“I don’t suppose you’d recommend any of these books more strongly than others?” I asked.
“By the gods, we have got a smart one on our hands Margie!” exclaimed Homer, the man was practically beaming. “Well then lad, my name is Homer Simper. I am the mayor in his here town and this is my wife Margie. She also happens to be my secretary.”
“Pleased to meet you both,” I replied, trying hard to contain my excitement. “I’m Bye-bye Jacko but you can call me Bye-bye.”
“You poor boy,” said Margie. “How could your parents give you such a ridiculous name? Did they hate you or something?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s more of a nickname, it stuck as a kid. I like it now anyway.”
“Good on you lad. Now, as for the books, you should read. And I mean read, as in study them until you get a skill out of them.” He walked with a purpose to the bookshelf to the right of the bulletin board and pulled out two books. Then to the left side bookshelf where he pulled out another book. He turned to me and pushed all three into my waiting hands.
You Receive three books for study. Books must be returned in 14 days.
World Tree Bestiary – Common and not so common beasts and where and more importantly how to find or avoid them.
The Trained Eye – Techniques for building acuity and accuracy.
The Greater Outdoors – Survival in the wilderness made easy.
If I had to guess, the Bestiary would give me some kind of tracking skill. The Trained Eye, a perception or observation skill, maybe night vision which would become essential eventually. The Greater Outdoors was obviously survival skills, maybe herbalism, campsite setup or similar skills.
“Now, before you go running off to complete those tasks from the bulletin board, let me ask. Are you planning to go hunting the wolves’ bounty?”
“Yes, I was, but after I helped Farm Johnson and his wife, why?”
“I thought so. I would ask you to take this next bit of advice as seriously as you can. Take an hour and read the Bestiary before you step outside of town. It’s not a thick book but if you can learn from it, you will have a much easier time of it.
Quest Alert: Read World Tree Bestiary and learn from it
Mayor Simper has strongly recommended you read and study the World Tree Bestiary before you leave the village on some fool adventure.
Reward: Experience, New Skill
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
I’m not so stupid as to look a gift horse in the mouth. “I can do that. It is a reasonable request and suggestion. I suppose I shall head over to the Inn and give this a read then.”
“Good on you lad,” said Homer, sagging a little in relief. He seemed to actually care. “Now, get on out of here so I can lock up for the day. You’re welcome to come back as often as you can, between the midmorning bell and midafternoon bell.” As if his words called the bell to action, the ringing sounded from above me. As expected, the sound drew my attention upward where I saw a large cast-iron bell, not unlike those found in old European churches.
“Right, out with you lad and good luck,” said Homer, ushering me from the building.
“Thank you again for the help,” I said before going my own way from Homer and Margie.
Entering the inn, I went straight to the bar which was now starting to fill up.
“What can I get you?” asked Dogson.
“I picked up a request from Rita asking for a bushel of blackberries. I don’t suppose you could tell me where to find them?”
“Sure, go northeast from town, past the Johnson farm until you hit the river then follow it east for about an hour. You should start finding the blackberry bushes as you get closer to the waterfall. Cannot miss them. I hope you get a lot of them berries. Maybe the missus will make enough pies for me to sneak one,” he said as the man’s tongue gave an exaggerate lick of his lips and snout.
“I’ll do my best, I don’t suppose you’ve got the bushel baskets here?”
“You will find a few laying around by the bushes. We have around 20-bushel baskets, they are delivered out there as soon as they have all come back to us. There should be at least 10 of them still laying around out there.”
Interesting, they built-in a quest to replenish the baskets occasionally. “Thanks for the tip. I’ll be in my room reading for about an hour. Can you send up some tea in about 30 minutes?” I requested.
Dogson nodded before returning to cleaning the counter. The game definitely needed to improve the way the citizens ended conversations. Or maybe I was just socially inept.
It was a short climb up the steps and a short walk down the hall to my room, number 8. The room was small, just a single bed, an armoire and a desk with a simple wooden chair. There was a large window which let in plenty of light.
I moved the chair next to the window, slipped off my sandals and propped my feet up on the bed. Getting as comfortable as I was able to, I opened the booked and started to read.
The book was straightforward. It would give a classification of a beast, a list of common traits and attacks, images of their tracks, then more information about their hunting patterns and preferred environments before it went into additional subclasses. They were mostly the same, but a with a few minor differences, from environmental differences to subtle track differences. It was robust in the number of species it covered too, dozens of bears, wolves, big cats, birds, boars, bats, all animal based. Of course, nothing on goblins, orcs or the undead. I didn’t exactly expect it from a bestiary, but I was still curious. The last section was the most interesting to me. It went into rumors of legendary beasts and where to find them, the history of the creatures. I was so engrossed in reading, I wasn’t expecting the system notification. I was so startled by the message popping up, I tipped right back in my chair, my head banging on the floor, a little -2-HP floating away from my body. I half expected to see stars or little tweety birds flying around my head as I sat back up. Instead, I was confronted with a system message following my movements.
Quest Alert: Read World Tree Bestiary and learn from it – Completed!
Mayor Simper has strongly recommended you read and study the World Tree Bestiary before you leave the village on some fool adventure.
Reward: +200 Experience, Beast Tracking
You’ve learned a new skill ‘Beast Tracking’
Beast Tracking
Level: 1
Experience: 0.00%
Skill Effect (Passive): Enables you to see animal tracks to better hunt them.
Skill Range: 10 yards
Chance to See: 10%
Chance to Track: 20%
“Sweet,” I said to myself excitedly, I hadn’t even finished reading the book and gained the skill in addition to completing the quest. Then I saw a bunch of shaded exclamations points faded in my peripheral. “Sweet!” I reiterated more exuberantly.
You learned something. You earn +1 Intellect
You understand something. You earn +1 Wisdom
You learned something else. You earn +1 Intellect
You understand more. You earn +1 Wisdom
Lore knowledge has improved and is now Level 3.
New Skill has been learned ‘Beast Tracking’
“Now how long was I studying?”
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: 21:23:44
Reward:
Hidden
Just over an hour and a half, not bad. I’ve still got about three hours of daylight. I could probably get to the Johnson farm and back, but I felt my time might be better served hunting wolves, they were guaranteed experience, both for killing them and for the repeatable quest items.
It didn’t take me long to get outside of town, this time through the main gate. I made sure to say hello to Sergeant Butters who warned
me not to do something stupid.
The first time I spotted a track of some kind it was just a little glowing footprint. I had to study it closely to determine it was made by a deer. The next set of tracks was a rabbit, as was the next one. But the fourth track turned out to be a wolf, just a pack wolf by the size of it. Unfortunately, I lost the trail after about ten yards, which was disappointing.
I found another wolf pawprint about the 10 sets of tracks later. It was another pack wolf which was probably good to start with. This time I successfully found the wolf, or he found me, either way, we found each other and one of us met a violent end. It took four ‘Jab’ attack to kill the level 1 animal. I gained 15 experience points for the level one enemy and had to use my spear to cut off the paw which thankfully came off with a simple stab at the ankle. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any skill to be able to remove the skin or harvest any meat or organs, so the carcass was left to rot or de-spawn, not sure yet how the game handled it.
I guessed it had around 60 HP given my spear only does 4-5 damage and ‘Jab’ adds +3 to damage and my Strength adds another +9 on top. All told, if it takes four strikes from me assuming the wolf has no or only a little armor at level 1 meant I was doing 16-17 base damage per strike. Not too shabby.
The wolf wasn’t exactly a dangerous or complex opponent. It was kind of a just go forward and attack until it died, ignoring the minor damage it dealt in return. The strategy would be fine for now, but eventually, I would have to start fighting smarter.
Next, it was time to try some of my magic. Time to try ‘Lesser Holy Imbuement’ on my spear.
Lesser Holy Imbuement
Level: 1
Experience: 0.00%
Spell Duration: 10 minutes
Spell Cast Speed: Instant
Spell Mana Cost: 50
Spell Effect (Active): Imbued Weapon now deals holy damage causing an addition 1-2 damage per hit
Spell Effect (Active): Imbued Shield now deals holy damage causing 2-3 damage per block
It was surprisingly easy to cast. I just looked at my spear and thought ‘Lesser Holy Imbuement’ and the tip started to glow with a yellowish-white flame. Then I slapped myself in the head, it might take more than 10 minutes to find another wolf and the spell wasn’t cheap for my limited mana pool.
As luck would have it or bad luck would have it, I found a wolf about 8 minutes later. Still, four hits to kill it, but the last hit was more putting it out of its misery, as the animal’s health bar showed barely a sliver of life remaining.
Two wolf paws in thirty minutes. I needed to get better at this tracking thing. By the time the sun started to set, and it was time to head back to the village, I had collected 13 more paws from pack wolves and 1 paw from an alpha, the wolf nearly sent me for respawn. Still, I made some good progress for my efforts. ‘Lesser Holy Imbuement’ only gained a little experience, I was only able to use it two more times, the mana cost was very inefficient right now. I made a mental note to investigate getting some mana restoratives tomorrow. Where I did gain big time was in my other stat points.
Stab that wolf. You earn +1 Stamina
Don’t bite me bro +1 Endurance
Hurt that wolf. You earn +1 Strength
Hit that wolf. You earn +1 Dexterity
One-Handed Polearms has gained a level. Damage +0.5, Critical Strike Chance +0.05%
Why is he still biting you? You earn +1 Endurance
Keep stabbing. You earn +1 Stamina
More damage. You earn +1 Strength
Cut it out already, that hurts. You earn +1 Endurance
You don’t want to die, do you? You earn +1 Endurance
Ha ha, you dodged. You earn +1 Dexterity
One-Handed Polearms has gained a level. Damage +0.5, Critical Strike Chance +0.05%
More stabs. You earn +1 Stamina
How are you not dead yet? You earn +1 Endurance
Bring the hurt. You earn +1 Strength
Right in the eye. You earn +1 Dexterity
One-Handed Polearms has gained a level. Damage +0.5, Critical Strike Chance +0.05%
Isn’t your arm tired yet? You earn +1 Stamina
Don’t bite me there. You earn +1 Endurance
Stab harder. You earn +1 Strength
Yelp! You earn +1 Endurance
Woohoo! You dodged again. You earn +1 Dexterity
One-Handed Polearms has gained a level. Damage +0.5, Critical Strike Chance +0.05%
Bite marks aren’t a fashion accessory. You earn +1 Endurance
Is it nap time yet? You earn +1 Stamina
Oh Goddess, you’re gonna die. You earn +1 Endurance
Your death is immanent. You earn +1 Endurance
Meet the Grim Reaper with dignity. You earn +1 Endurance
Yes! You live! You earn +1 Endurance
Lesser Heal has gained a level. Spell Heal 5-15, Spell Cash Speed 2.00, Spell Mana Cost 12
Wolf Kabab anyone? You earn +1 Strength
Not the cleanest kill. You earn +1 Dexterity
One-Handed Polearms has gained a level. Damage +0.5, Critical Strike Chance +0.05%
You just keep stabbing. You earn +1 Stamina
Don’t bite me bro . . . again. You earn +1 Endurance
Now that’s a power. You earn +1 Strength
Hit ’em where it hurts. You earn +1 Dexterity
One-Handed Polearms has gained a level. Damage +0.5, Critical Strike Chance +0.05%
“Ugh!” again with the wall of text. I needed to find a way to fix that if I could. I took a minute to look at my options menu only to find my only option was to either turn off all notifications or turn them on. I made a note to bring it up if there was any kind of feedback or survey when I logged out.
While ‘Lesser Holy Imbuement’ may not have gotten much stronger my ‘Lesser Heal’ did gain a level. This was mostly due to the fact I’ve decided I don’t enjoy getting bitten by wolves, especially not those of the Alpha variety. Still, 12 points to Endurance are more than a little useful. What would be more useful is if I knew how to block with my shield when the rotten beasts go for the legs and not the chest or head where my shield was fixed to defend. I’d have to ask Sergeant Butters to teach me how to block tomorrow.
The walk back to town was uneventful, no wolves to speak of, nor anything think else trying to make a snack out of me. I greeted the Sergeant again on my way back into town where he greeted me with a little bit of a snicker when he saw my current state. I didn’t appreciate the amusement on his face when I looked back after entering the village. It suggested he knew I was going to have problems protecting myself from the wolves and didn’t bother to inform me.
Having no other plans to work in the dark, mostly due to a lack of night vision skill, I headed back to the Inn. There I was more than happy to sit at the bar and eat the hearty meal Dogson provide his guests. It would be a while before Guard Bryant came in, so I opened one of the other books the mayor recommended to me, ‘The Trained Eye’.
This was more involved than the Bestiary. This was all tricks and techniques for seeing everything around you all at the same time. The idea was to relax the eye to an extent, you want to see everything at the same time, then focus on a single target in an instant. And that was just the first exercise. I flipped ahead a bit and saw there were techniques for improving my ability to see in the dark, increasing the range of your vision, and a few others looked interesting. I was getting the feeling this book was filled with skills I could learn, not just a single skill but several skills if I practiced each of the techniques. I would have to read through and prioritize the sight abilities I think would be most useful. So rather than trying the techniques as I read through I just read through the book trying to figure out what each technique would allow me to do if I could turn it into a skill.
“Ugh, not the eye book of doom,” complained a voice from next to me interrupting my reading.
Looking to the source I was surprised to see Guard Bryant. “Hey, you’re here? Is it
already late bell?” I asked, looking briefly at my game clock to see it was just after 10:00.
“An hour past late bell. The Sergeant spent an hour jawing on about you. Never seen the old goat so excited about getting pestered for training. Apparently, he loves the spear training cause so few ever bother learning it. He wants to start drilling all the guards now in how to use a spear,” complained Guard Bryant.
“Sorry, Guard Bryant, I didn’t intend-” I started.
“Forget it and I am off duty now, so please, call me Gavin. Now, I believe you promised me a few pints,” he suggested, waiving for Dogson.
“Right you are my good man,” I said, happy for the distraction. It would be good to cut loose tonight and have some social fun. “Dogson, two pints for me and Gavin if you please.”
Dogson rolled his eyes but smiled all the same as he poured two pints from one of the barrels mounted on the wall behind the bar. “Two Delger Dwarven Stouts,” he said setting the dark ale in front of us. “2-coppers.”
I paid the man happily then picked up my glass. “Cheers,” I said, offering my glass toward Gavin who tapped his glass to mine before he took a long draft off his beer. Foolishly, I tried to follow suit and nearly choked to death for the effort. The beer was as thick as molasses and probably had enough alcoholic content to peel paint.
The Curse of Hurlig Ridge_World Tree Online_1st Dive Page 6
