by Adam Drake
He slumped onto the log, his voice hoarse. No other messages appeared. A memory flashed of the awful agony he endured when the gnoll twisted its sword in the meat of his thigh.
“Hey!” He shouted again. “I don't want to feel any pain! Can you at least do that for me?!”
Movement to his left made him turn to look. A large rat scurried across some rocks and then disappeared behind an old tree stump.
Knowing nothing more would come of shouting requests, he decided to investigate. Maybe the thing would lead him to the lair.
Cautiously, he scrambled over the slick rocks and went up to the old stump. Huge roots splayed out from the other side, forming a large muddy gap in the ground. Between that gap, and up under the base of the stump, was a small cave entrance. Two rats moved about the opening then vanished inside.
Found the lair, he thought as he climbed over the large contorted roots. After banging his knees and nearly twisting an ankle, he got down into the gap and stood before the cave.
Peering inside, he could see several paces ahead. A yawning blackness prevented him from seeing anything more. Carefully, he stepped in through the entrance, ducking his head. He could hear chittering and water dripping from all around.
Well, what good was this? He couldn't go further because he didn't have a light source.
A rat suddenly scampered out of the darkness, squeaking loudly. The rodent was bigger than a house cat.
It jumped at Rob, and he instinctively batted it away with his shield. The rat bounced off the cave wall, and as it landed, bolted toward his feet.
Rob swung with his axe and hit the creature across its back. The thing squealed in agony and writhed in the mud. Rob finished it off with another hit.
You have killed a Large Rat. You have gained 25 experience points toward your next level.
Another rat shot out of the darkness, this time scrabbling up along the wall. It leapt at him and landed on his back, biting at the leather armor of his jacket.
Rob freaked out, shouting with dismay. He shook and twisted, but the thing hung on.
Unable to shake it loose, he dropped his axe and reached around his back to grab it. Sharp teeth sunk into his hand and he shouted in pain. He flung his hand out with the rat still clamped on and smacked it against the wall.
The rat let go and crumpled on a small ledge. It kicked its legs and righted itself. Before it could attack again, Rob used his Shield Bash and heard the wet crunch of the creature's body as he mashed it into the wall.
You have killed a Large Rat. You have gained 25 experience points toward your next level.
He looked at his hand which was covered in blood. Within the darkness of the cave, he heard more squeaks. Muttering a curse he picked up his axe and retreated.
As he stumbled out of the cave mouth and began to climb the roots back up, another rat appeared from behind him. It scampered at him with alarming speed, angrily squeaking.
Muttering a curse, Rob turned to face it just as the animal jumped. With a lucky swing of the axe, he caught it in mid-air with the blade. The rodent spun away to land in the mud.
A death message didn't appear, but Rob didn't care. He wanted some distance from this place and quick.
After a few minutes of clumsy climbing and running, Rob was back at the fallen log, again. He kept an eye on the tree stump, but no angry rats pursued him.
Catching his breath, he checked his hand. The bite was deep, but the bleeding had stopped almost immediately. Rob worried that the rodent's mouth was infectious and he would be diseased. He definitely didn't want to go through that again.
You have killed a Large Rat. You have gained 25 experience points toward your next level.
Rob laughed in surprise at the rat's delayed death. He hoped the thing died in agony!
He fished out a Small Potion of Healing and checked his hit points.
94/100 hit points.
No use wasting a potion that would heal him for 25 hit points on this. He flexed his fingers, and they felt fine. Gripping his axe wasn't a problem, so he resolved to wait and put the potion back. Either the 6 hit points would regenerate on their own, or he'd wait until he suffered another injury. He guessed it would be the latter.
The damn cave was too dark. He needed his Light spell, now. But he required two more Intelligence points first. Curious, he checked to see how close he was to hitting level four.
You require 550 experience points to attain the next level.
Okay, fine. He would farm the experience points and then return to the lair. And he knew where to get it.
He moved off through the swamp in the direction of the pond, he passed before.
Until he could kill more rats, he needed to carve up some crocodiles.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The crocodiles were still there, basking on the shores of the murky pond.
Rob could see three, but he suspected more to be lurking in the water. He had no idea how to go about killing one of these things. They had big long mouths and were low to the ground.
He looked at them in frustration. Maybe he should wander the swamp some more and hopefully find something easier to kill. But he really wanted his experience points now, not later, and these things were sitting right in front of him.
The prospect of getting his first spell helped him make up his mind.
Not wanting to spook them back into the water, Rob picked his way through the vegetation from behind them. The crocodiles kept their distance from one another so he hoped he'd only have to deal with them one at a time. If another moved toward him while he was still fighting, he'd bug off in a hurry. He didn't want to get snapped up and dragged down into the pond. There, the crocodile would do its death roll with him in its jaws.
He stepped gingerly up behind the first crocodile which appeared to be sleeping. Its head faced the water and its long tail was hidden in the high grass. The beast was not nearly the size of the Nile crocodiles back home. If it were, maybe Rob wouldn't attempt this. This species was about seven or eight feet in length and mottled green in color.
Rob found himself next to the back end of the creature and stopped. What was he going to do now? Hack away at its tail and hope it didn't shoot off to the water where he couldn't finish it?
Again, he ached for a bow. A few shots from a safe distance and these beasts would be finished in minutes. But with only his axe, he needed to do this by hand.
Carefully, he inched up the length of the slumbering animal.
A twig snapped under his boot.
Instantly, the crocodile erupted into motion, whipping its long tail at him before he even knew what was happening. It crashed against his buckler and sent him staggering back. As he recovered the crocodile spun around and rushed at him, huge jaws open wide.
Hiding behind his buckler, Rob kept it between him and its mouth. It snapped at him, teeth scraping against the buckler's surface. Rob lashed out and struck its upper jaw, drawing blood.
The crocodile paused a moment, perhaps contemplating the pain, then it twisted around, hissing and moved toward the water.
“No! No! No!” Rob said as he ran after it. He managed to cut it off, and the thing snapped its jaws at him again. This time, the top and bottom of the animals jaws snagged the edges of the buckler, wrenching it from his arm. The thing backed up, flailing its head back and forth, but the buckler was stuck in its mouth.
Not believing his luck, Rob ran at it, dodging another tail swing. As the thing tried to figure out what to do, Rob crashed his axe into its head, right above the eyes. The animal thrashed more, but after a couple more swings the crocodile was finished.
You have killed a Crocodile. You have gained 50 experience points toward your next level.
Rob pried his buckler free of the dead animal's jaws, mindful of its teeth. Then he checked under its corpse for a potential loot drop but found none.
The buckler trick worked with the next three crocodiles, all getting it trapped in their mouth while he hacked at t
heir skulls. But not without taking a few tail swipes.
Other than some smelly crocodile poo, none of them dropped any loot. Still, he did get another 150 experience points for his work, and one scratched up buckler.
Frustrated with the lack of item drops, he stood over the last corpse and looked around for his last victim. Either there weren't any more crocodiles left in this area, or they'd seen the writing on the wall and hid in the water.
He spotted one lounging on the opposite bank of the pond, watching him with its mouth partially open. The pond was long and Rob didn't want to walk all the way around. Thinking he could get it to come to him, he splashed at the water with his axe and called to it.
“Come get dinner, buddy!” Rob called, making a ruckus. “Easy pickings over here!”
The reptile watched him coolly, but didn't seem compelled to take the bait.
Annoyed, Rob splashed louder. “Hey, don't you feel like eating a King today, you ass-.”
The water in front of him exploded. Massive jaws, opened wide, lunged for him. Rob screeched in fright and fell on his back just as the huge mouth snapped closed above his head.
Rob stared in astonishment. A colossal sized crocodile surged out of the pond, its head as big as a car.
Too terrified to even strike at it, Rob tried to crawl away. But the giant beast was too close and too fast. It easily snapped him up by a leg and lifted him from the ground.
Hanging upside down, Rob screamed in terror, his left leg trapped in the thing's huge jaws from the knee down.
The crocodile tried to get a better grip on its new meal and bit down again, trying to get more of him inside its mouth.
Rob felt bones crack and flesh tear in his leg. The pain was absolutely overwhelming. But he finally made an effort to attack and swiped at the animal's mouth with his axe.
The blade cut into the tough flesh of its lower jaw and the monster let out a deep gurgle. But still it wouldn't let go. As it shifted its bite, Rob kept cutting at it.
Finally, whether by pure chance, or clumsiness on the crocodile's part, it suddenly whipped its head to the side just as its mouth opened a little.
Rob suddenly found himself free of the creature's mouth and flew through the air. Shouting, he passed high over the pond and crashed into the bushes on the opposite side.
Dazed and in pain, Rob tried to get himself together enough to move, but the other, smaller crocodile was just a few paces away from him. It twisted around, hissing and with its mouth wide open, rushed at him.
With only one functioning leg, Rob crawled backward as fast as he could move. The crocodile wouldn't let up and the animal lunged to bite.
Despite the agony of his leg, Rob forced himself to stop and leaned forward with the buckler. He did it just in time as the crocodile bite down on the round shield.
In pain and now enraged, Rob hacked at its head as it thrashed about.
You have killed a Crocodile. You have gained 50 experience points toward your next level.
The instant the thing was dead, Rob wrenched his buckler from its mouth and continued to crawl backwards at full speed. His eyes never left the pond which was now partially obscured from his view. He slammed against a tree trunk and stopped.
Trying to get a hold on his panic, his eyes frantically scanned the length of the pond. Not seeing any signs of pursuit, he quickly took out a Major Potion of Healing and guzzled it.
It immediately dulled his pain and he could feel his leg quickly stitching itself back together. Not wanting to wait around for the duration of the potion's regeneration, Rob slowly stood and limped further away from the pond. He didn't doubt the godzilla freakshow couldn't close the distance between them in a few seconds if it wanted to.
Only when he was a long distance away, and the pond was out of view, did he stop again. Hitting his maximum hit points, his leg was fully healed. All that remained as a reminder of his ordeal, was a bloody torn pant leg, and the need to change his underwear.
In his panic and pain he'd blinked away several notifications which had flashed before his eyes.
Quest complete. 'What a Croc'
You have helped reduce the population of crocodiles in the swamp.
Reward: 300 experience points.
Followed by:
Ding! Gratz! You have successfully progressed to the next level. You have been granted 2 main Attribute Points and 5 Skill Points to distribute as you see fit.
Finally!
Rob felt a surge of relief. Both from getting to level four and surviving almost being devoured. He decided to keep moving away from the pond first, so he headed back to the rat lair.
To get there, though, he needed to pass close to the far end of the pond. Thankfully, the terrain was high, and it allowed him a relatively safe view as he passed.
The massive crocodile was there. Its giant head glided along the water's surface like some prehistoric submarine. Seeing Rob it angled an eye in his direction.
A message appeared.
You have found a quest. 'Kill Quartek the Cruel (Elite)'
The great crocodile Quartek rules the inner swamps. Many adventurers have been eaten by this cruel beast and it is rumored the monster's stomach is full of their treasures. Slay the beast and rid the swamp of its evil presence.
Reward: 4,500 experience points.
“Nope!” Rob said as he hurried by. “Nope! Nope! Nope!” Let someone else deal with that thing.
Returning to the fallen log near the stump, Rob sat down. He ran his hands over his face and sighed in exasperation. What an ordeal. And just for a few measly experience points.
But he made level!
Eagerly, he pulled up his character attributes.
Robert Barron
Level 4, 0% toward next level
Kingdom Level 2
Hit Points: 115, Mana: 20
Energy: 98/100, Speed: 10
Armor: 11
Strength: 12
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 10
Perception: 10
Dexterity: 11
Luck: 10
Hit Bonus: 1%
Critical Hit: 1%
Critical Damage: 1%
Undistributed Attribute Points: 2
Rob noticed his hit points jumped up by 15 points without him putting anything into Constitution. Maybe it was a level thing, but he wasn't going to complain. God knew he needed more of them.
As required for the damn Light spell, Rob put both points into Intelligence, bumping it to 12.
He didn't feel any smarter, but doubted that mattered. Not waiting another moment he took out the scroll case. Because it was no longer raining the case opened without any problem. Wiping his hands, he carefully took out the scroll and slipped the case back in the bag.
He unfurled the scroll.
The words scrawled across it were still gibberish to his eyes, but before he could worry a message appeared.
Would you like to commit the spell Light to memory? Yes/No?
“Yes!” Rob said.
You have learned the spell Light. It has been added to your spell list.
“I have a spell list?”
Spell List
Light (Mana Cost 5)
Another message followed.
You have learned a new skill: Magical Affinity.
This skill will allow you to increase your mana pool through the practice of casting spells.
You maximum mana has increased from 20 to 21.
“Okay,” Rob said, swiping the message away. “How do I cast it?”
When an answer did present himself he said, “I want to cast my Light spell!”
Again, nothing happened.
Frustrated, Rob stood and shouted, “Cast Light, Damnit!”
Suddenly, the surrounding area grew discernibly brighter. Rob laughed in delight and looked around. Although it was still daytime, the light still radiated enough to be noticed. It was as if he was holding a bright lantern in the middle of an overcast day
.
“Okay, cool!” he said. He felt happier than at any other time since his arrival. Magic! He had cast a spell!
He moved over to stand up against a tree and noticed the light reflecting off its damp surface and the branches overhead. Wow. He finally got his spell.
Rob played around with this new novelty for several minutes, trying to get the light to illuminate any nook and cranny he could find. Not wanting to detract from this moment any further, he decided to turn his attention to his skills.
