I found a bulb really easily since one was coming out of the forest. I picked it up and stuffed it in my satchel. I then looked into the forest and saw at least fifty more bulbs making their way out. I counted at least seven larger ones. I quickly began moving away. Suddenly there was a loud crash. I looked behind me and massive bulb appeared out of the forest. Huge vines shot forwarded to drag itself along while other bulbs exited out from underneath giant leaves at its base.

My first thought was, wow what an awesome event. My second thought was that is fairly big, Bulb One really ate quite a bit. My third thought was, OH MY GOD RUN RUN RUN RUN! As I ran the bulb kept up right behind me.

“Observe”

Swarm BulbLvL: ???

How high level did something need to be to get freaking question marks? I should have never accepted a stupid Legendary quest. I should have known it would be something stupid like this. Damn fate caught up with me. I now had a boss monster mowing its way across the fields towards me.

I crested a hill and saw six people standing on the next one. I didn’t stop running. Fifteen seconds later the boss came over the hill behind me. I could see all their expressions turn to terror as they fled. I reached the hill they had been on and saw them rushing into Mendal just as the gates swung shut. I changed directions to flank the town. I noticed a knight standing over the entrance while hundreds of soldiers and townsfolk lined the walls.

Bulb one came up over the hill and went for the town instead of me thankfully. A shimmering glow appeared around the townsfolk as they unloaded hundreds of fire arrows into the monstrosity. It just ignored them and kept moving forward. The glow intensified around the knight and he leapt off the wall in front of the gate with a thundering boom.

I honestly thought about helping, but I wasn’t going to try tackling a Swarm Bulb. The knight rushed forward and was a blur as he cut through giant vine after giant vine. Despite his efforts he was slowly being pushed back. The pace of the Swarm Bulb slowed as its vines were cut and it had become a raging inferno from all the fire arrows.

I thought it was over but then four vines shot out and grabbed onto the wall. The knight managed to cut two before the Swarm Bulb pulled. The wooden wall collapsed as people fell screaming to their deaths while the Swarm Bulb somehow leapt forward and slammed into the knight sending him flying backwards into the town. That was when hundreds of the smaller bulbs began moving into the town from behind the Swarm Bulb. With the shimmering shield blocking out the spores gone, the people were helpless to the bulbs as they steadily advanced on their paralyzed bodies.

I honestly couldn’t think of what I could do to save the town and complete my quest. A raging fifteen foot monster with super vines and a massive cloud of paralyzing spores that is spawning loads of smaller monsters was a bit beyond me at the moment. The walls were destroyed and the majority of people were paralyzed. While the boss mob has been wounded, there was limited effect. I couldn’t drop anything on it. Everything on fire was pretty much already burning after the wall had come crashing down. Just when I couldn’t think the situation could get any worse, the Swarm Bulb unleashed a spray over the town from the top of its bulb. From what I could see, things were melting as the purple goo hit them.

If a buffed knight couldn’t win, what the hell was I supposed to do? The smaller bulbs wouldn’t give that much experience and I didn’t stand a chance against those vines. That thing had range, melee, more toughness than a tank, and horde of minions. You know every time I think things can’t get any worse, someone should smack me because that was when all the smaller bulbs converged on the larger bulb and began to give a portion of their nutrients healing the damage that had been done. The giant bulb grew another five feet in under a minute.

The birds had long beaks to pierce the bulbs. That was the way to win, possibly. Pierce the center and the thing should die off. That was easier said than done. I needed one really strong attack. Something that would punch through everything. I entered Mendal as the Swarm Bulb slowly advanced on the center of the town, which is where I assumed the church was. The mid-size bulbs were ignoring me, which made me wonder why. Well if the parent was Bulb One, I had inhaled a lot of its spores, so who knows how I appeared to them. Also I wasn’t doing anything to them while they fed off the paralyzed corpses.

I saw a large barrel off to the side with a small crack. Oil, that had some possibilities. I moved the barrel on its side and began rolling it down the street towards the Swarm Bulb. I heard sounds of fighting and figured it was probably the knight from before. I pushed the barrel right next to the Swarm Bulb, which thankfully ignored me. Watching those massive vines that could snap me in an instant was incredibly scary. I ran back and then used my striker to light the trail of oil on fire that had dripped out of the barrel.

I then hid behind a street corner. Do not believe Hollywood, watching explosions is not good for one’s health. The barrel went off in a giant whoosh. I looked around the corner and the bulb had once again become a towering pillar of flame with a huge chunk carved out of its base. Suddenly it tilted to the side and fell into a house. Holy crap that actually worked.

I looked around and most of the town was going up in flames and loads of smaller bulbs were working on the corpses. Meh, not my problem. I pulled up the windows to confirm.

Running-1Run like a tree, jump like a rockLvL 1: You understand the basics of running

Quest Complete-MediumScout the Gloomwood+100 EXP

Quest Complete-LegendaryKill Bulb One+10000 EXP

+3 Stat Points

Experience+60001+10 LvLYou are level 34

Quest-MediumHomeworkRead the book in your possesion+100 EXPAccept (Yes/No)

Quest-LegendaryEnd the WarEnd the war between you and House Breckley+10000 EXP

+3 Stat PointsAccept (Yes/No)

I took both quests. It was what I was planning to do anyways. I then dumped all nine stat points into Strength bringing it up to twenty four. I then went around killing bulbs. It was easy enough to dodge the bullets and cut them apart. The knight kept his distance from me but also worked on killing the bulbs. Sure enough the hard quest was complete.

Quest Complete-HardProtect Mendal+1000 EXP

+1 Stat Points

Quest-HardDefeat Sir DavosKill the mighty Sir Davos, Hero of Mendal+1000 EXP

+1 Stat PointsAccept (Yes/No)

I fled. I ran out of the town and followed the trail of destruction back into the forest. Once I was in a position to rest I realized that I never got rewarded for saving the stupid town. I then realized that the hard quest called Sir Davos the Hero of Mendal. That probably meant I didn’t get recognized and the only one who knew I helped was that knight.

I let out a long sigh. “At least you still like me bulby? Right?” I asked the leafy creature I had stored in my satchel, no response. Well I had my Legendary quest to kill Lord Breckley and the hard one to kill Sir Davos. Those stat points were the real driving factor. It was hard to tell, but looking back on it, I had been far more exhausted and tired at the start of FEAR than now.

I tossed my one stat point into Strength and started looking around the forest for someplace to spend the night. I was probably the strongest player in FEAR. With the permanent death penalty many people tried to play it too safe, while other’s tried to bull rush through. It was like a tight rope act, one needed to be balanced.

I had discovered magic, killed a boss, completed some very hard quests, and pissed off all the NPCs. I found a small clearing by a stream. I killed a couple of slimes that were just sitting around and began building up a fire. I settled in to read the book I had liberated from the Priest of Eight.

The Basic Chants of Eight by Tegith

To call upon the eight one must invoke their name and state the full chant. One’s heart must be open to them and one must dedicate their life to the path of the Eight. Each chant drains one spiritual energy to access these powers and care must be taken not to overextend one self. For as one ability increases all other’s decrease in equal measure.

We shall begin with Onciontituts.(Pronounced Onk-i-ON-tit-uts for people who were wondering and want to join in) This chant shall stave off illness from one’s own body.

Oh Onciontituts aid me with your grace. Empower my body and soul to withstand the rigors that are placed upon me so that I may survive what is to come. Cleanse my body of filth and pestilence so that I may bask in you glory.

I carefully recited the full chant out loud.

Insufficient Wisdom

I cursed and cursed at that stupid screen. So unfair, I had the secrets of ultimate magic before me and I couldn’t access them. The entire book was filled with chants. I flipped by most of them looking for any more explanations on how magic worked. At the end there was another blurb.

When one has mastered the basic chants, that is the first step on the path to enlightenment. The next step would be to use various chants to empower others and the land around oneself. May the eight guide your path to a greater understanding.

Tegith, High Priest of the Church of Eight

Quest Complete-MediumHomework+100 EXP

Quest-MediumTrainingReach level five of any one skill+100 EXPAccept (Yes/No)

The old man didn’t use long chants so that was probably the third level of skill. Someway to compress or store chants to be used for later. The forth level might be some combination techniques or attack techniques. Instead of boosting or shielding one could drain and hurt. What was really troublesome was that there was no mention of shielding.

While all the chants were defensive in nature, boosting and assisting, there was no mana shield or magic shield. If someone tried to chant my body into exploding how the hell was I going to counter that? That also turned my thoughts to the lady in white, was she a god and which one was she. Probably the sadistic one, Xyiterted (Zei-IT-er-ted) sounded evil enough.

I wanted fireballs and laser beams. Not stupid chants I couldn’t even use. I really needed a minion to learn some magic. I saw the way the knight moved and he probably was boosted to insane levels. I flipped back through the book again. There were no chants to Tafe the fallen goddess. I checked again, no chants to her.

Oh my god, that was so simple I had missed it. The gods were the stats, I let loose a laugh at that. Someone had a cheesy imagination. It took me a moment to work out the names to the stat, the descriptions helped quite a bit. So that would also tie in on why people have nine stats and can only alter eight of them. Church of Eight indeed, I know your secret.

I decided to try my own chant. “Tafe, fickle lady in white with a temper.” I really was hoping I guessed right. “Give me some of your powers to aid me now. You owe me one.” There was a long stretch of silence. “Guess she is an imprisoned old hag, with a stained dress.”

There was a distant screeching noise in the forest. Note to self, do not piss off women. Second note to self, do not piss off gods. Third not to self, female gods who are imprisoned still can smite one from a distance. Forth note to self, RUN! I grabbed up my satchels and began running through the forest. It was already getting dark and I could hear a creature screeching from behind me.

“Sorry, sorry, no more insults. You are quite beautiful Tafe.” Unfortunately goddesses once scorned do not forgive lightly. I came out into a clearing. I saw another player sitting by a campfire looking worried. “Hey there!” I said as I ran over to him. He startled and tried to stand up but I did a flying kick into his shoulder knocking him back down.

“What-“

I raced by him to the other side of the clearing and then turned to watch while I hid under some dense shrbbery. Out of the forest burst a giant screaming praying mantis. The thing had to be as tall as a person with giant metal scythes clearing a path. “Observe.”

Forest GuardianLvL 69

It pounced onto the helpless player and he was literally ripped apart. I couldn’t help but think of Rain of Blood as pieces of the dead player showered over the Forest Guardian and around the clearing. I hid, not daring to breathe. The reptilian eyes swept around the area and it stood there ready for battle.

The tension was insane. I figured I had a one in five chance of winning, and almost no chance of winning uninjured. While level denoted natural toughness and capability, weapons, equipment and training all played a major role that were not taken into account. With those scythe hands it was easily at a much higher combat level. Also the speed was insane and its exoskeleton looked fairly sturdy. A sword thrust would probably be the way to go, if I could even manage to get that close.

The Forest Guardian spun around and darted back the way it had come. I let out a long breath but waited another couple of minutes to make sure it was truly gone. I then snuck away from the blood soaked clearing. Shitty way to die, but the online crowd would eat it up.

It was dark now and I spent a night hiding in the forest in the dark resting. The following mourning I woke up refreshed and debated on what to do next. Attack Mendal, that was simple enough. With a good chunk of the wall destroyed and the populace killed I figured the soldiers and knights would come and clean things up, possibly a few more of those priests.

While the soldier’s weren’t that great for experience any more, they were plentiful. Plus I needed to find and kill this Sir Davos. I did stretches to limber myself up and then made my way back towards Mendal. I heard the soldiers before I saw them. “Check that bush, there might be a bulb.” I looked around and saw soldiers combing through the forest in a line. They were exterminating the bulbs to prevent a repeat from before.

I waited behind a tight cluster of trees hearing the soldiers approach closer and closer. If they were willing to come to me, who was I to refuse them. When I heard a soldier get close enough I flipped open my satchel. I then spun around the trees and stabbed him in the face before he could collapse. Shouts went up and down the line as I turned and ran towards the next soldier.

He brought up his sword but was unable to block as the paralysis took him. I killed another two this way before noting that my SP gauge was halfway empty. I then turned and ran off into the forest. As I ran the soldiers became clustered together right behind me to keep up. I made sure not to go too fast so I was always just in sight.

I then dropped my bulb satchel in a clump of large ferns and kept running but slightly slower. The soldiers put on an extra burst of speed and they were caught in the paralyzing spore cloud. Three of them had seen the trap and managed to avoid it. I rushed back and they moved to confront me. Duel wielding is hard and tiring. The important thing is to not block and focus on speed and attacking. The first soldier swung wide and I darted to the side.

His companion rose his blade up to block but I leapt up and drove my knee into his stomach. He collapsed backwards and I rolled through the attack over his prone form. I then threw one of my blades at the soldier in front of me and rushed forward not waiting for the result. He blocked my thrown blade but I was already in his guard and cut his neck open. A spray of blood shot out and he collapsed trying to hold back what little remained of his life.

The first soldier was helping the second up to his feet. I rushed over to where there brethren lay on the ground, paralyzed. I began to kill off all eleven of them as quickly as I could. The soldiers rushed in but didn’t dare enter the spore cloud and were too well trained to throw their weapons. I then kicked the bulb at them which had crawled on top of one of the soldiers. There was a moment of priceless shock on their faces as purple pus with tiny green orbs shot out of the stinger before it could retract at the base of the bulb. The bulb flew at the two soldiers. One of them stepped forward and sliced the bulb in half mid-air.

Unfortunately for him he succeeded in cutting the bulb in twain. Purple goo went everywhere coating the soldier and to a certain extent his companion. They collapsed screaming as their flesh smoked. I stepped forward and quickly put them out of their misery. I was sure more of them were right on my tail so I quickly got to looting. I grabbed another satchel and began looting all the food and money I could find. One of the soldiers had some fruit looking things, which would be a nice change from meat and bread. I didn’t bother to count the money. I also packed a number of spare swords as well and all the arrows and bow strings they had. I had no idea when I might see civilization again.

With my looting done I ran off before I slowed down. I walked the rest of the day heading deeper into the forest. It was time for some monster hunting and training. I was strong for a player at this stage, but nowhere near the strength needed to take on Lord Breckley and his knights. I could beat a soldier easily. A knight with their armor and skill would be much harder. The biggest problem was the sheer numbers I would have to face. There was also Sir Willos, that guy was over level one hundred, which was insanity. I needed to be hells of a lot stronger to steam roll my way through the city of Breckley and kill the Lord.

Observe had gone up to level two allowing me to know the strongest stat of a target. Not that great. Running had gone up to level two, meh. Light conditioning had gone up to three, giving a one percent bonus to SP. I could get behind that.

I did the math and my percentages came out as the following.

Constitution, 14%

Strength, 2%

Dexterity, 4%

Endurance, 2%

Wisdom, 2%

Intelligence, 3%

Charisma, -2%

Luck, 6%

Fate, 2%

SP, 26%

Reaction Time, 25%

The fact that luck was so high made me cringe. I really hated luck, I made my own fate. Okay bad choice of words, I made my own destiny. Much better, the goddess Tafe handled the fate side of things.

That night I rested and then I pushed on again the following day. I saw some bulbs and slimes, but the monster type had not changed. I also saw a couple of deer but they ran away the moment they saw me. I came upon a large river and began to follow it upstream. I came to a small lake surrounded by hills. This was perfect.

I set up a campsite on a large chunk of rock overlooking the lake. While exposed, I was more worried about monsters than players. I sorted out everything I had taken. I had enough food for twenty days. That gave me ten days in the wilderness for training and then another ten days to go find civilization.

In the mornings I went swimming in the cold water. Next I would gather wood. After that I began to do stretches, sit-ups, squats, and push-ups. Following that I would read for a while and attempt to memorize the chants. None of them worked, since my Wisdom was too low, but I wanted to be prepared in recognizing them and be able to teach them if needed. I would follow that up with archery and then throwing. I would have my dinner and then meditate until I fell asleep.

While it may seem a bit silly, those percentages have a much greater impact the more stats one has. Sure one percentage point isn’t a lot but once I rose my stats up over one hundred they were more valuable than the points themselves to a certain extent.

***

BloodyRainLord: That boss was epic, total smack down on the NPCs

GODHAXLOL: YOU KILLED BULBY

Sliceman23: That is not a big loss, that thing was a menace

6996: Unless he tamed it, that would be awesome to ride into battle

KilluaXXX: Until it decides to eat you

HolyMan: You see his true evil, join me and we shall smite him down

FuriousGhost: I am coming for you, I have just passed Breckley, you can’t hide for long

PedoBear9000: Stalker skill level five

Ramponator: ROFL

UltimataSecret: I want a magic book

Guild_Master: Go kill a priest

RoidBeast1: Those fuckers are worse than the knights, one ripped off my arm and beat me with it

HolyMan: A priest after my own heart

Nooblet: Great Rain of Blood, please stop cutting out the content that we want

RoidBeast1: Yeah, no editing the chants we needz the magics

Ramponator: Noobs

GODHAXLOL: IT’S A TRAINING MONTAGE!