by Aaron Oster
Durability: 80/80
Rarity: Rare
Weapon Type: Small Blade - Dagger
Damage: 12 - 14 (+10% Chance to inflict additional 4 - 6 Bleeding damage)
Restrictions: Agility - 20+
Arthur could hardly believe that he had such a great weapon, let alone that with his most recent level up, he just qualified to wield this awesome dagger.
Sticking the dagger through his rope belt, Arthur looked down, surprised to find another item lying on the floor: a filthy and drenched piece of cloth.
Stooping, he lifted the cloth, and after brushing off some of the dirt, discovered that it was a crude map of the area. It wasn’t great; nothing more than a few squiggly lines, but there was a spot marked about two miles to the East. Arthur’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He thought he knew what it was but wanted to make sure.
“What does this look like to you?” he asked, turning the map toward Hopps.
He felt his companion shift around on his shoulder as he peered closer.
“Looks like a map to me, mate. And would you look at that! Looks like the buggers found a Dungeon nearby. We should go check it out.”
Quest Available: Frog-Sploration
Jeremy Hopps Croaksalot has suggested you investigate a nearby Dungeon. Will you listen to him, yet again?
Objective: Investigate the nearby Dungeon
Failure: Don’t investigate the nearby Dungeon
Difficulty: C+
Rewards: 2,000 XP, Variable
Will you accept?
Yes/No
7
“You know, you really need to stop doing that,” Arthur grumbled, accepting the quest all the same.
He also noted that the quest names and notifications were growing more and more ridiculous. The old AKO’s AI hadn’t sent messages nearly as personal, nor did it make all these puns about his Race.
Arthur’s mind then went back to the quest that had just been offered. It might be risky to investigate an unknown Dungeon, but with high risk came even higher reward. Dungeons always had the best loot. Not to mention, they were a great place for leveling up and discovering hidden quests. However, it could be that the area would be too high-level for him. The C+ rating of the quest was enough of a hint.
However, all he had to do was explore. At the first sign of trouble, he would leave. He could always return after he’d grown a bit, after all. But, if he wanted to survive, or better yet, be strong enough to go out and look for Nate, he would have to take a few risks.
Just the thought of his younger brother erased any lingering doubt, and he headed purposefully in the direction of the Dungeon.
“Have to stop doing what?” Hopps asked, confused.
“Never mind,” Arthur said, stuffing the filthy map into his belt. “I just thought you’d have wanted to go home first.”
“Oh, there’s no rush. They’ll still be there when we get back. A Dungeon, on the other hand, might not.”
“What do you mean?” Arthur asked. “Dungeons are permanent fixtures, aren’t they?”
“Aye, they are- at least, until someone kills the boss and takes the Core. Then the place crumbles.”
This was new. In AKO, Dungeons weren’t destroyed by taking their Cores. It was impossible to take a Dungeon’s Core unless it was a quest reward. Even then, it wouldn’t destroy the Dungeon.
Cores were extremely valuable and rare. They could fetch a pretty penny at any merchant, and even if he couldn’t use it personally, he could always barter for good gear. It seemed that leaving the Dungeon for later wouldn’t be an option. Not unless he wanted to run the risk of having someone else come along and claim the Core, destroying the Dungeon in the process.
He let out a long breath, then picked up his pace from a walk to a jog. Perhaps he could raise his Agility or Endurance as he ran. He just hoped that no one had found the Dungeon yet. Otherwise, he’d have gotten all excited for nothing.
It would take a solid hour to reach the Dungeon, if not more, due to the thick undergrowth, so Arthur decided to fill the time by getting to know his companion a bit better.
“Have you lived in the village that you got kidnapped from all your life?” he asked, ducking under a hanging vine as he jogged.
“Yup. Hatched in the pond on the outskirts and lived there ever since.”
“Got any siblings?”
“I’ve got eight. Used to have more, but they were all eaten or died before leaving the pond.”
Arthur was surprised at how flippant the frog seemed to be about the death of his siblings. But then he reminded himself that it was that way with most animals. Of the ones who were born, only a small percentage made it to adulthood.
“How old are you exactly?” Arthur asked.
“Just passed my ninth season. I’m practically an adult already, though mom and dad don’t like me going off on my own.”
Arthur balked a bit at the frog’s age. Nine seasons were equal to just a little older than two years. Then again, animals matured much faster than humans, so for all he knew, Hopps was indeed an adult.
“How big is your village, and what types of people live there?”
Hopps let out a long sigh. Whether in annoyance or something else, he couldn’t tell, but he decided he’d stop asking questions about the village after this.
“It’s pretty significant, though it used to be bigger. We’ve got a big variety of Intelligents and ani-humans ranging across multiple species and Races. However, our numbers have been whittled down by those bloody Felines. The wankers seem to have it out for us and just don’t let up.
“The population of our village, as well as neighboring ones, has dropped by over 30% in the last five years. They’ve been getting aggressive, too. Mom and Dad talk about it all the time. They say that if the Felines keep going at this rate, we might have to leave.”
“How is it that they’re getting away with this? And what do the Felines have against you?”
“Don’t know what they’ve got against us. But the Felines can do what they want cause it’s their territory. We’re on the Southern continent of the Animal Kingdom, and here, the Felines rule.”
“Hasn’t anyone tried to stop them?” Arthur asked, wondering if he was hearing the beginnings of a major quest.
“Well, yeah. But the Felines have more power, resources, and spies everywhere. Every time someone’s tried to fight back, they were ruthlessly dealt with.”
Hopps shrugged, his small front shoulders rising and falling with the motion.
“Nothing we can do about it. We’re prey animals, and they’re predators. They have the power, so they rule.”
“Don’t you think there’s anything we can do?” Arthur asked, wondering why a quest wasn’t showing up.
Hopps shrugged again.
“We’re too weak to do anything against them.”
And there it was. Their levels were too low to spawn the quest. Arthur would have to increase his level a bit if he wanted to challenge the Felines. Arthur didn’t know why, but the whole idea of the Felines getting whatever they wanted just because they were predators didn’t sit right with him.
In the real animal kingdom, outside of this game, all animals had ways to defend themselves from predators. Sure, the predators were better suited to kill prey animals, but they always had some defense mechanism against being caught and killed. The situation here seemed utterly unbalanced, and something inside him rebelled at the idea of being defenseless.
“What about you?”
“What?” Arthur asked, snapped from his thoughts by Hopps.
“Got any family?”
“Yeah,” Arthur responded in a low voice, his mind flashing to his parents and his younger brother.
“That’s nice,” Hopps said, seemingly oblivious to his souring mood. “Any of them come here with you?”
“I…I don’t know. I hope not,” he said.
Deep down, though, he knew that Nate was here. He didn’t know how. It was irration
al for him to assume his little brother had become trapped here without any proof. But deep down, he just knew it. And if he was going to find him, he would need to become stronger.
“Why not? Is it really so bad here?” Hopps wondered, rubbing at his chin with one of his front legs.
Arthur caught the movement from the corner of his eye and had to resist the urge to laugh. The sight of the small frog using such a human gesture was hilarious. It was funny enough to snap him from the funk that had been threatening to overtake him once again.
“It’s not that it’s bad, per se. Just dangerous.”
“Yeah, it can be pretty dangerous. Wankers around every tree, trying to frognap and sell you off to the highest bidder. Or those freaky cats, trying to eat you. It’s enough to make a grown frog cry. Not that I’d cry, of course, just saying. Cause, you know…I’m an adult. But not the type who cries…
“You know what’s great? Flies! So juicy. So tasty. I love the way they feel going down my throat. Of course, some flies are better than others. Fruit flies, for example…”
Arthur had to suppress a chuckle at the odd frog’s behavior as he began to wax eloquent about all the various species of fly and which ones he preferred.
As Hopps talked, he felt his stomach begin to grumble. Hunger, it seemed, was something he’d have to deal with now as well, though it shouldn’t have been a surprise. The only problem was, he didn’t know what he could eat in this world, and where he could get it.
“…and don’t even get me started on centipedes – the small ones, I mean – not the ones that want to eat you. Though I’ve never actually tasted one, they could be pretty…”
“Where can we find some food? I’m pretty hungry. And speaking of which, do you know what time it is? It’s hard to tell with all this rain.”
“Oh, that’s easy. It’s about an hour past noon, maybe two. And you can find food just about anywhere,” Hopss responded with a snort.
“What do you mean?” Arthur asked.
“What? Never learned how to eat?” Hopps chortled. “How are you still alive?”
“I’ve never had to eat here before. I just ate when I left this world,” Arthur replied.
“Alright, slow your pace, and I’ll give you a demonstration. I could go for a nip myself. Bloody poachers never let you eat properly.”
Arthur was tempted to keep running. After all, the dungeon was waiting for them, and there was the chance that someone had already made it there. But his growling stomach soon made his mind up for him, and he reluctantly slowed to a walk.
“Great. Now, watch carefully,” Hopps said, shifting around slowly on his shoulder. “It takes a discerning eye to find the perfect… There we go!”
Arthur swiveled his eyes forward, his brows furrowing in confusion as he didn’t see anything. Then, Hopps’s tongue shot out, snapping an insect from the air. A second later, he heard the frog swallow with obvious relish.
“Now that was a treat!”
Arthur’s nose wrinkled in disgust as Hopps began snapping insects out of the air with military precision.
Did he expect him to eat bugs?
“What are you waiting for, mate?” Hopps asked, his mouth still half-full. “They’ll start running in a few seconds. Grab ‘em while you can.”
“Sorry, Hopps,” Arthur said, watching the frog snap up another insect. “I think I need normal food.”
“What do you mean, normal food? You’re a frog, right?”
“Yeah. But I’m an ani-human. I need human food.”
Hopps turned on his shoulder, giving him an odd look. For a frog, he was pretty expressive.
“Since when do ani-humans eat human food? I mean, I know you can stomach it, but why would you, when you have better options?”
Arthur sighed as Hopps continued staring at him. It appeared that the ani-humans he knew weren’t the same as in the game, though he didn’t know why he expected anything to be the same after all that had happened. Sure, some things were similar, but most of what he knew seemed to be different in this world.
His eyes flicked back to the small swarm of bugs, already dispersing due to Hopps’ snacking. He swallowed hard, wondering if he was really about to do this. He was hungry, and the longer he looked, the more tempting the bugs were looking.
Then, as though it had a mind of its own, his mouth snapped open, and a tongue shot out, snapping up a half dozen bugs, retracting into his mouth. It all happened so quickly that Arthur had swallowed before he even knew what was happening or had the chance to start freaking out.
“What the hell was that?!” he exclaimed, finally getting over his shock.
Where did that tongue come from!?
His tongue felt like a normal human one, even now. Before he could start panicking, his emotions were leeched away once more, leaving him calm.
“Damn! I’m so jealous right now. With a tongue like that, you can catch a dozen at once!”
Arthur detected a pout in the frog’s voice, which he found to be very amusing.
“Um…I’m not sure what just happened. Since when can I do that?”
“What, eat? Just because you share some traits with humans, doesn’t mean you are one, mate. How did they taste?”
Arthur opened his mouth to reply that it was disgusting but stopped himself. Had they been that bad? Now that he thought about it, they’d actually tasted pretty good. And he’d only had them in his mouth for a second before swallowing. His eyes drifted unconsciously back to where the last few of the swarm remained, and he felt his stomach growl once again.
Great, I want to eat bugs now. Gross.
His tongue snapped out once again, catching just two this time and swallowing them whole. He felt it this time. His tongue wasn’t changing at all! It seemed that it was indeed way longer than he’d initially thought, with the majority of it being rolled up in a sort of tube in the back of his throat.
Usually, only a small portion of it showed, making it easy to talk. But, when Arthur wanted to use it, it would extend, retracting back to its resting position once he pulled it back.
“It’s really not bad,” he admitted sheepishly after swallowing.
His hunger was already subsiding, which was shocking to him, considering that he’d barely eaten at all.
“Yeah, aren’t they the best?” Hopps asked happily. “Best get going, though. Don’t wanna fill up too much.”
Arthur nodded, reluctantly turning away from the remaining bugs and heading in the direction of the dungeon once again. It seemed that this new world had a bunch of surprises in store, and from now on, he’d have to be more careful. He only had one life, after all, and he wasn’t keen to lose it just yet.
8
“Is that it?” Arthur asked, eyeing the small entrance set into the side of a mossy hill.
They were by the location marked on the map, but if this was indeed the Dungeon entrance, it looked a little underwhelming.
“Looks like it,” Hopps replied, leaning forward on his shoulder and squinting through the gloom.
“Should we go in then?” Arthur asked, looking around nervously.
He’d picked up a few unidentifiable prints on the way here. He wasn’t sure who they belonged to, as the rain and mud had made them indistinguishable to him. He was sure if his Perception skill was higher, he would have been able to tell, but at level 5, it wasn’t picking up more than the basics.
“Well, yeah. That is why we can here, right?”
Arthur shrugged to himself. Why not? The quest only said he had to explore the Dungeon. If it appeared to be too dangerous, he would leave.
“Alright, let’s check it out then,” he said, ducking into the entrance.
The first thing he noticed as soon as he entered was that the air was a good deal dryer than it had been outside. It wasn’t bad enough to make him or Hopps uncomfortable, but dry enough that he could feel his soaked clothes begin to dry. It was pretty hot outside, and the temperature seemed to be about the same in here.
His eyes flicked around the dim confines of the cave, but he couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. Walking in a bit deeper, he squinted around as the light from the entrance began to dim, and his eyes grew accustomed to the lower lighting.
“Are you sure this is the…”
There was a sound of slamming rock as the entrance was suddenly closed off. Arthur whirled in place, his heart thundering in his chest. A moment later, light flared all around him, and the back wall of the cave slid away, revealing a well-lit dirt tunnel, shining with pale blue light.
A message flashed before his eyes then, and Arthur felt his blood run cold.
Warning! You have entered a Predator Zone. You will be unable to leave until the final Boss is defeated.
Arthur cursed out loud when he saw that, and panic threatened once more. The feeling had hardly begun to form when it was wiped away, but this time it didn’t help with his sense of unease.
Predator Zones in the old AKO were randomly generated in Dungeons. It would make the Dungeon harder, the monsters and bosses tougher, and chances of encountering them greater. Of course, the rewards in these zones went up as well. But they came with a single caveat: You couldn’t leave until you either died or cleared the Dungeon.
“Looks like we stepped in it now, mate,” Hopps said, his voice shaky. “I’m all for exploration, but Predator Zones are no joke!”
Arthur then remembered that this world was different than the one he’d known. He asked Hopps what it meant, hoping against hope that it would be different in this version of the Animal Kingdom.
It wasn’t.
“Damn it! Do you know if there’s any other way out?” Arthur asked.
“Unfortunately not, mate. Predator Zones are death traps designed to kill off whoever goes into them. The worst part is that you don’t know that you’ve stepped in one until you do.”
“Guess we’ll be avoiding Dungeons if we make it out of here alive,” Arthur muttered.
“Won’t do you any good, mate. They can spring up anywhere.”
“Wait…what?”
