Winston stumbled out of his machine into the living room. It was late, nearing 9:00 but Winston’s mom and dad were still out. Josh was probably on a date so Winston had the big TV in the living room to himself. Winston flipped it on to Otherworld news. He felt exhausted. He’d been pretty hard on his body the last the last week. He could tell he was getting into shape but it was a slow process to undo a half-decade of too little physical activity and too much high fructose corn syrup.

“..... reports he’s found a chain quest leading to the new floating continent. A massive manhunt is underway for the player with many guilds seeking him in an attempt to recruit him or prevent him from completing the quest. The entire game world seems to be in a frenzy hoping to get a leg up on the competition before the new expansion begins.” One of the anchors on the tv read.

Winston laughed. “Sucks for that guy.” He didn’t envy that guy at all, being a farmer was better. There was much less drama and he just had to till the land. Then again he hadn’t exactly been living the iddlic life.

The report ended and the news program changed displaying a black sword and a crimson sun. The two slammed together on the screen along with some cool special effects. “In other news tensions are running higher than ever between the two US juggernauts. The Crimson Suns have been raiding the Swords of Solomon’s industry, racking up tens of thousands of gold in losses. This has sparked a number of retaliatory strikes and both sides seem to be gearing up to kick off a full blown guild war. The market has seen a spike in both portal regents and potions. That’s one of the major indicators of an upcoming conflict as both side stockpile.”

“This comes at a time that seems perfect for the smaller guilds to try and step onto the big stage. With both of the behemoths distracted the smaller guilds have been building up their numbers and recruiting heavily. Things are heating up and it’s still months until the expansion hits.” The anchor continued.

Winston sighed as he listened to the TV drone. This was was just want he needed, open war between two of the largest guilds in the game. The Crimsun’s had already taken a swing at him twice. Grumbling he did a few stretches then decided to play few games of LotA. He was done with Otherworld for the day. He’d sort everything else out tomorrow.

*************************************

It was raining in game when Winston finally logged back Sunday morning. It wasn’t the normal drizzle or mist either but real rain falling out of a iron gray sky in fat cold drops. Cold water splattered on his new straw hat, seems he’s gotten it just in time. He examined the stats again.

[Divine Farmer’s Hat]

[Uncommon, Superb]

[A simple straw hat made in the classic style of the Shin-ta. The hat was woven with straw blessed by a goddess of agriculture and was made by the hand of a master.]

[+2 End]

[+1 Faith]

[+10% crop yield]

[Farming based blessings cost 15% less faith]

[Made by: Latherinal Landedin]

The hat was a simple cone. It looked exactly like every rice farmer hat Winston had ever seen online or in anime. Then again, a more western style hat would have never fit on his oddly shaped mole head. He liked the effect. Now if only his staff was a Khakkhara instead of a simple wooden one he’d have nailed the look perfectly.

Winston adjusted his new hat as he looked over his empire. The main field was now filled with growing corn. It wouldn’t be ready for harvest until later in the evening and he’d likely spend all his time until bed trying to harvest it once it was ready. That gave him a few hours this afternoon to work.

The potatoes and cabbage were ready for harvest but they looked a bit wilted. He could feel the soil soaking in the rain and figured it would help them a little so he left them for now. Hopefully the rain would perk them up a bit before he harvested. They wouldn’t be top quality but hopefully he could get them close to standard.

He moved over to the patch of ground he’d dug for his beets. The patch of dirt was empty and waiting. It was in a prime spot right next to Runa’s shrine. Beets meant sugar and he knew that would fetch a fairly high price. He took out the package of bone meal he’d bought in town and wondered how much he should use. He decided to start with a little then wait to see how the soil quality changed. It didn’t take to long since the garden he’d prepared wasn’t very large. A couple a shovel fulls and his interface beeped at him.

[You Have Used A Fertilizer]

[Soil Composition Changed]

[Duration: 72 hours]

Winston paused as the fertilizer melted into the soil and he felt it’s composition change. Why hadn’t he gotten a notification before when he’d been using manure? Was it because the manure needed to be processed further? The game had bumped his farming skill when he’d first used it. So it must have recognized what he was trying to do and thought it was a good idea. So then why hadn’t he received a similar message before? It was one of the hundred things he still had to look into. He never knew farming would be so complicated.

Winston took a few minutes to plant his beets. Happy with the way the soil now ‘felt’ to him. With the rain he was expecting a pretty good harvest this time around. When he finished he wondered what he should do now. He thought about it for a moment, then decided to check out his skill sheet since he hadn’t done it in a while.

[Skills]

[Weapon Skills]

[Two Handed Weapons - Novice II]

[ o Scythe - Novice II]

[ o Unarmed - Novice I]

[Faith]

[ o Runa - Novice V]

[Magic]

[Elemental - Novice I]

[ o Fire - Novice I]

[ o Earth - Novice I]

[ o Air - Novice I]

[ o Water - Novice I]

[Crafting]

[Farming - Beginner I]

[ o Grain - Beginner I]

[General]

[Deception - Novice I]

[Diplomacy - Novice I]

[ o Barter - Novice II]

Winston looked over the information and tried to decide on some priorities. He needed to raise all of his skills but farming was the most important. Farming had already hit beginner rank and leveling it would be much slower now. Faith was likely where he should focus for an immediate gain. If he got it to beginner rank he should unlock a new ability.

Winston nodded to himself then walked over to the shine to Runa, knelt down, and began to pray. He knelt at the foot of the shine and tried his best to be sincere in his belief as it rained on him. The game monitored the players thoughts and the faith of the player mattered. Winston wasn’t sure how he felt about that on a personal level. The fact the game was watching all his thoughts and emotions was a bit disturbing, that had caused a big scandal when the game first started but Nexus had survived all the lawsuits and the corporation had dealt with all the government mandated regulations.

Winston hauled himself back to his feet a few minutes later and decided it was time to get out of the keep again. He was hoping his prayer would have bumped him into beginner ranks but it hadn’t. He was board anyway and decided to go exploring. He needed to find the cloudberries for Ruger, hopefully he would have a minor adventure without being abducted by orcs or PKed. He did some quick googling on cloudberries to find out where they grew and what they looked like then hopped the rain-slick wall before heading out into the rolling plains that surrounded Grimstone keep.

The orcs were to the West but this time Winston headed North towards the river in the distance. It wasn’t much a river but it was lined with bushes and Winston figured it was a good place to start looking for cloudberries. They supposedly grew in high places and on cliffs most often but Winston had never seen anything resembling a cliff in the area so he’d just had to hunt around and hope. There were some hills farther to East where the miners had gone but none of them were very high and it would take all day to walk over there.

That left the river and Winston walked that direction shivering slightly in the cold rain. The ground was soft and the grass wet making the mile walk to the river a pain. The river ran in a meandering line across the zone from east to west. He could see it from the keep only as a trail of stubby trees and thicker brush among a wide open grassland.

Things seemed to be going well when a large rabbit thrashed it’s way out of the knee-high grass and glared at him with it’s beady black eyes. The creature was large with white splotches on its back fur. Two large lop ears hung down on the sides of it’s head. It had to be the single cutest creature he’d ever seen. It was a shame it had a massive horn jutting up from it’s head and seemed to be ready to gore him.

“Horned rabbits are such a stupid trope.” Winston muttered as he pulled his scythe out of his pack. “I mean really, how is a creature supposed to move swiftly through a rabbit burrow with a huge horn on its head. It would get caught on and tangled in everything.”

The rabbit seemed to have heard him because it lowered it’s head and charged. Winston honestly wasn’t sure how to handle this. He’d never fought a monster before. The bunny hopped forward at a startling speed. Winston nearly lost the creature in the tall grass before it leap at him from eight feet away. Winston panicked slightly as the point of the bone horn came flying towards his body. He acted instinctively, bending his knees and swinging his scythe with the mechanical precision he always used while harvesting.

The slash was slow and economical but Winston had managed some accuracy at least. There was a loud ping as the scythe hit the rabbits horn and knocked the creature away. The rabbit whirled around making that odd screaming sound rabbits do when they are mad or hurt. The rabbit looked up at Winston and began to circle. Winston matched it’s movement and the duel began in earnest.

The rabbit dashed forward again and Winston swung his scythe. The rabbit dodged and rammed into horn into Winston leg. Pain flashed up his leg and Winston grunted as the horn pierced into the muscle and fat of his calf. In the real world he’d be rolling around and screaming but with the games pain reduction it felt a stubbed toe, painful but bearable.

Winston tried to stomp the rabbit but it jumped aside and Winston growled in frustration. He was just too slow. When the rabbit came in again Winston waited for it to commit to it’s strike. He swung once the creature had left the ground. The scythe was an awkward weapon for fighting and was dull from harvesting crops but it did split the rabbits side open when he finally landed a strike.

The rabbit tumbled away with a squeak and Winston pounced on it like an overweight lion. His scythe flashed out at the wounded rodent and slammed into its body cutting it deep and finally doing some real damage. Winston looked down at the small creature and grimaced as the creature died. The game was a bit too realistic for his tastes. Now what we he supposed to do with it? He didn’t really have any use for the rabbit but at least it’s meat would be something. He was tired of eating the bread the guild offered him.

Winston bent down at made a few desaltery attempts to skin the rabbit before the corpse vanished into black mist, leaving behind a few chunks of meat and a ragged fur.

Bliiiiiip

Blip

[Two-Hand Weapon Skill increased to Novice III]

[Sythe Sub-Skill increased to Novice III]

[You Have Learned a New Skill!]

[You Have Learned the Skill Butchery]

[Rank: Novice I]

[Butchery is the harvesting of animal products from a animal corpse. Unlocked by attempting to butcher an animal. Skill increases with use. Will improve the quality and rarity of items gained through butchery]

Winston tossed the chunks of meat into his pack then kept heading towards the river. He moved more carefully after his run-in with the rabbit. His leg was still bleeding and injuries and HP did not heal quickly in Otherworld. When he made it to the river he started to inspect the bushes and shrubs on the bank.

The leaves of the plant should be small, nearly round, and Bipinnately compounded. The berries would be white but they gained splotches of light-blue when they were ripe. Winston didn’t see a similar looking bush anywhere. The river itself was only a foot deep even with the heavy rain still coming down. Without the rain it would only be a trickle. He crept along the bank keeping his eyes and ears open for anything. He’d managed to kill a rabbit but he had no illusions about his fighting ability. Most of the monsters out here would kill him easily.

He found nothing as he continued to walk farther and farther from the keep. The rain seemed to have driven most of the dangerous animals into shelter and he saw nothing except the sorry excuse of a river and plains of grass. He sighed as more rain rain down off his hat and onto his fur. He should have just waited till it was nicer. Now he was soaked and was just wandering around aimlessly. He was sure he’d stumble on something that would kill him soon.

The river eventually forked and a small island formed between the two sides until they met up again further downstream. The whole island was only a few hundred yards long and only fifty of sixty feet wide in the middle. Bored and not sure what else to do, Winston waded across the deepening water an out onto the small island.

The island had little to recommend it. A pile of large rocks stood on the up-river side of the island. They were likely what had caused the river to split in the first place and as the water had flowed around the rocks the island had formed. As Winston looked around he froze as he saw a massive bird happily munching on a large bush while ignoring the rain.

The bird was the size of a small cow and was shaped like nothing he’d ever seen in real life. It’s wings were undersized but unlike an ostrich it’s legs were stout like tree-trunks. It’s entire body seemed to be built short and powerful rather than for speed or endurance. It’s gray feathers were matted down by the rain and it’s thick neck tilted as it glared across thirty-yards between them.

Winston just stood there not sure what to do. It was then he saw the bush the bird was eating from. The bird turned away from him and pulled another small white berry off the bush. Winston growled. That bastard bird was eating the berries he needed.

Winston tried to think of a plan to get at least one berry he could plant but the bird kept happily devouring berries as Winston tried to sort through his options. The bird was huge and looked ridiculously strong. There was no way he could get by it. He winced as the bird pulled off a whole cluster then raised its head so the food could slide down it’s throat.

Winston picked up a rock and threw it at the bird. It was a terrible idea and the throw didn’t come anywhere near the monster. The rock rolled to a stop at least twelve feet from the bird. The creature looked at Winston then at the rock on the ground before turning back to it’s meal. Winston grabbed another rock and chucked it. This one hit the bird in it’s large body and it grunted and turned in time to catch a third rock right in the neck. It was pure luck but the bird let out a choking squawk and took a stumbled back a step. Winston didn’t try to wait anymore.

He pumped his short legs for all they were worth as he tried to dash past the bird and grab a few berries. Even if he died afterwards he’d still respawn with them. A single handful of berries found its way into his pack before the giant bird plowed into him at full speed, it was like getting hit but a car. Winston flew through the air and slammed into the ground rolling in muddy rain-soaked dirt of the island.

A large taloned foot came down on his back pinning him to the ground. He tried to struggle but the beasts weight and strength were simply too strong compared to his own. Winston closed his eyes and waited for death but nothing happened. Then something started to tug at his pack.

“Stupid bird just kill me already!” Winston shouted as he tried to get away. After a few more seconds of struggling he managed to get back to his feet but the bird simply plowed into him again. This time he landed face up so he pulled out his scythe and tried to attack but the bird simply stepped on the weapon. That pinned it to the ground and trapped Winston underneath.

Winston blew his top completely after that, flailing wildly at the bird and screaming profanity. The bird ignored him as it kept trying to tear up his pack and get back the berries. It wouldn’t kill him but anytime he did manage to struggle free he’d quickly be pinned again.

Over the next hour Winston was kicked, scratched, knocked-down, and stepped on dozens of times. The bird never really attacked him. Instead it ran into him, battered him with its stubby wings, or used it’s legs to hold him down as it tried to get at the berries in his pack. He’d even tried to kill himself a few times but the bird had just pinned down his limbs until he stopped. Exhausted, he was just about ready just to give the berries back but he thought he’d try reasoning with the monster first.

“You can have the berries, but I need to keep at least one.” Winston said to the bird. He fished around in his pack and took out all the berries but one holding them up to the bird from his spot on the ground. The bird snatched them immediately. Shaking its head and neck as it gulped them down. When it was done to bird stared at him as if waiting for something.

[Giant Grassland Cassowary Has Been Tamed]

[Do you Wish to make it an Animal Companion? Y/N]

Winston blinked at the prompt. How the hell did this count as tamed? Even if it was tamed would the bird even listen to him? He thought about it for a moment then clicked yes. He hadn’t looked into the Animal taming skill much but he’d have to do some wiki surfing later.

[You Have Learned The Skill Taming]

[You are able to tame and command beats to fight for you. As the skill level raises you will be able to increase the strength of your beasts. Train them in various skills and even user their heightened senses as your own. Skill is unlocked by gaining an animal companion]

[Taming]

[Rank Novice I]

[Effect: User can view monsters Status Screen

Beast can level up

Beast level capped at ½ user level

User cannot allocate points

User cannot choose specializations

Beast will not fight for user]

Winston frowned at the message and thought about the implications. So the taming tree was mostly about unlocking different aspects of the beasts character sheet and customization. He supposed that made since. Rather than directly improving the beast with bonuses instead the tamer gained the ability to adjust the beasts growth so it could gain it’s own bonuses. The only problem was the level cap. This bird was way higher leveled than him to start with. So did it unlevel or was it’s level just locked until he leveled up more? He brought up the birds information.

[Name: N/A Species: Giant Grassland Cassowary]

[Level: 24 Type: Beast]

[Sex: Female Loyalty: 23]

[Strength: 32 Agility: 15]

[Intellect: 35 Constitution: 41]

Endurance: 34 Willpower: 18]

[Specializations:

Vitality 1

Mental 1]

[Abilities: Fowl Charge]

“Not much of a bird are you?” Winston said to the creature. “Your built more like an ox than a bird. Still, you need a name. You can be…. Bogdana, or Bog for short.” The sheet updated and Winston sighed as he looked down at his new pet. It’s loyalty wasn’t very high but since he hadn’t really done anything to make it loyal that was expected. The pair turned and headed back towards the keep.

Rimmi wasn’t in the courtyard when Winston and Bog made it back. The rain was still falling and the courtyard had changed into a muddy mess. Bog gave a indignant squawk and headed towards the stables without any prompting. She was in a bad mood. Her heavy body sunk in the wet earth and she had mud all the way up to her knees. Winston wasn’t doing much better but he still had work to do.

Winston took the time to harvest his garden crops. It was a lot slower than just swinging his scythe like with his grain since he had to pick them all individually. By the time he finished he was covered in mud and had started to shiver from the rain and cold. The worst part was the low quality of the vegetables. Without his Racial passive to boost them up they’d likely be junk.

He got less than a bushel of cabbage but a little more than a bushel of potatoes.

[You Have learned the Vegetable Sub-skill]

[Rank: Novice I

[Effect:Bonus Vegetable Crop Yield:1%

Bonus Vegetable Crop Quality: 4%]

Winston was so disgusted he didn’t even both to replant before he logged out of the game. He’d deal with it all later.