It was my stomach that pulled me up out of sleep . The smell of baking bread filled my nose and I was salivating before I’d even opened my eyes. I stood slowly and stretched carefully waiting for the twinge in my ribs and back. Fortunately none come. A quick check of my sheet informed my both of my lingering wounds had healed. Apparently good food and rest were the solution to wounds. Granted I’d slept before, but maybe my camping skill had to be higher, resting in an inn to recover after battle was a pretty common MMO-trope. I suppose I could read the unfiltered log to find out, but just the thought of trying to plow through it filled me with dread.

I walked up to the bar and flagged down the bar-man. “Mornin!” He greeted me cheerfully. I just smiled wanting to get on with it. I was actually fairly excited about attempting my first quest. Even if it was the most ridiculously cliched one imaginable.

“You want me to go take care of those rats now?” I asked getting straight to the point.

“Sure if you want, but don’t cha want breakfast first?” He asked, curious.

“Na, If I eat now It’ll be a loan, if I eat after it’ll be compensation. I don’t like being in debt to people.” I really just wanted to get moving but it was true. I really did hate owing things to people. My freshman year of college I’d worked full time trying to avoid the loans. It ended up not mattering. At the end of the first semester both my grades and my bank account were suffering too much to continue. I’d ended up caving. I got a loan and cut my work back to part time. My grades had improved dramatically, and I’d had time to get back to gaming. It still bugged me though.

“Alright, suit yourself, the doors over-there. Don’t get yourself-killed. It’s too damn hot today to dig a hole.” He teased with a wide grin.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence” I replied dryly. I smiled and went down into the cellar.

It was dark but not overly musty or dank. There was a strong animal smell which I assumed was coming from the rats in the place. I could hear a bit of faint rustling.I took out my rather sad knife and proceeded forward with caution. My stealthy approach didn’t really last long however. The last step was uneven and I tripped. I stepped forward missed the step and fell flat on my face. I groaned as I sat-up and started to stand. “There’s that six agility, and eleven Coordination coming through in the clutch.” I muttered. Before I could stand the first rat was already on me.

It caught me completely off-guard and had already sunk it’s teeth into one of my calves before I’d even saw the thing. It hurt… ALOT. Forgetting my knife entirely, I just punched the thing in panic. It let out a squeak but didn’t realise my leg. This time I remembered the knife and jammed the blade into the rat’s back. It squeaked louder and released my leg. I turned to face it fully, and waited for it to lunge again. When it did I stabbed again but missed, and it drew blood on my other leg, before scampering back into the shadows. “Damnit!” This rat was owning me. I was supposed to kill nine more of these things?

I’d no sooner had that thought when something hit me in the middle of my back. I felt claws and teeth as I frantically spun trying to grab the thing. As I continued the turn a thought struck me and a twisted back to where the first rat had vanished. Sure enough it was just starting it’s attack. I caught it again with my knife, and this time I managed to kill it.

Blip

The rat stuck on my back took another bite, and I slammed myself back against the cellar wall. The impact finally broke it’s grip, and I turned in a blind fury kicking the thing as hard as I could. The kick crushed it against the wall and I heard a rather disturbing crunch. .

Blip

I turned facing the shadows but nothing stirred. I heard a new notification.

Bleep-be-deep-Bleep

A flash of blue light accompanied the sounds and the scratches on my back and legs instantly healed. A wolf’s smile crossed my face as I turned to face the depths of the cellar. It was time to own some rats.

My elation over leveling up only lasted a second before three more rats came out of the darkness. They attacked in a frenzy, two going for my legs and the third jumped straight at my chest. I blocked it with my forearms, and managed to push it off me before it could latch-on. That however gave the rats attacking my legs free-shots.

I lashed out with my knife, managing a decent stab on the rat I’d knocked down before it could gain it’s balance. Another rat came in, and I gave it a stab as well. The third rat took this chance and clawed at my thigh. This wound was deep, and a could feel blood soaking into my pants.

I snarled and tried to finish off one of the wounded rats. I managed to get one, but the others closed in and landed more hits. I was panting heavily and my pants had been torn to shreds. I had multiple wounds on my calves and the wound on my thigh was bleeding heavily. This wasn’t going well. At this rate I was going to get killed on the ten rat quest. Which would be not only embarrassing but possibly life threatening. What if this one like some Japanese anime and if I died while stuck in the game I’d die in real life? I’d decided to risk it to do this quest because I’d imagined it would be easy. Then I could decide what chances I was willing to take adventuring to discover what had happened to me. This game, much like life, had apparently decided to make up my mind for me.

I straightened my shoulders and calmed down. I needed to stop flailing around and become a real fighter. Maybe they had attack patterns I could pick up on. I concentrated and watched their beady little eyes as they kept their distance. Then the two remaining rats charged forward.

I read the trajectory of the one that leaped and stabbed it square in the chest. The knife went in all the way and the rat died instantly. The other rat got another piece of my already wounded leg, but I used my free leg and delivered a solid kick then stabbed down with my knife before it could recover. “Five down” I wheezed triumphantly.

I moved back to the stairs climbed up and slammed the door behind me. I stood there gasping for breath while a few drops of my blood fell and patterned to the floor. The barkeeper turned when he heard the door slam. He took one look at me and burst out laughing. I glowered at him while I stumbled over the bar and collapsed onto a stool. He slid a plate in front of me piled high with fried potatoes, some eggs, and accompanied with a mug of ale. I quickly dug into the food and took a small sip of the ale. Fortunately, it was a much less potent brew and actually went with the food rather well. The bar keep waited until I had eaten a bit before asking.

“So…. How’d it go?” I could hear him trying to restrain his laughter.

“Honestly it coulda been worse. I got run through the wringer but I got five of em. I’ll go back for the rest after a break.” I sat and tried to relax. I’d done better towards the end, but even with the level up I was feeling pretty weak. I needed to get some armor and weapons as soon as I could but to do that, I had to finish this quest and hopefully make some money

“You sure you're gonna be ok?” He asked, worried.

I wanted to tell him I just needed to wait till I healed up a bit but I wasn’t sure how he’d react. He was an NPC but it was hard to anticipate the behavior of an AI when confronting it with something like that. To him he might not think it strange that I’d be back to full health after a few hours rest. Or it might make him hostile towards me.

“I’ll be fine, I just need to catch my breath a bit.” I said, then whispered “open character sheet”. The sheet popped up immediately.

Name:Noob SlayerLevel: 2Race:HumanClass:SelectAttributesStatusUBStr: 16LBStr: 12(-1) 10HP: 6/22Mana: 0/0End: 11Con: 16Stam: 3/13Panic: 4/11Agi: 9Cord: 13Hunger: 100/100Thirst: 100/100Int:13Wis:12WoundsRes: 10Faith: 10Leg: (Minor) Gash(-10% Lbs)SocialGuild: N/ATitles: N/AFame: 0Friend List: 0/0LinksInventorySkillsSpell BookLog

Not bad, I’d gained three in my strength stats and two in some others. My mental stats weren’t going up much but I was planning on playing a bruiser class anyway. I browsed the sheet while enjoying my breakfast. It was nice that leveling healed all your HP and mana to full. That wolf must have been level four or five since I’d leveled off just two rats afterwards. Shrugging, I closed the window and opened my Log. I’d heard a Blip and I wanted to see what it meant. I scanned the default tab quickly. It must have been when I acquired the Daggers skill. Since I had nothing else to do while I waited to heal up a bit I decided to use the details command and finally check out my Skills.

SkillsWeapon Skills

One Hand and Shield

Daggers:

Two Hand Weapons

Spears:

Staves:

Hand-to-Hand:

Wrestling:

Striking:

Novice I

Novice I

Novice I

Novice I

Novice I

Novice I

Novice I

Novice IGeneral

Camping:

Outdoorsman:

First Aid

Diplomacy

Novice I

Novice I

Novice I

Novice ICrafting

Cooking:

Seafood

Fishing:

Freshwater

Spear Fishing

Woodworking

Primitive

Stonework

Primitive

Novice I

Novice I

Novice I

Novice I

Novice I

Novice I

Novice I

Novice I

Novice I

So the game has both skills and subskills. I remembered from my Log that Outdoorsman was apparently a secret skill. I called the Details command and expanded it.

OutdoorsmanThis skill is unlocked when a character manages to catch, cook, and eat an animal without any outside assistance. This skill improves the effects of various Nature and Survival related skills. Including, Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Skinning, Medium Armor Proficiency, Nature-Magic, Archery, and various other abilities. Bonuses are only valid while in Forested outdoor areas.

This skill will gain mastery as a player survives in the wilderness.

Gaining this skill unlocks the Ranger Class

Wow. That was like a cheat skill. What an awesome skill system. I had to admit the convoluted rules of this game were starting to appeal to me. I couldn’t wait to see what other skills and classes I could unlock. First though I had to deal with those damn rats.

It took about three hours for my wounds to heal. Since I’d woken up so early It was still only mid-morning when I decided to descend once more into the rat infested cellar. This time I was ready for the step and didn’t fall on my face.

I crept forward slowly, eyes wide as I slunk through the gloom. I made it through the first room unaccosted and continued into the back. Salted meat hung from the ceiling, and large kegs lined the walls. The rats attacked, all five at once. I took numerous wounds, but managed to get a few licks in. I backed myself into a corner so they couldn't get at my back, then stood my ground.

I lined up attacks and ignored the mounting damage. I focused on making solid well aimed thrusts against one rat after another. I once more heard the sound of my heart-beat amplified.Apparently it was a low HP warning. It was going to be close. I’d done for four and the last rat was starting to waver. It came back in and my arm flashed upwards to meet it. The strike was a good one and I managed to hit it’s neck with the blade.

I leaned against the wall panting as the last rat died. I really needed to work on my endurance. I quickly opened my char sheet and checked on my HP. I was down to four and I still bleeding. Deciding my pants were ruined anyway. I used my knife to cut the legs off and used the cloth to try and bind my wounds. I had no idea what I was doing but since it was a game I was guessing it was mostly the effort that counted.

Blip

I met with limited success but the familiar sound let me know I’d likely unlocked a first-aid skill of some sort. If I was going to be out adventuring I’d need to put in some time skilling it up. The bleeding finally stopped at two HP. Luckily my Con score was high for a lowbie or I likely would have died.

Now for the best part. I explored the room looking for loot. The rats didn’t seem to drop anything but I was hoping there might be something stashed in their nest. I’d be damned if I completed my first quest without getting any loot. I crept around behind barrels, looked under every object in the room, and came out with nothing.

What a rip off.

I almost died twice and didn’t get a single copper.

I moved the last barrel with a grunt and peered behind it. There was tunnel in the dirt wall about 30 inches around. Looking into the darkness I couldn’t see anything beyond a few meters. The nest must be back there. However, I’d completed the quest and at two HP I didn’t have enough health to go exploring a dark tunnel.

Instead I headed back upstairs.

“So the glorious hero returns!” The inn keeper announced jovially. “Did you get the rats?”

“Yeah, finally. Although they were a lot tougher than I was expecting.” I replied, exhausted.

“Well here’s your promised reward, and your welcome to stay here for a few days. I’ll even throw in room and board.” He produced a small coin purse and placed it on the table. That’s five silver bulls, you should be able to buy yourself some clothes at least.

Bing

Five silver was pretty good for a first quest. Well, at least I thought it was. Although since a meal had cost me a silver I supposed, that was only a couple days worth of eating.I still need to buy tools, weapons, armor, clothes, boots, and who knew what else. It was a start though and I still had some investigating to do.

“There seems to be a pretty big-hole burrowed into one of the walls down there. I was planning on going in to have a look after another rest. There still might be more rats hiding back in there.” I was hoping to get the chance to explore some more. Not to mention I needed money.

The Inn-keeper agreed to let me check it out and even promised me some more coin if there was more to be done. We chatted for a bit as I waited for my wounds to heal. It seemed the inn had some aura that let me heal much more quickly than I would out in the wilderness. I used the time to chat with the barkeep who finally told me his name. He was Sten Fogal a rather jovial man and had the perfect personality for a barkeep. When I told him my name was Noob Slayer he didn’t even bat an eyelash. Apparently NPC’s weren’t supposed to question such things. Although truth be told I liked Sten. It was odd to think he was an NPC and for all purposes didn’t really exist. However, my existential musings were interrupted when someone stomped into the bar swearing like a sailor.

“Get me a pint o’ your best stout Sten! Aint even noon, and the whole damn days ruined. Damned things, got my potatoes my boots, and a swear to gods they ate Tess’s cat. I aint ever seen her so mad. She damn near brained me with her frying pan before I could run off.” The man shouted belligerent as he sat two stools down from me.

“I aint sure getting going off to the tavern and coming home half-drunk is gonna cheer her up.” Sten commented dryly. He did however pour a mug of his ‘Special’ stout and slide it to the man. Good advice was one thing but business was apparently another.

I however sensed an opportunity for monetary gain. “What ate your boots?” I asked curiously already knowing the answer.

“Them damn rats, I had a couple move in last month, but they didn’t bother much and I left em be, but when I went down the the seed bin the damn things had chewed through the wood. Then my good hog’s-hide boots got eaten through, and Tess’s been asking me to find her cat for three days, well, I think I know what happened to it now, but when I told her she done lost it.” He replied, his anger now turning sulky.

“Well, If you need someone to take care of em, I can do it this afternoon. I took care of Sten’s this morning.” I replied with feigned sympathy. It was a shame really but I never liked cats and was unable to muster any real empathy. If it had been a dog I’d have done it for free…. probably.

The man looked at Sten for confirmation and the barkeep nodded. “Noob Slayer’ll get the job done. He came back looking like the nine-hells but he did clean em out. There was damn near a dozen downstairs too.” He gave me a wink to let me know he was helping me out.

“Alright then.” He replied, hope creeping into his voice.“Maybe that’ll cheer up the old lady. I’m four houses east o’ here. Common over when you're ready.” He took one more gulp of his beer, then stood a left after tossing a few coppers on the bar.

Sten picked up the mug and drained it with one pull. “No sense wasting the stuff” he said with a grin. With that he disappeared into the back, where I heard him cooking, and doing various chores. I opened stats window and started fiddling with my character sheet some more. There HAD to be a way to see some numbers. I’m sure there was a command for it somewhere but honestly without some explanation it was impossible to judge what they did. Then it hit me….. “You Idiot” I chastised myself. I called my next command mentally crossing my fingers. “Open Command List… Details”

The command list I’d seen before populated. This time with a small explanation next to each command.

SUCCESS!

It was apparently the ‘Expand’ command I was looking for. When I’d seen it the first time I thought It was just to zoom the various windows In. I brought up my char sheet again then said “Expand Attributes.”

Nun-na

Nothing happened. Apparently I needed to be more specific. “Expand Upper Body Strength”.

Upper Body Strength: 16

Increases chance to hit with melee weapons by 2.34867591 %

Increases carry capacity by 3.1346824%

Increases physical strength by 3.1346824%

Base hand to hand damage set at 3.25

Attribute Synergies:

LBStr: Increases effectiveness by 1.7643%

Agility: Increases Agi weight gating to 24.47 lbs

End: Increases effectiveness when using upper body by 4.5476%

Skill Synergies:

Weapon Skills

Daggers: adds damage multiplier at .246

Hand-To-Hand: adds damage multiplier at 1.468

Wrestling: adds damage multiplier at 1.8679

Staves: adds damage multiplier at 1.468

Spears: adds damage multiplier at .8469

General Skills

Fishing: adds to catching rate when fish is medium sized or larger by 1.237 %

“Holy…….Hell” It was the most ludicrous stat pane in any game I’d ever seen. Sure most MMO’s were effectively giant spreadsheets but this one definitely took the cake. It was mind boggling. I apparently had a lot of reading to do, and the familiar Blip sound let me know I’d managed to give myself another headache.

“No help for it then” I had a couple hours to kill anyway, so I may as well work out my brain a bit. Maybe I could gain more than one point in INT and WIS next time I leveled. With that I sat about learning everything I could about my skills and attributes.

________________________________________

Note: WOOOOT! Longest Chapter Yet. This puts us about 1/3 of the way through Volume I. Advertisement Support "Kill 10 Rats" PayPal Patreon Previous

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