by Arthur Stone
So Dark had never received these distributable points. This stiletto was the first exception. Apparently, every player received the distributable point prize for common items. He was unlikely to be able to pump all of his level 0 skills this way, since success was simply too uncommon. But it still felt good to have made.
He admired the stiletto and imagined slaying hesh’ells’ at rapid speed. With armor on, he could even try fighting the previously undefeatable sentinels. All of this was much better than flint-sharpened sticks.
Now, he could proceed to that green incline. It was a little over a mile away, easily reachable in a half an hour. There he would at last get his revenge for the many long days of humiliation fighting worthless mobs with his bare hands. Yes, Dark’s armor and weapons were quite inferior to the average newcomer’s.
Low-levels received all kinds of quests that gave common and improved items as rewards. Or you could buy such items from the merchants for mere pennies. Sadly, those options were far out of his reach. However, even with these primitive items, he was many times stronger than before.
He pushed away the desire to return to the meadows. There was still plenty of time until evening, but Dark had plans that would likely take all of that time. It was time to start up the furnace—his supply of ingots was dwindling fast. With the leather he had found in the warehouse, he would try to make a bigger, tougher bag that let him carry more things. He still needed to fish and cook his catch, using some dishes and salt as additional ingredients. The forum had taught him that was the way to guarantee his Cooking skill would get some progress.
With all of that to do, there wasn’t much time to spare.
His experience from the night before had taught him it was unwise to craft items once the sun sank beneath the horizon.
* * *
Dark slid the door bolt closed just as the rays of the sinking sun of X were slipping away from the very top of the waste rock pile. Though the twilight would linger outside for a time still, he was too afraid to do the same.
Ascending to the second floor, he collapsed onto the bed and checked out his craft skills. This one day had increased them many times more than all previous days combined.
A good day’s work.
There weren’t so many numbers that it took him long to delve into, though. He hopped onto the forum to seek answers for the questions he had after his busy day. X’s crafting system was intricate, but there was no intelligible guide available on it, so he had to put together the truth from the available pieces.
That wasn’t easy. He had to formulate his searches in various ways and sometimes look at the post history of various user profiles, most of which held nothing of interest to him. Sometimes, though, these activity logs held gems that he could not find elsewhere.
It was in one of these profiles that he happened to find a mention of his name. It was a very short post: “Enough about this Dark! Give it up already!”
There could be plenty of players in the game with the same nickname as his. Somehow, though, Dark knew this one was about him.
He opened the thread. Then, he entered his own nickname into the search box and scrolled through the results.
They were impressive.
This whole time, Dark had been searching for information about skills and crafting and mobs and so on, but he had neglected this crucial topic. He had people after him. He didn’t know who, but they were looking hard. The official forum was filled with messages posted by dozens of players promising a reward for any information about the missing player.
Everything about him was listed: nickname, race name, description of his appearance. Only his level was incorrect in these writeups: level 0. Kim’s people were obviously conducting this search, and they were certain that no character as crippled as his could level quickly.
Dark could tell that they were offering various rewards for any information about him to every single person they encountered in the game. And many players were starting to think this was an advertising campaign. They often reacted in irritation, or even aggression.
So many people had heard of this search that Kim’s people must have been working overtime. Other Darks in the game were particularly upset at the whole affair. They cursed out the idiots who mistook them for the fugitive. After all, they were obviously not insignificant zeroes of a forgotten race. There were no level 0 characters in all of X. Anyone stuck at that level was a freak. And few appreciated being taken for a freak.
A few attempts at fraud had been made, too. Some enterprising player had created a character with a similar appearance and the same nickname and tried to swap screenshots for money.
Dark began to even feel sorry for Kim’s trackers.
They asked the same questions from each and every player, with the same negative results. No one could possibly have any information about Dark’s whereabouts or anything else. Only his torturers had ever seen him.
Now, his enemies did know for sure that he was still in the game. There was no chance he could have escaped into the real world. The reason was obvious: They could visit his body.
That led him to a third conclusion. Kim was a monster, but for now, he had kept his word that nothing would happen to Dark’s body. No physical harm was being done to him.
But what would happen if the fruitless searching stretched on for months? If Dark were to ever escape this world, it would be a long time from now.
Perhaps Kim would snap.
If that happened, his body’s fate could change dramatically.
Assuming no unforeseen intervention, his character would remain unfindable, but his body was easily accessible. There was no reason to trust Kim’s word. The man hated Dark and had gone to impossible lengths to deal him maximal suffering.
It was quite the paradox. In the game, Dark was so far away from his enemies that they could never hope to find him. But in the real world, he was completely within their power.
How could he change that situation?
A triple whistle sounded out from below, followed by muffled speech.
“Puny mortal, why have you locked yourself in your tower so early? I told you there was no need to rush. Now come out, for the Ancient Evil is here!”
Chapter 30
Buzzing and Grinding
Total stat levels: 16.
Character level: 2.
Mastery level: 0.
Dark took two steps back and raised his shield. The mob buzzed furiously and attacked so fiercely that his protective disc of copper evidenced a decent dent. Dark stumbled. But he did not fall.
Further controlling his enemy with his shield, he feinted to the left, then to the right, and then slammed his ax as hard as he could straight down into the beast’s head.
Victory!
Note: Personal victory! Hesh’ell Sentinel killed. Weak mob. Level 3. Location sensation level: 20%. Personal sensation level: 70%. This was a flying mob. You receive double XP! +54 progress points received. 3 distributable progress points received. This was a flying mob. Double distributable progress points!
The following skills played a significant role in this battle: Athletics, Heavy Weapons, Heavy Armor, Shieldbearing, Physical Attack.
+4 Athletics progress point.
+19 Heavy Weapons progress points.
+8 Heavy Armor progress points.
+12 Shieldbearing progress points.
+11 Physical Attack progress points.
Note: You have discovered a new creature: Hesh’ell Sentinel. Weak mob. Level 3. Base XP: 15. Note: Flying mob. x2 base XP! Health: 88. Mana: 26. Stamina: 35. Aggression: socially aggressive. Magic skills: debuff to Physical Dodge. Poison level: unknown. Chance of valuable loot: very low. General information: a medium-sized and voracious creature that adores Fruit of the Gasthos Tree. Parts of its body may be used for food and crafting. Attacks everything that it perceives as threatening the Hesh’ell Swarm. 100% chance of attacking those close to the Hesh’ell Queen or Hesh’ell Harvesters.
No pl
ayer in the history of X has ever encountered a Hesh’ell Sentinel! You receive +250 Knowledge progress points. You receive a bonus +1 to any skill. The leaders of the Explorers League may present you with a reward for adding creatures you have discovered from your personal bestiary to the league archives. Congratulations! Keep discovering new things to unlock more generous rewards!
Dark grinned. This was the third mob he had discovered today, together with the Hesh’ell Harvester and the Hesh’ell Soldier. But there were still at least two more species of hesh’ell in the swarm. They looked like their levels were higher, but with his armor and weapons, he could give them a try.
Dark had little fear. One on one, at least. If there was an Exterminator skill, he’d be pumping it through the roof. The most important challenge was to avoid attracting a whole pack of the insects, as he had done half an hour back. A soldier and a sentinel had attacked him in congress. He had managed to fight them off, but only at the expense of a large number of Stamina and Health points.
After collecting his loot, Dark pushed towards the swarm. The remnants of the swarm, anyway. The local hesh’ell population had suffered enormous losses today. About a quarter of their original number still survived. Perhaps less.
All thanks to his upgraded tactics. And his upgraded equipment, of course.
Now Dark wasted no time luring away the tiny hesh’ells from the swarm. He could kill them from a distance with a single arrow shot from his bow. The projectiles were tipped with copper and able to take out hatchlings, workers, and harvesters with a single shot. He would continue shooting until one of the soldiers or sentinels aggroed on him. Some of the shots missed, since he was shooting at small targets from a distance, but he was generally successful.
Sooner or later the more aggressive hesh’ells caught on. Dark found this no cause for panic. The arrows continued to pelt them. Once they were close enough, he drew his shield and a melee weapon and finished them off. Any damage he took himself during this process was insignificant. But the mobs did attack his magic cloak and pieces of light and heavy armor, giving him progress to all three related skills at once.
The hesh’ell swarm was always on the move, albeit slowly. Dark followed, cutting them down, piece by piece. All the while, he collected the many arrows protruding from carcasses and stuck in the ground. Sometimes the arrows broke, but they held up well for low-class items. At this rate, he had enough for a couple of good hunting days.
His distributable progress points were growing into a pool big enough to reach level 3. But he was in no rush. The swarm lost its workers, hatchlings, and harvesters first. That cleared the field enough for Dark to get a better look at the new mobs hiding towards the middle. The species he had never faced in battle. First, there was one kind as big as a fox, with a fearsomely orange abdomen. He only saw three of those, and they loyally circled the hesh’ell in the middle.
That central beast seemed like quite a foe. Many of the other hesh’ells looked like harmless, curious little creatures, but this one was straight out of a horror film. It was ugly and misshapen, with crimson needles sticking out in all directions, bent at different angles. Its huge wings glistened black, and its front legs were spears crafted for a quick and bloody massacre.
That seemed like the head of the swarm. In any case, it was an impressive beast. When compared with Dark, anyway. Its orange guardians did not seem harmless, either.
Both species were markedly different from all of the rest, as far as their outward characteristics were concerned. Perhaps their magic abilities were different, as well. If they were, then Dark might be able to pump some of his less grindable skills without spending valuable distributable progress points.
And if he died, no big deal. It would hurt, of course, but he could deal with it.
He would do all he could to defeat those beasts. The results would determine how many distributable points he had to spend to reach level 3.
* * *
Surprisingly the four central mobs made no apparent reaction to Dark’s increasingly brash proximity. He kept shooting the smaller hesh’ells and kept getting closer and closer. Then, he took a shot at one of the bigger ones. Fed up with waiting for them to show the first sign of aggression, he shot at the beast’s back. It was a critical hit, and more than half of the bug’s hit points were gone. Finishing the guard off was not difficult.
The buzzing of the last sentinel went quiet. Yet the four in the center continued to ignore Dark and moved from the last tree stripped clean towards the next fruit-filled one in their path.
He realized he had best reign in his boldness. Seeing how tightly knit this quartet was, they might charge at him as a group if he took a shot at them. He doubted he would survive that. If they were sentinels or soldiers, he probably would. But these creatures were clearly more powerful and might have unexpected surprise skills for him.
What sort of skills, he had no idea.
He took a few minutes to wait for his best opportunity. The four stayed tightly knit. Hopefully something would break their formation.
Then it happened—one of the orange buzzers strayed from the group, heading to the next tree on its own. Perhaps its friends had monopolized the most productive branches, and it felt cheated.
But regardless of the reason, it moved away from the mini-swarm.
Dark fired at it from fifteen paces out. The mob took the arrow under its wing and tumbled in the air before spinning to face its attacker and bull-rushing him, buzzing its fury. Dark managed to nail it with another arrow, less than an inch from its eye, moments before it crashed into his shield.
Staying on his feet was difficult, but he managed, then dropped a blow to its head. The orange beast squealed as its eyes flashed red.
As he was preparing for the next blow, Dark felt his limbs go stiff, and for a couple of seconds, he was as mobile as dry concrete. The mob’s magic skill truly was an unpleasant surprise. It dealt him no damage, but the short-term paralysis was quite a disadvantage in combat.
Yet now, though unresisted, the hesh’ell displayed the full depth of its wisdom by attacking Dark’s shield again instead of his defenseless body. That instant, his mobility returned. Rather than chop, Dark went for a stab. He lunged hard, punching his blade into the middle of the bottom side of the bug’s abdomen.
That part of the buzzer was soft, and his blade entered down to its hilt. Twisting the blade, the man took a step back. The mob’s familiar whistling followed, and Dark instinctively raised his shield. Once again, his flesh became stone.
Still the hesh’ell failed to take advantage of the moment. Once more it attacked his shield, trying to knock him down or achieve some other objective.
It didn’t work. Less than a minute after it had begun, the fight was over.
Yes, his shield had lost a few Durability points, but they were the only casualties. Despite its size and scary appearance, this mob had been helpless in the face of Dark’s primitive tactics.
This game is stupid. But at least it’s unpredictable sometimes.
Note: Personal victory! Hesh’ell Drone killed! Common mob. Level 5. Location sensation level: 30%. Personal sensation level: 80%. This was a flying mob. You receive double XP! 220 progress points received. This was a flying mob. Double distributable progress points! 46 distributable progress points received.
The following skills played a significant role in this battle: Athletics, Heavy Weapons, Shieldbearing, Physical Attack, Ranged Weapons, Reaction, Accuracy, Physical Critical Hit, Luck, Control Resist.
+33 Athletics progress points.
+41 Heavy Weapons progress points.
+52 Shieldbearing progress points.
+38 Physical Attack progress points.
+16 Ranged Weapons progress points.
+7 Reaction progress points.
+8 Accuracy progress points.
+9 Physical Critical Hit progress points.
+2 Luck progress points.
+14 Control Resist progress points.
/> Note: You have discovered a new creature: Hesh’ell Drone. Common mob. Level 5. Base XP: 50. Note: Flying mob. x2 base XP! Health: 448. Mana: 108. Stamina: 110. Aggression: Only when it or the swarm queen is attacked. Magic abilities: short-term paralysis. Poison level: unknown. Chance of valuable loot: low. General information: a sizable, voracious creature that loves Fruit of the Gasthos Tree. It is possible that parts of its body can be used for food and crafting. Attacks everything that it perceives as threatening the Hesh’ell Queen. 100% chance of attacking those close to the Hesh’ell Queen.
No player in the history of X has ever encountered a Hesh’ell Drone! You receive +250 Knowledge progress points. You get a bonus +1 to any base skill. The leaders of the Explorers League may present you with a reward for adding creatures you have discovered from your personal bestiary to the league archives. Congratulations! Keep discovering new things to unlock more generous rewards!
238 progress points just for killing one mob! That was colossal. Three hours of hunting frogs wouldn’t have earned him that much. This had taken just one painless minute of work. His shield was a little beat up, yes, but it was easy to repair it or make another one from scratch. The mine was close by, he still had raw materials left, and he was hardly exhausted.
Now he understood the drones. As long as he did not approach the queen, he could avoid being attacked by both at once. He would strike at them one at a time with his bow, and they would come at him alone. Unless their in-game description was lying, of course. This location was unfinished, so changes might have been made without updating all of the text, or there might be bugs. But fighting these unknown creatures was his best opportunity at progress.
