I wake early. I don’t even see any light around the shutters on the window. I get out of bed and splash some water on my face. I check my inventory and see I have three silvers and twenty-five coppers. I will have to start building up my money again now that I must pay for everything starting today. With that in mind I head down to the bar to greet John who is already up and polishing the bar.

“Good morning.” I say and take a seat at the bar.

“Morning. Ready for some breakfast?”

“Yes, but I have to see what this day is going to cost me first.”

John grins and says. “Oh, that’s right your free time is over. I totally forgot.”

“Very funny.” I say grumpily.

“Ok, a day’s lodging is twenty-five coppers for a private room like you have and ten coppers for the common room, which has bunk beds and room for twenty people. That includes three meals in either case.”

“That doesn’t seem too bad.” I say.

“It’s not, but don’t get used to it. Outside of the Starter Area, most inns will cost two to five times as much. Only the very cheap inns will be the same price, and you probably would not want to stay in them.”

I take out twenty-five coppers for the day and place it on the bar, where John makes it promptly disappear. John asks. “You want sandwiches for lunch and dinner or will you be coming back?”

“I will take the sandwiches, thanks.”

“Ok, be right back.” John says and heads back to the kitchen. A minute later he returns with a plate of eggs, ham, and toast, along with two sandwich packages. I put the sandwiches in my inventory and start in on breakfast. “Has the other party come down yet?” I ask between bites.

John leans on the bar and says. “Not yet. They were up late drinking. There is something strange going on. Starting adventurers are always saving their money for better equipment, not spending so freely before they even start hunting. George like I told you last night, watch your back.”

“I will.” I say as I finish and say goodbye. I am going to hunt the wolves today to complete the two quests I have. After that I will check if there are any more quests that open. With my level and spells, I would be able to handle even the Gnoll area, which is the highest level. I will see how I do on the wolves first. I notice Cal is not up yet as I head to the gate and greet a pair of yawning guards on my way out of the village. I am excited about what I can do.

I draw my sword as I reach the edge of the wolf area. I enter stealth and start looking for wolves. After a few minutes I found a trio of wolves to my left eating some rabbits. My Inspect reveals they are level five with fifty hit points each. I cast Shield, which will absorb twenty hit points of damage, just in case. I then cast Fire Dart, releasing three darts into the closest wolf, killing it with the series of fiery explosions. My combat logs show a total of fifty-five damage. It is just barely enough since I am down forty-eight mana already. Both the remaining wolves howl and charge at me. I try to keep my cool as I cast another Fire Dart into the wolf on my left. This time the wolf is badly damaged and stumbles. I brace myself and side step the wolf on my right, swinging a powerful backhand into its hind quarters. I turn back to the wolf that stumbled. It glows with a faint red outline and leaps at me, slamming into my Shield, which absorbs the blow. I plunge my sword into its chest and it collapses dead with a final yelp. I start to turn and feel a weight hit my back. My Shield collapses as the remaining wolf drives me to my knees. I strike it with my elbow, thrust my left hand, and smash its face with Fire Dart. I struggle to my feet pushing the dead weight off my back. I inspect each corpse to make sure they are dead while scanning the woods for other wolf. I sheath my sword, draw my dagger to skin these wolves, and claim their tails for the quest. After I finish collecting the skins and the wolf steaks I check my combat log.

You engage three Wolves Level 5 with fifty hit points.

You have struck a Wolf with three Mana Darts for fifteen, twenty-one, and nineteen points of damage. Damage doubled from striking from Stealth for one hundred and ten points of damage.

You have killed a Wolf, 5 XP awarded.

You have struck a Wolf with three Mana Darts for eighteen, sixteen, and fifteen points of damage. Total forty-nine.

You stabbed a Wolf for 32 points of damage.

A Wolf strikes you for 16 points of damage. Your Shield absorbs 16 points of damage, 4 points remaining.

You stabbed a Wolf for 40 points of damage.

You have killed a Wolf, 5 XP awarded.

A Wolf strikes you for 14 points of damage. Your Shield absorbs 4 points of damage. Your Shield collapses. Your armor absorbs 10 damage. You suffer 0 points of damage.

You have struck a Wolf with Fire Dart for 19 points of damage.

You have killed a Wolf, 5 XP awarded.

Looks like a Fire Dart is borderline to kill one of the wolves. I really need an area effect spell. The six points of damage did one point of durability damage. I must find a better way, else a larger group may just kill me. I stealth and search for the next group of wolves. After about twenty minutes, I almost stumble on a group of five wolves napping in the undergrowth. I look around and an idea come to mind. I climb a large nearby tree as quietly as possible. After getting about fifteen feet up with a clear view of the ground and the wolves, I begin casting Fire Dart. I hit two of the sleeping wolves, getting a bonus for successfully attack from stealth, killing one wolf and injuring the other. The remaining wolves wake with a howl and charge my tree. I am already casting another Fire Dart, focusing on the first to arrive under the tree, killing it. The wolves circle the tree howling, clawing, and leaping around the tree trunk. I picked a good tall, straight, and thick tree though. They fail to reach me in my perch as I cast another Fire Dart. It hits and injures another wolf, which survives, but looks very injured. I cast one more Fire Dart at that wolf, and two other darts into the other injured one. Both wolves die leaving just one wolf that is frothing at the mouth as it leaps and scrambles to find purchase on the tree’s bark. The sight sends a shiver down my spine. I cast another Fire Dart killing the last wolf.

I take a deep breath as my head pounds with a mana headache. I have almost completely depleted my mana pool. I settle in scanning the surroundings while entering stealth. I am not leaving the tree until my mana fully recovers. One advantage of my height is that I spot some Golden Lily and Sun Blossom growing near where the wolves were napping. After my mana pool tops off, I first collect five Golden Lilies and four Sun Blossoms. Then I carefully skin and butcher the wolves, removing their tails for the quest. Then I head out in stealth looking for the next group of wolves. I find another group of three wolves. I climb a tree and kill them with ease this time. After butchering them and adding their tails to my inventory, I find six more Sun Blossoms.

I continue, and about thirty minutes later, I run into a huge group of ten wolves. Even with my new technique, I hesitate since I will need to kill some of them and then wait for my mana to recharge before killing the rest. I pick a suitable tree just a little thinner than the last one I used, but stout enough. After getting up about fifteen feet, I cast Shield. My mana will refill well before the Shield collapses, and with such a large group, I want to take no chance. I focus and cast Fire Dart, hitting one wolf with a single dart and the other wolf with two, killing one wolf and injuring the other. That stealth bonus is great. I then start casting as fast as I can, killing one, two, and three wolves. I injure a fourth, which nearly depletes all my mana. That leaves six wolves left with two badly injured. It also leaves me with a problem when a few minutes later they all start glowing faintly red. I am afraid they are going to leap at me as I draw my sword. But instead they do something unexpected. They begin to claw and bite the tree trunk and the tree begins to shiver. Checking my mana, I have just enough to partially cast a Fire Dart for two darts. I send one at each injured wolf killing them both. The remaining four continue to attack the tree.

I rack my brain to think about what I can do and berate myself for not getting a range weapon. Even if I didn’t do much damage I could weaken them. Four wolves are not great odds even though they look like they are tiring. I draw my dagger in my left hand and get ready to leap when the tree starts to fall. I jump down a branch and then onto the back of one of the wolves, which collapses under my weight as I strike for a critical hit. I roll off to the right when a wolf to the left leaps at me. The fallen tree shields my right side for the moment. I stab the wolf in the nose with my dagger as it snaps at me causing it to yelp and jump back. I take the opportunity to skewer the wolf laying in front of me, killing it. The other two wolves round the tree charging me, bumping off each other in their haste. I kick the one on the right in the head as I spin and plant my sword in the one in the center. The one on the left manages to leap on me. I stagger, but my Shield holds as I fall on my back and plant both feet on the wolf, pushing it over into the fallen tree. I only make it up to my knees when the other two wolves come at me again. I hit the one on the right with the pommel of my sword as the other latches on my left arm, shattering my Shield. I lean into my sword swing while on my knees and hit its neck for a critical, finally killing it. I hear the one behind me struggling to extract itself from the fallen tree as I engage the wolf in in front of me. I am sweating profusely. I try to get in a killing blow before its friend gets out of the tree behind me. I manage to kill it at the moment the other wolf emerges from the fallen tree, scratched and covered in leaves and twigs.

I balance on the balls of my feet and as it leaps I kneel and plant my sword in its chest. Its weight slams me to the ground. I plant my dagger in its side over and over until it stops moving. I am gasping for air and I look around. I drag myself over to another tree and slowly climb it. After safely up in a new tree, I allow myself the luxury of holding my throbbing head. I wait for my mana pool to regenerate and my mana headache to fade before coming down to skin and butcher all the wolves. With this last group of wolves, I have everything for the Cull the Wolves quest. I still need a few more herbs for the other quest. I think I have had enough wolves for today so I avoid them as I continue to look for herbs. I leave the woods on the far side of the wolf area when I see the last of the Golden Lily I need. I must be getting close to the Starter Area boundary as I walk forward.