by Aaron Oster
Poison Touch
Tier: 1
Cost: 5 MP
Cooldown: 5 Seconds
Effect: Your touch will cause -1 poison damage per second for 10 seconds
Tier 1 Effect: 30% resistance to poison
Requirements to next Tier: Use Poison Touch 100 times - 0/100
Spring
Tier: 1
Cost: 10 STA
Cooldown: 5 Seconds
Effect: Use to either close with, or escape an enemy
Distance Covered: 10 feet
Tier 1 Effect: +20% Increased damage when attacking with Spring
Requirements to next Tier: Use Spring 200 times - 0/200
Arthur closed his status, now feeling just a tiny drop better about his character. At least the two bonuses seemed likely to help him stay alive. Spring could help him run away if needed, and Poison Touch would be good to continuously cause damage over time to an opponent. At least, for as long as his MP held out during battle. With his current mana, he’d be able to use it 14 times before he ran out. That would mean he’d be able to serve 140 points of damage. Not bad for a level 1 character with no weapons.
Closing his status, Arthur began looking around. He had no idea where he was and without a map, didn’t know in which direction he should be traveling. The gloom and rain made it difficult to tell the time as well, so he didn’t know if it was morning, afternoon, or evening. And then there was that Survival of the Fittest quest, which made his stomach queasy.
It was rated as an A-level difficulty quest, which meant that his chances of survival were meager. In AKO, every quest had a rating. From lowest to highest they were: E, D, C, C+, B, B+, A, A+, S, and S+. There were also exclusive quest ratings after S+, and they were Monstrous, Beastly, and Ungodly, but those were reserved for events. If he was going by the regular rating system, the quest was the fourth most difficult.
Most people at his level wouldn’t see a quest above D. If they found something really rare, maybe they’d see a C.
Arthur sighed once more, rubbing at his temples as a dull pain started forming between his eyes. The pain was also a new feature. Headaches weren’t possible in the old AKO, but in the new Animal Kingdom, it seemed that just about anything was.
He had to set himself some goals if he wanted to stay alive. In the short term, he needed to find a settlement or shelter where he could be safe once night fell. And in the long run, he needed to find the most effective way to level up to increase his chances of survivability. He also had to try and find others that had been trapped here, if anyone else had been. And he had to look for some way out of this death game.
Nodding to himself, he took a closer look at his surroundings. The foliage underfoot and all around was extremely dense. But if he looked closely, he could barely make out a path. Turning his head in either direction, he could see where the trail wound through the trees and thick undergrowth.
The only problem was that he had no idea which way he should be going. The lack of a compass assured that he also had no points of reference, and since it was raining, he couldn’t guess by the direction of the sun either. He decided to do what people in his situation had been doing for years. He closed his eyes, spun around a few times, and opened them.
He found himself facing straight ahead with the path still stretching to either side.
It seemed that even random chance wasn’t going to help him. So, grumbling to himself, Arthur spun on his heel and headed down the path to his right.
As he walked, his mind began to wander back to his family. His parents would be worried sick by now. If his body was still in his room and strapped into his VR rig, they wouldn’t be able to wake him up. Then again, maybe they’d log him out…
He forced his thoughts to a stop at that.
There was no way whoever had trapped him – and who knew how many other people in here – hadn’t thought of that and had taken some precautions to make sure they couldn’t get logged out manually. He just really hoped they were alright.
If he took solace in anything, it was that neither of his parents ever played VR games, so at least they’d be safe. His little brother, on the other hand, did.
Arthur felt guilt wrack him as he remembered who had gotten the 12-year-old into gaming. He’d introduced him to AKO and had even bought him a rig so they could game together.
Though his parents were initially against it, he argued that he was 18 and would be going off to college in a few months and, therefore, needed to spend as much time with his brother as he could. Arthur’s reasoning had swayed them to his way of thinking, and they gave in. He now really wished that his parents had put up more of a fight when he’d first brought it up.
The longer he thought about it, the worse he felt, and soon, he was practically dragging his feet across the sodden ground, feeling like the worst big brother in the world. For all he knew, Nate was already…
No!
Arthur forced his mind away from that line of thought. Nate had a curfew, so maybe he hadn’t gotten trapped in here at all. But despite trying to convince himself of that, a nagging feeling in the back of his mind told him differently.
That was why, when he heard the cry for help, he immediately sprang into action, not even bothering to consider his own safety.
“Help! Someone, please help me!”
A loud, piercing voice cut through the light pitter-patter of rain, and Arthur took off in that direction, his mind sure that it was Nate and that he was in life-threatening danger.
He just hoped he would make it there in time.
3
Arthur crashed through the thick undergrowth, following the ever-increasing sounds of distress. Plants whipped and tore at his clothes as he ran, and he even suffered some minor damage.
-1 HP, whipping branch. -1 HP, thorny vine, -1 HP whipping branch.
He lost a total of 5 HP before bursting through the tree cover and into a small clearing. Stumbling to a halt, Arthur’s brows furrowed in confusion as he took in the scene.
A two-foot-long red and black centipede was thrashing around in the clearing, hissing and snapping its mandibles as it tried to catch a smallish green and brown frog. But that wasn’t what confused him. What confused him was the fact that he didn’t see anyone here who could have been calling for help.
Arthur briefly wondered if his mind had played some sort of trick on him when the frog spotted him. To his surprise, the frog called out to him.
“Please help me! I don’t want this bugger to eat me! I’m too young to die!”
Arthur stared for a few long seconds, hardly believing his ears. Talking animals had most definitely not existed in the game before now, especially not Australian sounding frogs. A quest notification flashed in his view a second later, and Arthur’s eyes skimmed over the text.
Quest Available: A Frog in Need
Jeremy Hopps Croaksalot has requested your aid. Will you help him?
Objective: Kill the attacking Centipede
Failure: Jeremy Hopps Croaksalot dies
Difficulty: D
Rewards: 500 XP, Jeremy Hopps Croaksalot will become your companion
Will you accept?
Yes/No
Arthur had to suppress a laugh at the frog’s admittedly ridiculous name, but he accepted the quest all the same. He had no idea where he was in the Animal Kingdom, and having a companion could never hurt. The notification vanished as soon as he accepted and the attacking centipede was outlined in red, its information becoming available to him.
Name: Amazonian Giant Centipede
Level: 2
HP: 95/100
Arthur winced when he saw the mob’s massive HP. The average level 2 monster had been around 50. It appeared that this version was going to be quite a bit harder. He could feel his heart rate increase as he used Poison Touch, his hands glowing a sickly green. Then, he aimed himself at the centipede and used Spring.
His Stamina dropped by 10, and his powerful legs coiled beneath him, la
unching him toward the terrifying monster.
Arthur slammed bodily into the mob, just as it had managed to pin the small frog down and threw it clear, sending it rolling. A damage notification flashed in his view once again, and Arthur quickly minimized it, setting notifications to only show in the corner of his vision.
-3 Damage, blunt.
Effect triggered: AGC will suffer -1 HP per second for 10 seconds.
Arthur winced as he watched his own HP drop by 2. Slamming into a heavily armored body with his soft fleshy one wasn’t the greatest idea.
“Thanks, mate. Thought I was a goner there,” the frog called up to him.
“I wouldn’t thank me just yet,” Arthur said grimly as the mob rolled back to its feet. “I still have to kill that thing, and I don’t have any weapons.”
The frog seemed to a pale a bit at that, his throat ballooning out and releasing a fear-filled squeak.
“It’s not all bad, though,” Arthur said, trying to inject a little confidence into his voice. “If I can stay alive for long enough, I can whittle down its HP.”
He was smart and left out the fact that he had no idea if he’d survive long enough to knock the centipede’s HP to 0. He’d need to close in with the oversized arthropod several times to deal damage, and that meant getting into range of the monster.
“Oh, well, I can help with that, mate,” the frog called to him.
“Great, you do that,” Arthur said, only half paying attention.
The centipede was hissing at him, circling slowly and clacking its mandibles. He could see its HP slowly ticking down as his racial bonus leeched it away.
Arthur took another deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart.
10 HP down, 85 to go, he told himself. Piece of cake.
The mob hissed, sending bubbles of foam flying from its jaws. It charged toward Arthur, its multiple legs clacking and skittering over the ground as it closed with frightening speed.
Arthur sprang to one side, leading it away from the small frog. The whole point of this was to keep him alive, and seeing as he was committed, it wouldn’t do to allow Jeremy Hopps Croaksalot to die.
Just as he’d predicted, the centipede viewed him as the bigger threat and swerved to engage him. It closed within five feet, then suddenly blurred forward. Arthur didn’t even have time to think and used Spring. He launched into the air, narrowly avoiding the centipede’s strike. He quickly used Poison Touch and came down on its back, slamming it with another damage-over-time effect.
The mob hissed, whirling and dislodging him. It was only thanks to his high Agility that he was able to land on his feet. And he was lucky that he managed to, as the centipede’s back half came whipping around, its lethal stinger extended and its many legs flailing.
Arthur yelped and dropped flat, but the stinger still caught him, shaving off 8 HP. But that wasn’t the end of it. Pain burned through his arm where the stinger had cut him, pain the likes of which he’d never felt before. It burned icy cold, and his arm went momentarily numb. Before he could open his mouth to scream from the horrible pain, the sensation miraculously vanished.
Debuff gained: Movement slowed by 20% for 15 seconds.
Arthur cursed his bad luck, forcing himself back to his feet and leaping back to avoid the thrashing mob. The memory of the burning pain was still at the forefront of his mind, even though it had already vanished.
“You alright, mate?”
Arthur looked down to see the small frog looking up at him worriedly.
“Yeah, doing great,” Arthur said, clenching his fists to hide the tremor.
“Here, let me give you a boost.”
A second later, Arthur felt a cooling sensation wash over his entire body, washing away his fatigue and topping off his HP. In addition, he gained a buff.
Buff gained: Invigorated - +10% to all attributes for 30 seconds.
“Thanks!” Arthur gasped, looking down at the small frog with new respect.
“Don’t mention it, mate! Just kill that bugger, and we’ll call it even.”
“Deal!” Arthur said with a wide grin.
He turned to face the centipede, which had stopped thrashing and was now charging them once again.
I have to stay focused, Arthur berated himself, charging right at the mob.
Just as it closed the distance, he used Spring, leaping high over its head and used the same tactic as before. Slapping on another Poison Touch, Arthur flipped off its back before it could throw him again. Then he rolled to the side, avoiding its mandibles that snapped right before his face.
Arthur kicked out with his strong legs, dealing a whopping -3 damage, but took a slash from the beast’s sharpened mandibles, shaving off 5 of his HP. And so, the battle of attrition began. He would dart in and use his Poison Touch, then try to avoid the centipede’s counter. It was much harder than it should have been.
The mob didn’t seem to have any attack pattern he could follow. But it did seem to be limited to how many different attacks it could use, all of which he could avoid using his Spring. He was cutting it very close, as dodging the attacks were sapping his Stamina, and the frog’s buff hadn’t topped it up like it did his HP.
Arthur had managed to shave the centipede’s HP down to 8. He was panting hard by now. His Stamina was almost all gone, but he had enough for one more use of Spring. The centipede charged him once again, mandibles clacking. He triggered his skill, leaping high into the air. Unfortunately, it seemed that the centipede had been anticipating this.
Its head followed his trajectory, and a spray of green acid shot from between its mandibles. Searing pain struck Arthur center mass, sending him tumbling to the ground. He gasped, feeling as though the acid were eating right through his flesh.
-22 HP, acid.
Arthur gasped again, trying to force his legs under him to escape the follow-up he knew was coming. But he was just in too much pain. A sharp spike slammed into his chest, piercing straight through him and into the ground.
-13 HP, piercing.
“Hold on, mate!”
Arthur’s pain somewhat diminished as his frog buddy’s buff hit him, restoring half his health. Even with the buff, he was still in a bad position. Worse, his HP had started ticking down at a rate of 2 per second.
Nothing left to do but go for broke.
Arthur’s Poison Touch slammed into the centipede, dropping his HP by 1. Now it was just a matter of outlasting the damned thing.
The mob missed, trying to lift its leg so it could reach him with its mandibles or stinger. But Arthur wrapped his hands around the appendage and held on for dear life. Even as the pain redoubled, and his HP continuously dropped, he knew he had to. It was getting increasingly harder to concentrate, as he was growing faint from lack of blood. With all the effort he was exerting, Arthur wasn’t even sure if he’d live, even if he won the fight.
Just as his grip was going slack and his HP dropped to 9/40, the message he’d been waiting for flashed before his eyes.
Amazonian Giant Centipede dies! +50 XP
Quest Completed: A Frog in Need
Rewards: 500 XP, Jeremy Hopps Croaksalot is now your companion
Before he could so much as cheer in the way of celebration, he got bombarded by a slew of notifications.
Level Up!
Congratulations, you have reached level 2. You now have 5 new Attribute Points to allocate.
Level Up!
Congratulations, you have reached level 3. You now have 5 new Attribute Points to allocate.
+1 Agility
+1 Endurance
+1 Charisma
Ability Available!
Due to your repeated actions, a new ability has become available to you.
Tae-Frog-Do
Skill Available!
Due to your repeated actions, a new skill has become available to you.
Unarmed Frog-Bat
Arthur audibly groaned when he saw the last two messages, but the groan had nothing to do with the centi
pede leg he’d just ripped from his stomach. It appeared that whoever was running this game enjoyed puns and terrible ones at that. He wouldn’t be at all surprised if all of his future skills and abilities would have some variant of the word frog in it.
His HP, MP, and Stamina had regenerated when he’d leveled up, and the small amount of damage he’d done removing the centipede leg was restoring itself. Before he could examine the skills that had become available to him, he felt a weight land on his chest. Arthur reacted instinctively, throwing himself to the side and jumping to his feet, a Poison Touch ready at his fingertips.
When he looked down, instead of some attacker, was the small frog he’d saved, flipping himself onto his feet and glaring at him.
“What’s the big idea, mate? Not cool, throwing me off like that.”
“Sorry,” Arthur said sheepishly. “You just surprised me, is all.”
The frog’s anger melted away so quickly that Arthur had to wonder if it had been feigned.
“Not to worry, mate! You did save my life, so I guess we’re even. What’s your name, by the way?”
“Arthur,” Arthur said, relaxing his posture and sitting down.
Despite his HP being topped up, his body was still flush with adrenaline from the fight. He’d had a seriously close call, and if not for this small frog, he’d surely have died.
“Nice to meet you, Arthur. I’m Jeremy Hopps Croaksalot, but you can call me Hopps. All my friends do.”
“Friends? Does that mean you live around here?” Arthur asked, more to take his mind off the fact that he had nearly died than out of curiosity.
“Em…Well…I wouldn’t say friends per se,” Hopps said, making air quotes with two of his small fingers. “More like acquaintances … Fine! I admit it. I lied about the friends part. I really don’t have any.”
