Blue Moon Forest surrounded Blue Moon City from all sides— and to fulfill their basic needs many of the NPCs had overdrawn nearby natural resources. For example, they cut down trees to make their shacks, they hunted friendly wildlife populations into dangerously low levels for food, and they dug wells in hopes of water— but were unsuccessful and left huge holes in the ground. Over time these actions created the situation outside of Blue Moon city.

Capra knew that what the NPCs did wasn’t inherently wrong, it was just ineffective. But what else could they do? The Blue Moon Guild didn’t invest in the NPCs that lived on the city outskirts, and that meant that many of them were uneducated and untrained. They didn’t know about sustainable harvesting, or raising animals for food consumption, furthermore they weren’t hunters, so they just took whatever they could whenever they could.

For this reason it wasn’t at all uncommon to see a malnourished NPC munching on dried grass, or dried leaves... however, they weren’t cows and they didn’t have the four stomachs required to properly digest any of that, so many of the NPCS found no relief, and as a result of an excess consumption of grass the land around them grew barren overtime.

But that was an issue Capra wasn’t equipped to tackle yet, so he just kept moving forward... his shoulders feeling slightly heavy.

...

The area the NPCs cleared out became a no-spawn zone. NPCs would harvest wood as far away from the edge of the no-spawn zone as they could, so there were very few trees close to the city itself, just tree stumps. Granted, the inside of the city had plenty of trees, but the poor NPCs living on the outskirts wouldn’t dare enter the city, let alone cut anything down.

Although it wasn’t a safe zone the no-spawn zone was about an area roughly a Kilometer wide that surrounded the city where monsters would not spawn, or enter, and Capra could tell he was getting closer to the edge of that no-spawn zone because the closer he got to the forest, the taller the tree stumps became.

Within no time at all Capra spotted his first fully grown tree.

"This is it."

The tree marked the beginning of the Bluue Moon forest, so Capra took a moment to check his inventory before proceeding.

He had his mage staff, mage robes, mage hat, a single piece of bread and water, his few remaining small potions, and some basic threading and skinning goods.

He had yet to equip his gear because he had been so busy enchanting, but the stat boosts were pretty minimal anyways.

Mage Staff (Common)

Damage: 3-10 blunt damage.

Active Effects: None.

Passive Effects: Boost magic damage by +3.

Other Effects: None.

Weight: 2kg

Mage Robes (Common)

Physical Defense: +1

Magical Defense: +5

Active Effects: None.

Passive Effects: None.

Other Effects: None.

Weight: 1.8kg

Mage Hat (Common)

Physical Defense: +0

Magical Defense: +3

Active Effects: None.

Passive Effects: None.

Other Effects: None.

Weight: 0.2kg

"Well... it's better than nothing."

After wielding all his equipment Capra felt a little funny. His gray robe made him feel like and old mage from an old movie documentary he'd seen, and he chuckled.

"You shall not pass!" He shouted, before quickly becoming embarassed. "Enough playing around." He thought.

Then he looked around to make sure no one had noticed him and proceeded to enter the dark canopy of Blue Moon Forest.

…

The Blue Moon Forest actually existed before the Blue Moon Guild, and it got its name because a lot of the flora would absorb light from the blue moon. In turn most of the vegetation in the forest was a light shade of blue, the animals too. Some creatures and plants even glowed the same color as the moon, which turned the otherwise dark forest into a hauntingly beautiful region to explore— at a risk of course.

Almost immediately upon entering the forest Capra encountered his first enemy. It was fast, had two vicious long teeth, and its blue fur gave it all the camouflage it needed to hunt any unsuspecting prey foolish enough to wander into its territory. The creature had actually been slumbering peacefully —that is until Capra unknowingly stepped on its tail.

“SkKREEEEEeeeEEE!” It screamed and its eyes quickly grew an unholy shade of red.

Its scream alerted Capra of its presence, but it was too late. The creature had the initiative.

It opened its jaws wide and took a large bite out of Capra’s calf,

“Son of a Murgle!” He shouted, obviously in pain as the creature’s teeth burrowed deeper into his calf.

Capra had heard that players learned quicker with the pain threshold maxed out, he was told it added a sense of realism to the game, and that it wasn’t as bad as most people made it out to be and he readily believed the articles he had read on the subject. So he maxed out his pain threshold.

"Lying two faced, sons of..."

He cursed fluently as pain surged throughout his leg.

"Get off!"

With a mighty shake of his leg he sent the creature flying at the trunk of a tree, but the creature hadn't intended to relent, and a long gash formed on Capra’s Calf as the creature flew away— its jaws still closed.

System Notification: You have taken 30 damage. 170/200 Hp remaining.

The creature crashed into the tree trunk and its body flashed red for a split second as it fell, but it quickly got back on its hindlegs. It shook its head, wiping away the dizziness caused by the collision and then kicked up dust, it looked like a bull ready to charge; however Capra didn’t intend to give it much of an opportunity.

Capra began chanting, limping away as he made a series of hand gestures. The creature tried to pursue Capra, but it would take it a few seconds to close the gap, and that was all the time Capra needed,

“Chaos Bolt!” he shouted, and a mass of energy very similar in appearance to [Misaligned Goop] shot forth from his hand.

Luckily for Capra the creature was thoroughly enraged… and stupid, so it charged forth headfirst and collided with the mass of writhing energy.

System Notification: Critical hit, [Chaos Bolt] Inflicts 45.5 [earth] damage.

The blow robbed the creature of about a third of its health points and sent it flying backwards. It rolled away while screeching in pain, but it quickly stood up; however this time it didn’t charge. It swayed where it was, while glaring at capra and holding its head.

"Well. If you won't come to me.."

Capra prepared another [Chaos Bolt] and launched it straight at the creature’s head. The writhing mass of energy reflected in the creature's eyes, and despite its dizziness it moved.

System Notification: [Chaos Bolt] Inflicts 18.5 [fire] damage.

The creature had managed to avoid a head on collision with the chaos bolt, but its torso still took the hit, and caught flames.

“SKKKKKREeeeeeeeEEEE!” It screamed, as it ran about trying to douse the flames; however, continuous head on collisions with the nearby trees did nothing to help it. Soon its health was nearly depleted, so Capra cast once more.

"Chaos Bolt!" He shouted, and then waited for the kill... but things didn't go as expected.

System: Critical hit, [Chaos Bolt] Inflicts 38.5 [healing] damage.

[Chaos Bolt] was an unpredictable spell, it was a basic spell that could be learned by anyone; however, hardly anyone wanted to. Sadly, enchanters didn’t really have a choice. All classes had their basic spells or skills which they used in combat. Forgemasters had [Anvil Strike], wherein they’d use their heavy forging hammers to strike at an enemy as if they were refining metal. Swordsmen had [Slash!]... which... is pretty self explanatory, and for the most part mages had an elemental bolt spell that corresponded with their elemental focus.

Enchanters on the other hand had [Chaos Bolt]. Although [Chaos bolt] was a basic spell, it was still legendary in its own right due to the sheer number of amazing stories centered around it, but ultimately it was a random spell, and it wasn’t very reliable. Its damage type wasn't static, and sometimes heals would occur, which in a high-level battle could be fatal. Luckily, Capra's opponent wasn't the strongest.

...

The creature was confused, it had seen the [Chaos Bolt] flying towards it, but it was too late to dodge. Its life flashed before its eyes... countless peaceful afternoons spent dozing away under the tall grass, eating and devouring delicious prey… and… uhh… well, that was about it really, but a lot of that, so imagine its surprise when it was healed.

As the healing magic gently caressed it, renewed hope and determination filled its bloodshot eyes, and it decided to do the most courageous thing it had ever done in its short life...

"Skree!"

It screamed as it... ran away.

The creature moved quickly, but its panic had sent it running in a straight line and Capra still had it in spellcasting range.

"Let's see if you survive this..."

Capra weaved his hands through the air, and chaotic elements followed the path of his gestures... then he shouted, “Chaos Bolt!”, and the writhing mass of magic flew straight at the creature.

System Notification: Critical hit, Chaos Bolt Inflicts 42.5 darkness damage.

The creature’s health depleted, but the darkness damage caused it to be enveloped in a black shroud. its health had depleted, but the creature still had a faint consciousness left. It felt unwilling, and resentful. It wanted to bite at the human that had slain it... but it couldn't in the end all it could do was let out its anguish in a final scream.

“SKrrrrreeeeeeEEEEEEeee!”

The creature's scream resonated through the forest, its eyes a gruesome red… but slowly it lost its vigor, and collapsed.

“Have I been cursed?” Capra wondered.

The creature’s final scream was so passionate that he felt chills run down his spine. He hoped monsters weren't always so dramatic when dying... otherwise even if he wasn't cursed he might develop a trauma.

System Notification: You have slain [Blue Moon Rabbit]. Awarding Experience points...

Capra stared at the still smouldering corpse of the [Blue Moon Rabbit]. It was awfully realistic, and it looked very similar to a normal rabbit— except it was bigger, and had sharp fangs. He almost felt regretful for killing it... almost.

"That'll teach you to bite me." He said as he pulled out his skinning knife.

Although Capra was an enchanter, Chaos and Fame didn’t really limit players to their classes or professions, it just made class related actions easier. For example, many a magic swordsman had started off as a mage, however because they were proficient in sword skills they were able to combine their magic and swordsmanship to become magic swordsmen. Technically, they were still mages but they functioned entirely different to normal mages in combat.

Player’s could become true magic swordsman if they could train their mage skills and swordsman skills to a high enough level to unlock a hidden class, and at that point all their abilities would become synergistic and easier to use, and level.

Capra’s mother was a seamstress, so he had learned a lot about how to process and use certain materials to make clothing. He didn’t have any tailoring or leatherworking skills, but he had studied a few videos on how to skin an animal before, and he knew how to work a needle and thread well enough to piece together something wearable, so he pulled out his skinning knife and got to work on the [Blue Moon Rabbit]’s hide.

Due to the fire damage the hide was still hot, the earth damage had dirtied it, and the darkness damage left it… wrong, just wrong. It wasn’t anything visible, but nearing the hide made Capra feel as if there were many eyes watching him in the dark, waiting to pounce on him. Like a curse. But Capra ignored it and kept working.

He pressed the skinning knife up the center of the [Blue Moon Rabbit]’s spine all the way up to the head, then continued towards the limbs, eventually connecting all the cuts to the principal cut at the spine. That was the easy part, next he worked to separate the muscle attached to the hide. Separating skin from muscle was difficult, and he made a few mistakes, but overall he kept the piece of hide relatively whole, which was goood, especially given the fact that he didn’t have any leatherworking skills.

After a good 2 minutes Capra finished skinning it.

System Notification: You have learned [Beginner Skinning Mastery], Proficiency: 5/100

System Notification: You have obtained [Cursed Blue Moon Rabbit Hide]

System Notification: You have obtained [Cursed Blue Moon Rabbit Meat]

After reading the system notifications Capra stood with his mouth wide open. He looked at the hide he’d obtained, and then at the meat. Then he remembered the dying scream of the [Blue Moon Rabbit],

“So it really was a curse..”

Darkness damage could inflict curses sometimes, but Capra had the sneaking suspicion that this particular curse wasn’t due to darkness damage.

"Well whatever."

Curse or no curse, hide was hide, and meat was meat, and Capra wouldn't let it go to waste. A few dozen more kills and he’d be able to put his plan into motion.