“Hello, are you Dogson?” I asked the dogman bartender.
“I am, and who would you be?” he asked.
I still enjoyed the novelty of his nameplate changing from
“Nice to meet you Bye-Bye, what can I get you?” asked the dogman.
“Guard Bryant suggested I come to talk to you about a room,” I answered plainly.
“5-copper a night, 20 for the week,” he stated. I could now see behind the bar he was washing glasses in a modern sink, but I wasn’t about to complain about a lack of authenticity. I personally preferred clean dishes and well-cooked food.
“I’ll take the week,” I said, putting the 20-copper on the counter. I was sure to get more eventually as I gathered and completed more quests. Still, parting with almost half of my funds hurt.
Dogson slid the coppers from the counter and slid a key with a tag with the number ‘8’ on it in their place. “Breakfast and dinner are included with the room. We server breakfast from sunrise to mid-morning bell. Dinner from dusk to late bell,” he said.
“Excellent,” I replied. It really was excellent. I could eat the tac if I needed it while questing and still get a good meal twice a day to satisfy part of my health requirements. “I’ll be back for dinner then.”
Dogson just nodded, still busy with his dishes.
Next, I headed for the Barracks or rather the back of the barracks. There I found what I could only describe as the most grizzled, toughest looking old man, I’d ever laid eyes on. The man wore chain-link leggings and heavy plate sabatons over his feet and a white tank top shirt. His arms were covered in scars as was what could be seen of his chest. Even his face was covered in scars which made his grey beard and mustache appear to be a shaving mishap, the only bit of which wasn’t scared was covered by an eyepatch which I didn’t doubt covered up more scars. Mirroring me, he also bore a military undercut on top of his head, his hair was grey to my white. I looked up at his nameplate to make sure I had the right guy,
“And what does a piss-ant adventure want with me?” asked the Sergeant, knocking me out of my stupor.
“Sorry, I was just surprised,” I answered.
“Scars scare you little girl?” he asked, eyeing me up and down.
“No, I was just thinking you might be the toughest old man I’ve ever seen,” I replied.
“Good answer. So, what can a military man, such as myself, do for an adventurer such as yourself?”
“I was speaking to Guard Bryant-” I started.
“He was awake? At the sleeping gate?” he asked, disbelief on his face.
“I may have had to wake him up,” I answered, feeling pleased to have earned at least a little of the old soldier’s respect.
The Sergeant cackled with laughter for a good minute before finally calming down enough to talk again. “Oh, I would have paid to see the look on his face. Anyway, you were saying?”
“Right, so I was talking to Guard Bryant and he mentioned you might be able to train me to better use my spear,” I finally finished explaining.
“A polearm user,” He nearly shouted in surprise. “I have not seen any of you adventurer types with a spear before. Good on you son, it is an excellent weapon choice, lots of versatility. I think can give you some pointers, but we have not got much time left in the day. My shift at the main gate starts in a few hours. So, I can help you with your two-handed polearm skill or your one-handed polearm and phalanx shield skills. Your choice.” The Sergeant offered.
“I believe I would benefit more in the immediate to improve my one-handed polearm and phalanx shield skills,” I answered. As a low-level toon, it would be best if I could use the shield to defend myself and attack at the same time, given my low mana pool.
“Right then, let us get started. First, let us get you a usable attack. Are you right or left handed?” he asked.
“Left-handed,” I answered, for the first time I considered there might be an impact gameplay.
“Okay, shield goes in your right hand then, spear in the left,” he ordered.
I did as he instructed. A look at my character sheet showed my equipment was set to a right-handed by default. Simply switching my spear and shield switched them in my character sheet too.
“Now, the shield should always be in front of you. The top of the shield needs to be held so it is just below your line of sight,” explained the Sergeant, the man was also now holding a spear and shield. He stood across from me holding the shield exactly as he’d told me I should be holding it, his eyes were just visible above the top of the shield.
“Good,” he said, nodding in approval as I adjusted my round phalanx shield. “Now, you will notice your shield has round notches cut into it at equal intervals for four in total. It mirrors the four sub-points on a compass. We’re going to work with the northwest notch so rest your spear shaft on it.”
I rested the tip of the spear just as he told me, but it kept bouncing off the notch in my shield, teeter-tottering against it. “What am I doing wrong?” I asked in frustration.
“How long is your spear?”
“About 8-feet,” I answered.
“Right, and how much of your 8-foot spear can you use right now?”
“Ah,” I said seeing the problem. I barely had 6-inches of the spear past the notch of the shield. I would hardly get any reach out of it. “How far back should I grip the spear?”
“Generally speaking, you want to grip the spear about a foot back from the half-shaft. There, the spear can rest comfortably on the shield and not tip backward. It will also give you plenty of reach and retreat,” he explained. He now gripped his own spear, the arm holding the spear was cocked way back with his hand up near his ear and perfectly in line with the shield, putting the spear tip a good 2-feet ahead of the shield.
Once again, I mirrored his hold, admittedly it felt much more natural. I felt as if I was prepared both to block and attack.
“Good, now you are holding your spear and shield properly. Let us give you your first attack. Now watch me,” he ordered. A moment later his spear and arm suddenly jolted forward and back again, his hand not going past the shield and the shield not moving in the slightest. “Watch again, I will slow down this time.” It was still very fast to me, but I was better able to follow his movement. “Now you try.”
And I tried. It was slow, my arm went way past the front of the shield and the spear slid from my grip shooting forward a few extra feet.
“Reset and try it again,” ordered the man. He didn’t seem angry or amused by my blunder and was in fact very patient.
I reset my position and held onto the spear. This time I went as slow as I could, and my hand still hit the shield edge rather painfully.
“Better, again,” he ordered.
So, I did it again, this time I didn’t hit the edge of the shield. The next time I hit the edge, but it was just a touch. I did it seven more times before he halted me.
“Good, get yourself a drink, your stamina looks to be depleted,” instructed the Sergeant. “There is fresh water in the barrel.”
I hadn’t even thought about my stamina, it was indeed down to just a few points.
I took out my empty canteen and dunked it into the aforementioned barrel and filled it to the brim.
Full Water Canteen (5/5) – Freshwater restores 5 stamina per mouthful.
I didn’t take long to drink enough to fully restore my stamina and get right back to it. It took another hour, including a few more stamina breaks, before I completed the quest.
Quest Alert: Training with Sergeant Butters – Completed!
Your new friend Guard Bryant has suggested you seek out the Sergeant for some weapons training.
Reward: +500 Experience, Weapon Subskill ‘Jab'
You’ve learned ‘One-Handed Polearms’ subskill ‘Jab’.
One-Handed Polearms
Le
vel: 3
Experience: 28.76%
Current Damage Modifiers
Damage: +1.5
Critical Strike Chance: +0.15%
Subskill: Jab
Damage: +1.5
Skill Stamina Cost: 13
The second window was much more important to me.
Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 2!
+1 to bonus Holy Spells, +1 Intellect, +1 Charisma
Getting the level was awesome, but I didn’t even notice I had gained levels with the ‘One-Handed Polearm’. There was no system message letting me know, similar to the one that popped up for the quest completion, for the new subskill and character level. Then I noticed several shaded exclamation points at the bottom left of my peripheral vision. I guessed this was part of my User Interface (UI). As soon as I focused on them, several messages were displayed rapidly.
Working hard. You earn +1 Stamina
Breaking your limits. You earn +1 Strength
Aiming, who knew? You earn +1 Dexterity
No pain, no gain +1 Endurance
One-Handed Polearms has gained a level. Damage +0.5, Critical Strike Chance +0.05%
Working harder. You earn +1 Stamina
Breaking more limits. You earn +1 Strength
Aiming, pointy end goes in the other guy. You earn +1 Dexterity
Pain, Gain. You earn +1 Endurance
One-Handed Polearms has gained a level. Damage +0.5, Critical Strike Chance +0.05%
Working even harder. You earn +1 Stamina
Breaking all the limits. You earn +1 Strength
Slippery fellow. You earn +1 Dexterity
More pain, More gain. You earn +1 Endurance
One-Handed Polearms has gained a level. Damage +0.5, Critical Strike Chance +0.05%
Ladies must love you. You earn +1 Stamina
Don’t break yourself. You earn +1 Strength
Dodge, dip, duck, dive, and dodge. You earn +1 Dexterity
Ouch! You earn +1 Endurance
One-Handed Polearms has gained a subskill Jab. Damage +5 Skill Stamina Cost 10
“Hell yeah!” I exclaimed happily, I could feel myself grinning from ear to ear. New level and subskill plus some huge stat gains. I know stat gains eventually slow down drastically, but I was so happy to gain so much for just a few hours of work. Don’t get me wrong, questing and leveling pay bigger dividends in the long run, due to the new spells and abilities requiring higher levels. But anything I can do to improve my stats now can only help me to be able to level later. Also, “Ugh!” Why the wall of text? I’ll have to check later to see if there is a summary option.
“Nice work and just in time too. I have got my shift starting soon but if you want to come back and train again tomorrow, you are more than welcome. I have no doubt got a good number of skills squirreled away you might benefit from learning. Just make sure you come prepared to work for it,” he stated, a small grin at the corner of his mouth and a glint in his eye, dare I say looked prideful.
“You can count on it. What time should I be here?” I asked.
“Show up whenever you choose, just keep in mind I have a day job and other recruits to train so I can’t give you more than two or three hours a day,” he advised me.
I understood immediately, it was to temper my advancement and to ensure I wasn’t just sitting in this training field all day. The game wanted to make sure I also got out and did quests and actually explore the game, you know, be an adventurer. “I understand completely. I just appreciate you offering the time to me.”
“Well, then, I would say we are done for the day,” he said with a sense of finality.
“Thank you again, Sergeant Butters. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” I said.
“See you tomorrow. Keep up the good work,” said the Sergeant, he then turned and marched himself into the barracks without another word, just a small salute as he entered.
“What a great day so far and I’m only getting started!” I exclaimed excitedly.
Chapter 3
So much to do and so little time left to do it. Okay, so I had time still, but I had to get about 8 hours of rest in there somewhere.
Class Quest Alert: Novice Warrior Priest of Issara – Your Goddess’ Path Lies Ahead
You have been charged by the Goddess you now serve to mete out punishment on the murderer you vowed to bring to justice. Time Limit: 24:47:16
Reward:
Hidden
After the extremely valuable training session with Sergeant Butters, I had about 16 hours left to get my justice. So, my next stop was to hit up the town hall and see what I could uncover with my lore skill, and maybe see if there are any bounties or quests available.
The townhall looked more akin to a barn, but with a normal door. Inside was pretty simple looking too. There were two doors on the right wall, I guessed led to offices. The left wall had a bulletin board with a sparse number of yellow papers tacked up. On either side of the board, were bookshelves, one of the main reasons I was here. Books are filled with knowledge and if you’re careful you can pick out a good amount of game lore and hidden puzzles and quests. The Easter Eggs I love so much. The rest of the room was dominated by rows and seats and a podium at the back of the room.
First, I needed to check the bulletin board. I needed some easy experience, and quests, where you didn’t have to do much searching, were great.
Quest Alert: Harvest Help (Recommended Level 2-4)
Farmer Johnson needs help with is his corn harvest.
Reward: Experience, Fresh Corn, 20-Copper
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
That one was easy to accept.
Quest Alert: Clothes Line (Recommended Level 2-4)
Mrs. Johnson needs help with a clothes thief.
Reward: Experience, Variable Piece of Gear, 10-Copper
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
Another easy one.
Quest Alert: Pack Wolf Bounty (Recommended Level 2-4)
Standing Village Bounty for Pack Wolves frequently encroaching on the village.
Reward: Experience per Paw Collected, 2-Copper per Paw Collected, Chance of Variable Piece of Gear
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
Accepted.
Quest Alert: Leader of the Pack Bounty (Recommended Level 3-5)
Standing Village Bounty for Alpha Wolves frequently encroaching on the village.
Reward: Experience per Paw collected, 10-Copper per Paw Collected, Chance of Variable Piece of Gear
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
Accepted, more dangerous I’m sure but hopefully, the experience balanced out the danger.
Quest Alert: Blackberries Wanted (Recommended Level 1-3)
Rita Dogson needs a bushel of Blackberries to make pies.
Reward: Experience, Blackberry Pie x2, (bonus experience and Blackberry Pie x2 for an additional bushel)
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
Not difficult and probably a good idea for me to find the blackberry bush where I died the first time. If I could find it there was a good chance I’d have a lead on finding Pwn Star69. What I would do when I did find him was yet to be determined.
The other notices all required going and meeting one person or another, several miles from the village with vague directions on where to find the quest giver. Seeing as there was little chance the requests would disappear overnight and I was pressed to get as many quick quests as I could, these seemed to be the right choices for the time being. Especially since the wolf bounties were limitless.
Next, I turned to the bookshelves. Now, I know I won’t have a ton of time to read, but I would have downtime once the sun had set, allowing me to read and study.
“Well, how about that Margie?” said a voice behind me just as I was about to reach up and grab the first bo
ok from the shelf. “An adventure has bothered with our little collection of books.”
I turned to face the voice to see a bald man with a few wisps of hair on his head and a portly belly, his shirt could hardly contain. Next, to him, an arm gripping his at the elbow was an older woman with dark grey hair and where the man was portly she appeared thin as a rail.
“Oh, leave him be, Homer,” she said. “See, now you have gone and interrupted him.”
“Sorry, young fella. Please don’t hold back on enjoying our little collect there,” he said motioning back to the bookshelf. “I imagine you will find quite a few useful skills in there if you are patient enough to actually read the books.”
“These are skill books?” I asked, unable to hide the surprise in my voice. Forums said skill books were very rare.
“I suppose you might call them that, but it is up to you, whether or not, you find the skill in the books,” he replied.
“What do you mean?”
“Books hold knowledge, not everyone is capable of gleaning actual knowledge from a book let alone a real usable skill,” he explained.
Now there was a thought. Had no one else bothered to ever read these books? Or had they read them and just not found a skill in them. This definitely warranted looking into. I seemed to have two willing resources right in front of me if I could get them to help me out.
The Curse of Hurlig Ridge_World Tree Online_1st Dive Page 5
