He was happy to know that he wouldn’t be a beginner much longer, and excited to see what the game would offer him. He didn’t have to wait long as the other two party members had just arrived. Backstabber Backstab was a slender, somewhat shorter male. He wore all dark leather armor with all sorts of short blades strapped to his sides, legs, chest, back and every other spot he could see. Nanoc, the shirtless, was the polar opposite. He was wearing fur shorts and boots but nothing else. He had long black hair and he wore a strap across his front that tied into a massive two-handed axe on his back. The axe blade was bigger than Luke’s head and he had no idea how the shirtless man could wield it.
“Ok everyone.” Penny clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. She introduced Luke and let the two others know that he would accompany them as they went outside of town for the day. “Before we go, let’s all quest up.” They moved to the board that hosted all the requests and the three of them all grabbed the same three quests as if moving on muscle memory.
“Luke, come grab these three. There’s one for killing wolves and foxes and another for bringing back their pelts.” He followed his party leader's command, and the three headed out into the wilderness.
The party moved at a much quicker pace than Luke was used to. Luckily he had high enough agility that his stamina recovered quick enough for him to keep up. But on more than one occasion he had to go into his pack and get water. At such a quick pace, they got deep into the howling forest in record time, but their pace soon slowed as they got deeper into the forest and started hunting their intended targets.
“Everyone pay attention,” Penny whispered as she hunched down and gestured for the party to follow. “There is a pack of wolves straight ahead. I count at least four of them. Backstab, do you think you can reach them with a throwing dagger at this distance?” Backstab nodded his affirmation. “Good. Luke, do you think you could target one as well?” Luke slowly pulled his bow off his back and nocked an arrow. “Ok. Luke, you aim for the one on the right and Backstab go for the left. If you can’t get a kill shot on them, try to slow them down. When the other two rush us, Nanoc and I will hold them at bay while you two finish off your targets. When you finish them, join us in taking the other two out. We’ll keep them off you until then. Got it everyone?” Everyone nodded and got into position.
Luke looked at Backstab who had several long, thin blades in both of his hands. Backstab was looking back at Luke and nodded for him to start. Poking out from cover, Luke shot an arrow that hit the wolf in its lower stomach. Immediately the remaining wolves turned and started bolting toward him. Before the wolf on the left could get far, several knives flew at an incredible speed toward it. Being caught unaware, the wolf tried to dodge them, but could only avoid one of the blades.
One of the remaining wolves was about to reach Luke when Penny let out a loud shout while banging her sword on her shield. She was definitely using an ability, because he noticed a red glow emanating from her shield and the wolf instantly switched its trajectory toward her. “Hurry up and finish your wolf off. These things are level four and we’ll need your help!”
Pulling another arrow, Luke took aim at the wolf that was still coming toward him, albeit at a much slower pace. He aimed for its head but it was still quick enough to move out of the way. Daring to glance over he noticed Backstab had finished his intended target and was moving in to help Nanoc while the large man blocked claws and fangs with his axe head. Another shot landed true, and the wolf fell to the ground.
“I got him!” he shouted with excitement.
“That’s great. Ya know, anytime you wanna help me would be even better.” Penny had succeeded at pushing back the wolf, but a misplaced foot left an opening the wolf capitalized on. The large, clawed paw swiped and ripped into her leg, forcing her to her knees. She let out a grunt of pain while pulling her shield in to block the next attempt at her life.
After readying another arrow, he hesitated. Luke didn’t want to accidentally strike Penny or his other comrades who were fighting behind her. His moment of hesitation cost her another swipe to her shoulder. Penny grunted with pain as Luke released the arrow. It landed in the back of the wolf’s head, scoring a critical hit.
The wolf attacking Nanoc lunged for him, and instead of blocking the wolf’s attack he dropped his axe while sidestepping it. As the wolf flew past him, he wrapped his arms around it, immobilizing it. “Backstab,” exclaimed Backstab as he appeared in the air above the pair of combatants, using his momentum to drive a dagger into the wolf’s spine.
Forest Wolf x4 defeated. 300 party participation exp gained.
Quest alert! Controlling the Wolf population I: 4/10.
“Penny, are you ok?” The woman was holding herself up with her shield and was panting heavily. They wolved had torn up her right leg and her shoulder. She couldn’t have been feeling all that much better after taking the full force of that last swing. She reached her hand out to stop the panicking Luke. Then she took a potion she bought from Luke out of her bag, getting ready to drink it.
“Wait!” he shouted a little too abruptly, causing Penny to almost drop her potion onto the ground. He ran closer to her and lifted his palm for her to see. His palm lit up green briefly, becoming warm, and Penny’s body followed suit.
Skill up: Nature’s Regrowth, Beginner 1.
“What are you… Ohh? That is incredibly useful.” She said as she let out some of her built up tension.
“What did he do?” Backstab questioned.
“Wow! Look at her status bar dude. She's got a leaf icon and her health is steadily going up,” added Nanoc.
“I can’t believe you can heal. I can’t believe you can use magic!” Penny was giddy and starting to get back on her feet.
“It’s really not much. It’s the only spell I know, and it has a long cooldown period before I can cast it again. It also used up more than a third of my mana.” He was waving his hands around defensively to stave off his embarrassment.
“Luke, I don’t think you get it. I’ve been beta testing for almost a month and I have only met about six people, seven including you, who can cast spells. And of those seven, you are the second one to have a healing spell. Magic is really rare in this game, and it's hard to unlock. You have to open something called an affinity channel and then find someone either talented enough to teach you a spell or save enough money to buy a spell scroll. How the hell did you learn that?!”
He thought back to his mentor Rose and how much she was really helping him. If that was the only way to learn magic, she basically gave him a small fortune because he reminded her of someone? He had some questions for her the next time they crossed paths.
“A kind NPC helped me unlock my affinities. After completing a unique quest, they rewarded me with the spell scroll.”
All of their eyes were wide with astonishment and a hint of jealousy. “When Shrapnel finds out, he's going to beg you to stay in the guild. You would make the third or fourth person in the guild who can use spells.”
He blushed a bit and pushed up his glasses before the group grabbed all their gear and began skinning the animals. Since he didn’t bring a skinning knife with him, Luke offered to carry some pelts in his pack. He wanted to help contribute when he found an opportunity to. They obliged and gave him one of the pelts. Penny and Nanoc carried the rest as they had higher strength levels.
After packing away the pelts they continued into the forest and found another pack of wolves, this time five in total. “Ok team. Same game-plan. I need you two to take out two from afar. Nanoc, you hold one of them and I’ll taunt the remaining two. As soon as you two finish your ranged targets, I want you both to finish the one on Nanoc so the three of you can surprise attack the rest of them from behind.” They all nodded with understanding. “Hey Luke, after taking your first target out, cast your healing spell on me before helping those two. It should be more than enough to keep me standing until you’re all able to assist.”
Backstab was t
he first to unleash his attack this time. Five daggers went flying from his hand, three hit their mark, one went wide and the other landed in the side of another wolf. As soon as the wolves took off toward him, Luke took aim with his arrow but before he released it the wolf in the pack's front let out a loud howl. This caused a system message to pop-up, causing him to miss his shot.
Wolf Howl. Weakened debuff added.
Pulling his hands away from his ears, he launched another attack at the wolf closest to Backstab. The impact caused the wolf to veer off course and collide with a tree. The wolves stopped and took in the party. One wolf in the rear howled.
Wolf Howl. Weakened debuff II added.
“We have to stop them from howling! We're going to take too much bonus damage!” Penny shouted over the piercing howling noise.
After casting nature’s regrowth on Penny, Luke took a few more shots at the wolf pack, but both arrows missed as the wolves approached the party with caution.
“I don’t think we took these by surprise Penny. I think it's time for me to get angry!” Nanoc let out a manly roar of rage and his skin took on a reddish tint. Roaring again he charged into the pack, activating another ability that swung his axe with two hands outward in a cleaving motion. The attack created a large cut in three of the five wolves and blood began to stain their coats.
As the wolves were getting ready to counter attack, Penny started her taunt ability by bashing her sword against her shield rapidly. The three injured wolves took off in her direction while the undamaged wolf sprung on Backstab. Acting quickly and sticking to the plan, Luke finished off the initially damaged wolf with a few shots in quick succession.
Skill up: Short Bow, Beginner 4.
Turning to help Backstab, he ran in and swung his bow at the wolf to distract it. The wolf clamped its teeth around the bow. “Backstab,” cried Backstab, letting out what Luke now understood to be his trademark phrase as he plunged a dagger into the backside of the turned wolf. Pulling his bow from the wolf’s mouth as it yelped from a backstab, Luke finished it with a point blank arrow shot to the temple. Checking Backstab quickly he noticed he had a few new claw marks in his armor but didn’t seem to be worse for wear, causing him to turn his attention to his other two party members.
Penny and Nanoc weren’t faring too well as the wolves were quickly overpowering the two melee fighters. Backstab quickly activated an ability that gave him an incredible speed boost. Rushing in, he leaped into the air, arcing over one of the wolves. As he passed over the wolf he released several throwing daggers he had pulled from his chest strap. Following up his attack, Luke released two arrows. The first missed a wolf going for Nanoc and the other landed in the wolf that Backstab helped weaken, killing it.
Luke checked his party status in the side of his vision and saw that both Penny and Nanoc were in the low 20% of their max health. With nature’s regrowth off cooldown, he cast it again on Penny and jumped in to aid Nanoc. After casting the spell and readying another arrow, another wolf's howl came out.
Wolf Howl. Weakened debuff III added.
Area Event Triggered! Alpha Wolf! The continued howls of a wolf pack have summoned their Alpha for aid. Kill the Alpha Wolf for a reward.
A hulking wolf the size of a horse sporting gray fur and red stripes down its back appeared in the tree line.
“Everyone get ready. Try to finish off the lesser wolves before that thing makes it to…” Penny began to lay out an attack plan until the massive alpha wolf leaped at them. The wolf cleared almost half the distance in a single leap, only adding to the growing dread everyone was feeling. “Never mind. I’ll hold off the little ones, everyone take that thing down!” Penny triggered her taunt ability again as she shouted out her latest command.
Luke shot an arrow at the alpha but it didn't penetrate its thicker fur. Backstab also attempted a ranged attack but the wolf just shrugged them off as it continued its sprint. Nanoc cleaved the remaining two wolves, killing one and distracting the other long enough for Penny to drive her sword upwards into its chest.
Backstab activated his speed ability again and dashed almost imperceptibly toward the alpha. Suddenly he vanished, reappearing with daggers in his hands in the air above the wolf. “Backst-” He was cut off as the wolf abruptly stopped, leaned back and jumped upwards toward him with his mouth open.
The alpha wrapped his teeth around the thin man and began to shake his mouth rapidly, treating the rogue as a chew toy. Activating nature’s regrowth again on Penny, Luke took several shots at the wolf but none found purchase. Running low on arrows, he ran to the side of the battlefield to collect some of his arrows that missed while Nanoc and Penny charged the beast.
While collecting his fallen arrows, he noticed a familiar plant growing on the side of a tree.
Identification successful. Parashroom (uncommon). An uncommon mushroom that is known to have paralytic effects when eaten. It is a common ingredient in several alchemy recipes.
This could work, he thought as he carefully gathered some of the orange and yellow mushrooms alongside his arrows.
Looking back, he saw Penny shielding Nanoc as he attempted to pry the wolf's mouth open in an effort to free their trapped comrade. Meanwhile, Backstab was attempting to stab the wolf repetitively with his daggers while he was being shaken about.
“Get his mouth open. I have an idea.” Luke took an arrow and cut the caps off a handful of parashrooms. Taking the caps, he drove his arrow head into them so they were lodged enough not to come off during flight. He took aim at the alpha's mouth and waited. Nanoc used his rage ability again and his large red tinted hands began prying the creature's mouth open. Backstab lifelessly fell to the ground, leaving the alpha’s mouth wide open.
“If you're gonna do something, do it already!” Shouted Nanoc as an arrow flew by his side and into the mouth of the wolf. The wolf yelped and started thrashing wildly, forcing Nanoc to let go. The alpha’s thrashing continued, and he sent both Penny and Nanoc soaring.
The alpha turned to Luke and revealed his nearly foot long fangs in defiance. The wolf leaped from a standstill toward Luke, leaving impressions in the ground. Thinking quickly, Luke launched several arrows toward the beast but they were all ineffective. The wolf charged directly into Luke, forcing him off the ground and into his mouth. Luke felt an incredible amount of pain and his health bar plummeted to 20%.
The wolf continued its charge into a tree, Luke still in his mouth, and the tree broke in two. He was now down to 10% and dropping quickly. He was resigned to his fate and shut his eyes, waiting for the inevitable death screen to appear.
After a few moments of not seeing the system message alerting him of his failure, he opened his eyes. The wolf still had a loose grip on him but it wasn’t moving. He was just standing there and breathing lightly. It took a moment for it to dawn on him: the wolf was paralyzed!
“NOW! I don’t know how long this will last!” Luke screamed for his party to advance on the creature.
“Die you bastard!” shouted Nanoc as he took off at a full sprint toward the creature, his axe being dragged behind him. Using his sprinting momentum he swung his axe up in a large cleaving uppercut, throwing a cloud of dirt into the air as the blade tore through the ground. The blade shot up with all of Nanoc’s raging ferocity and the attack separated the alpha’s head from its body. The alpha’s body fell limp as its head rolled to Nanoc’s feet.
Several system messages flooded Luke’s vision, but he waved them away. His health was below 10% and he needed to cast nature’s regrowth on himself. Before he finished casting the spell, he gazed at his party menu to see if Backstab needed it more. Backstab’s status bars had all turned a dark gray, signifying that he was dead and being sent to respawn. He finished casting the heal on himself and repeated the process on the others when the spell was off cooldown. With the party out of danger, he pulled up his system messages.
Area Event Complete: Alpha Wolf! Alpha Wolf slain 1/1. Since you are the first party of travelers
to complete this quest, you have been awarded the title WolfsBane. You have become a bane to the local wolf population. While this title is equipped you will gain +1 in Intelligence, +1 in Wisdom and are immune to the ability Wolf Howl. You have also gained +2 attribute points and 500 exp.
Forest Wolf x5 defeated. 375 exp gained.
Quest alert! Controlling the Wolf population I: 10/10. Quest complete! Rewards: 250 exp. Turn this quest in to the quest giver for any additional rewards.
Congratulations, Level Up! You have been awarded 3 attribute points and 1 skill point, based on your class. Be careful with your decisions as they can not be undone.
Congratulations on hitting level 3! You have been awarded a basic class. Please select from the available options based on your recorded play style: Alchemist, Apprentice Mage, Archer, Earth Mage, Herbalist, Merchant, Ranger, or Water Mage.
There were buttons to hit for more information, but he waved the screens away, deciding to help the team skin the wolves and leave his class choice for later. Only Nanoc could carry the massive gray pelt left behind from the alpha wolf, and Penny was stuck carrying back all of Backstab’s possessions. This left Luke tp carry the bulk of the pelts back to town.
Starting their trek back to town, he began sweating heavily from the extra weight in his pack. To distract himself, he brought the class options back up and explored them.
Right off the bat, he eliminated merchant from the list. Running a shop was fun but not as fun as being able to explore the wilderness with a group. He made a commitment to solidify membership with Travelers 4 Hire when he saw Shrapnel next. Not knowing which option to look at first, he pulled them up in order.
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