyone asks excitedly (even I¡¯m excited to see what it is). ¡°Web of Fire spell, requires level 1 Fire Manipulator Talent¡± She reads aloud receiving a round of ¡®ooooh¡¯s. ¡°What¡¯s a talent?¡± she asks me. ¡°Ah, Talents are like skills but they¡¯re more defining of your character I believe. For example Lucky is a talent¡± Not quite sure they understood that but oh well I don¡¯t know much about talents, they just sort of creep up on me! ¡°For you to get the fire manipulator talent, I think you need to learn how to manipulate fire magic to a much better degree than just fireballs¡± Ok they seem to get that. ¡°Right shall we go celebrate with a drink at the inn?¡± Rogerick asks. I guess he¡¯s forgotten that we¡¯re all underaged... But we go along with it anyways and head off to the inn. Getting a table and 4 tankards of milk (5 actually since Rogerick doesn¡¯t want to be different, what a great guy) we sit down by the hearth and clink our tankards together in victory. ¡°Right. So this ends the tutorial guys¡± Everyone lets out a sad sound, I guess they were enjoying my company somewhat ¡°So from now on, you should stick together, at least for a little while and get your classes sorted out¡± ¡°So what classes should we get?¡± Ricky asks inquisitively, finally some slight semblance of his usual analytical visage appearing. ¡°Well first off, Juicy and Earthen, you should stick with going your respective type of mage; so Pyromancer and Geomancer should be what you¡¯re looking for. If you find something cooler, don¡¯t hesitate¡± The both nod at that ¡°Rogerick, get your blacksmithing skill and go for a tanky class, ask the stable master where the best war mounts are trained and become one of those...if that¡¯s possible¡± ¡°Well, that is actually kind of what I was going for so I¡¯ll do that¡± He muses. ¡°And finally Ricky...for now, I want you to not get a class and simply focus on your quickening spell as well as your combat technique. The idea is to use your air magic to help you fight in melee, and I have no idea what class does that so you¡¯re going to have to be on a lookout for that alright?¡± He nods, thinking deeply. ¡°Ok, so everyone, it has been quite the pleasure teaching you how to play, so have fun and if I ever meet you in game, please don¡¯t be a Player Killer¡± ¡°Player Killer? As it sounds?¡± Juicy asks ¡°As it sounds¡± With a last gulp of our drinks, I say farewell walking out the door and logging out, the character deleting itself once I¡¯d done so. Now back to some real fun...or hell whatever way you look at it.