When Adam next opened his eyes it was to see a pure white room with a table and two chairs, Unsure of what to do he sat down and was soon shocked as a cute young woman appeared before him in the chair across the table. She looked much like a porcelain doll to Adam, He skin was so pale and soft looking, Her eyes a bright blue, Her long fine silk like hair was a pale gray and pulled back into a high ponytail. It was then that he was greeted by the young woman who smiled softly and spoke in a sweet voice that could no doubt cause any mans heart to flutter a bit.

"Hello Adam, I am Lilim and i will be your guide for the duration of your account set up, During this process you will create an identification code, a username, Input your bank information if you wish to use any of the in-game features requiring payment, and then you will take a short personality test before you create your new character, Keep in mind that your character will look the same as yourself until you begin spending status points in Charm, Strength, Or Endurance, and upon completion of the Personality test you will be awarded bonus status points in the areas that you will most likely pick a class in, The current groups are Strength Users, Dexterity Users, And Intellect Users. Are you ready to begin?"

Adam shook his head a bit at the sudden speech but nodded softly."Yes Lilim I am ready to begin..."

Lilim smiled again as she waved her hand and caused a small virtual terminal to appear for him to type his information into.

"Please input a 6 digit identification code, This code will be used whenever you access the Information Broker Guild and the Auction House, Please choose something unique to yourself and that no one else will know. "

Adam thought for a moment before inputting his chosen code and pressing next.

"Please enter your username, This will be used when accessing the in-game web browser and be shown when posting on the forums, Information Broker Guild, And Auction House. This is not your Character name which will be chosen in the following steps."

Adam decided to use his usual forum name "CrossgraveX."

"Please input your bank accounts routing number, Be assured that Rebirth Online will not charge you for anything you do not personally authorize."

Adam was starting to get jitters as he rushed through inputting his routing number, Now he really just wanted to play the game and wished he could set this all up later or had been allowed to do so on his laptop before hand.

"Below you will find a standardized Personality test which will be used to narrow you into one of the following three groups for a bonus 15 Status points to be allocated equally in the three most important stats for your group. The groups are Strength Users, Dexterity Users, And Intellect Users."

Adam began to rush through the test as quickly as he could, choosing the first answer that was the closest to what he would do, Most of it was the same crap you could find online to see what your spirit animal was so he didn't have to put much thought into it.

"Thank You, The results of your test are in, You are to be placed in the Strength User's group, As such you will gain +5 to the following stats, Strength, Endurance, Charisma. Now please input your chosen character name, A First and Last name will be required."

Adam shouted out the name he always used for an RPG."Atticus Shadowsong!"

"Welcome to Asgard Atticus Shadowsong, Please choose your race and starting location. "

Before he could think of responding the room around him began to fade and changed to become a massive map which highlighted a single supercontinent and many outlying islands. He then looked around and saw that there was only a handful of starting races, Humans, Dwarves, And Elves.

As he looked over them he noticed that there was a small difference between each of the races, When he held his hand over one of the race icons a clone of himself would appear with the changes of the race, Humans, as expected, remained the same, But Dwarves shrunk down to be four feet tall and to be a bit more wide set, Elves, on the other hand, looked the same as humans only with pointed ears.

Atticus didn't need to think about this, He never was one for playing anything other than a human."I choose to be a Human and my starting Location will be Black Rock Hold."

As he said this the model of himself as a human became highlighted and he felt odd looking at himself, The long, thick brown hair, Dark brown eyes, The bones showing through his skin, The odd sight of a six foot eight inch tall man with little more than one hundred and fifty pounds suddenly changed before his eyes however.

Instead of wearing the same Rebirth Online swim trunks as he was the model was now wearing a black leather kilt with a large iron belt buckle in the shape of a wolf head, A large hunting knife hanging on the right side of the belt and a medium sized black pouch on the left, A pair of black leather boots now covering his feet.

The bones disappeared as the bonus stats from Strength took effect and he now seemed somewhat normal as he now seemed to weigh two hundred pounds and was about more filled in.

As he looked on the model smiled softly at him, As if knowing the pleasure he felt at seeing himself stronger already. But as he turned to look back at Lilim she waved softly.

"Goodbye Adam, Enjoy your new life..." Lilim said in a somewhat sad voice which confused him but before he could speak he was in a small rustic village, He looked around and took in the sight of the old-fashioned log huts, and the well in the center. He then looked down and noticed he was standing, A wide grin was now plastered on his face as he began to jump up and down like a child, laughing almost manically much to the dismay of the other new users and a few of the Villagers.

"I know this is a new experience but isn't that a little overboard?" One man said to his companion, both of them were shorter than Atticus by almost a full foot and a half but they were larger and stronger looking.

"Well get a look at him, This is clearly the most interesting thing he's ever done!" The two laughed which caused others to laugh with them or to just shake their heads as they began looking around the village.

Atticus soon stopped and looked up to the sky with his eyes closed, Taking in the sun and its warmth as he smiled, He had missed this feeling, This freedom. He soon felt a small tug at the hem of his kilt which caused him to look down and see a little girl, no older than ten years old, She looked scared which caused Atticus to smile softly as he knelt down before her."Hello Little one, Is there something I can help you with?"

The little girl sniffled softly and rubbed her eyes with the hand that was now gripping his kilt." P...Please mister...Can you find my daddy?, He went into the woods two days ago and hasn't come back..."

Spoiler :

You Have Received A QuestScared And AloneDifficultyFWarning! Must Be Completed AloneYou have been approached by a young girl who is desperate to find her father, Two days ago he left the village to clear out some of the wolves to prevent the village from being over run. The den is to the northeast of town, To prevent the wolves from detecting you you must go alone.RewardA Common Quality Weapon, 500 EXP.Do you wish to accept?YES/NO

Atticus could hear murmuring amid the crowd behind him who saw this."There she goes again."

One of the men from before laughed."A friend of mine died on that quest before dropping it, His stats went down to zero except for the bonus he got from the test, And he knows how to fight! This twig is just going to fail too."

Atticus could see the sadness in Elena's eyes, She had clearly asked everyone, even the users and what's worse is none of them would help her. So he nodded firmly."Aye Little one, ill go find your father..."

Quest Accepted!

Little Elena looks up at him, wide-eyed and excited like a puppy."R..Really!"

Atticus smiled and nodded again as he stroked the top of her head."Aye, now run along to your mother I'll be back soon.." He watched as she ran back to her mother who could only look gratefully at Atticus while also showing sadness as she thought he would die like the last adventurer.

Atticus decided to look through his pouch and smiled as when he opened it a small window showing twelve slots appeared. Inside were ten bread, ten waterskins, and a small map, When he took out the map it vanished and a window appeared stating he could view the map by simply saying "Map"

Atticus decided to look at his gear.

Spoiler :

Black Leather BootsType:FeetDurability:50/ 50Quality:CommonDefense:5A pair of simple boots made of black leather.

Black Leather KiltType:LegsDurability:100 /100Quality:CommonDefense:10A simple kilt made of black leather to keep your privates private.

Iron Wolf BeltType:WaistDurability:50 / 50Quality:CommonDefense:5A black leather belt with a thick iron belt buckle stylized to be in the shape of a wolfs head.

Hunting KnifeType:DaggerDurability:200 / 200Quality:CommonDamage:5-10A large hunting knife made to cut through even a bears thick hide, can be used to skin dead animals .

Adam nodded and stretched a bit as he closed out all of the windows."Alright, time to begin..." He took long deep breaths, emptying his mind of all but the basic information, that which his character himself would have, He did this every time he went into character, just as he had when he was larping, it helped to enjoy himself more if he did not think of anything other than what was in front of him in a way his character would. And in the case of the large warrior he had become, it would be the traditional Viking, ruthless, crass, and honorable.

With his gear checked and ready, he began to run from the village to the northeast, He grinned widely as he was actually running! In fact, he was running faster than he ever had before without so much as a single jolt of pain from his shins and knees.

As he was running Atticus was surprised that despite running as fast as he could for well over three minutes he had not yet felt out of breath, though he could feel the delicious ache in his muscles telling him they were working hard.

To Atticus, This was simply incredible as in the real world running for thirty seconds used to leave him on the floor winded, But soon he heard the scream of a young woman nearby. He immediately took a hard right towards the southeast.

After a minute of running he saw something that made his blood boil, The two brutish men who were laughing at him earlier had left the village before him and they were currently beating a young female dexterity user, Her cloth top and kilt were torn and they were no longer hiding her voluptuous form as her breasts spilled out of the top.

As the game was rated for 21+ some things were added to the user agreement, The most controversial were that you could have sex in the game and feel the pain and pleasure of it. This was meant to add a depth of realism but was clearly going to be abused.

Atticus drew his hunting knife and began walking silently towards the two who were working their belts to take their kilts off, At the same time a warning popped up.

Warning you are about to enter combat, Would you like to disable pain?

Atticus swiped the window away and pressed no without looking, Which then caused another window to pop up.

Spoiler :

Congratulations! As the first player to willingly leave pain enabled you will receive 30 points to your Elemental Resistance, and Resilience!

Atticus again swiped the window from his sight and was soon close enough to the first man who was about to force his length inside of the woman.

As he got closer his mind went back to his first Warrior lessons with William. It started with a hard smack to the face with a well-designed foam sword that could have passed for real if it hadn't just bounced off of his cheek.

"No boy you need to use the shield don't try to dodge everything! A true warrior stands proud and defiant! He lets his presence be known and wins using overwhelming determination and maximum effort!"

Adam was just about to complain that the blows were too much when another came flying at him, flinching and hiding behind his shield William grinned."That a boy! A shield is your best friend, it will take a knife for you without complaint. Something that another man will rarely ever do... Now I want you to copy what you just watched and attack me!"

Adam nodded as he took a stance, spreading his legs to balance himself as he raised his shield to his midsection and readied the sword with the flat of the blade resting on the top of it. And without further ado he lunged and stabbed at the grizzled old man only to have the blade batted aside and have another whack to the face.

"Good but leave the lunges to those fancy fencers and thieves, A true warrior uses a broad slash filled with all his fury and strength, Try again!"

Growing more annoyed with the old man Adam growled and let his sword arm rear back, swinging hard and fast in a diagonal arc, catching the old man hard across the shoulder, though he took it with little more than a grunt."That's it! Now we're getting somewhere..."

Shaking his head of the memories of his real life Atticus held the hunting knife out and ready“Such mighty warriors, Beating and raping a woman while outnumbering her…”As the man spun around Atticus swung with all his might, the blade slashing across the man's throat causing a massive spray of raw arterial blood to coat his chest and face.

Spoiler :

Mortal blow! 150 damage has been dealt with WingKing.

You have killed another player!, You have gained 50 infamy. Infamy will make guards on edge around you and give you a more sinister appearance.

You have committed the first murder of Rebirth Online! As a reward, you have gained a permanent increase of 100 Infamy, As well as a permanent ten point increase to your Strength, Endurance, And Charisma. In addition to the title Father of Murder

You have earned the unique skill Bloodlust!

Level Up! You have earned 5 spendable skill points! You are now Level 2!

As Atticus swiped his hand and closed the windows he grew annoyed that they kept popping up, breaking his immersion until he saw a small window on his hud in the corner asking if he would like to shut off notifications.

He happily hit accept and closed the last screen to reveal the other man had stood up and turned around, having drawn his own knife. As the man lunged at Atticus from an overextended position he smiled.

Atticus batted the blade aside and stepped in, his body pressing hard against the other man's and knocking him to the dirt, Atticus stepped on his wrist to keep him from wielding the knife and attacking more, dropping down and slamming his knee into the man's chest as he took his own knife and plunged it slowly into his opponents chest as he looked him in the eyes.

The look of pure terror in the man's eyes as he saw Atticus' cruel and joy filled eyes only made it more satisfying as the blade finally reached the heart, killing him slowly.

Spoiler :

Mortal blow! 150 damage has been dealt with DeezNutz.

You have killed another player!, You have gained 50 infamy.

Atticus then looted the two bodies and gained two more pouches which he equipped instantly, In addition to two more hunting knives, kilts, belts though these had only a simple iron buckle, twenty bread, and twenty waterskins.

He tossed one of the belts and one of the kilts to the woman and began walking away.”Here, use this as a top and go back to town, You should be more aware of your surroundings...”

And without saying anything else he went to turn around only for her to grab his wrist tightly."W..What's your name? Mine is Sasha Cinderbloom"

He stopped as she grabbed him, swallowing a bit as he tried not to ogle her body as he looked back and down at her."My name is Atticus Shadowsgrove."As he said this he got a message.

Sasha Cinderbloom would like to add you as a friend. Would you like to accept Yes/No?

"Will you let me add you as a friend? I would like to repay you for this sometime..." She smiled softly as she covered herself now with the kilt.

Atticus nodded."Alright, I don't mind, But for now, you should go back to town and rest up, I have a job to do."

Hearing this Sasha gave a small pout that made Atticus swallow and feel no small amount of swelling in his groin."Alright then maybe we can talk later?"

Atticus nodded and smiled a bit happily."Sure thing..." He then took off running again towards the Northeast. As he ran he decided to look over his skills for a moment to see what they did.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:BloodlustBeginner150%Through the act of murdering another human in cold blood (As decided by the other player not attacking you first) you have become able to direct your bloodlust at all enemies around you, Inflicting them with fear if they of a lower level. Higher level enemies may be affected should you deal a steady stream of damage while taking none yourself or you have more infamy than they have levels. The ratio is 100 infamy to 1 enemy level, In addition, you can feel when hostility is directed towards yourself and from who it originated.You can now detect all beings with hostile intentions within 20 yards.

After another few minutes, Atticus slowed his run to a walk and he began eating a piece of bread and drinking some ice cold water as he walked, having to regain his wellness and stamina. It was while he was taking a break from running that he noticed a clearing. In the middle of it was a man who seemed to be in his early thirties and was wielding a pair of hand axes while fighting off a pack of five wolves. As he saw this he got an alert.

Atticus sighed and drew his hunting knife and began to charge the wolves. When he got close he let out a roar and smiled as he noticed three of the five wolves flinching, He then tackled one of the fear affected wolves and rammed the blade into the wolf's throat, splitting it wide open.

Atticus then spun around as his Bloodlust pulled his attention behind him to where one of the wolves he had not affected with fear was pouncing on him, He raised his blade and stabbed the wolf in the heart as it fell upon him.

He heaved the beast off of him and charged once more to the wolves and came up to the ones who were still affected by fear and slammed one's head into a sharp rock, shattering the skull as he brought his blade down one into the other wolf's skull.

Atticus pulled his blade from the wolves skulls and stood up to be greeted with the sight of the older man panting hard and covered in blood but standing over the last wolf. “Are you Elena's father?”

The man nodded as he collapsed on the ground.”A...Aye that be me, Lucian Frost… How do you now little Ellen?”

Atticus crouched down and held out one of his water skins and a loaf of bread which the man eagerly took and began eating greedily.”Elena asked me to come find you when I was in town, apparently all the rest were afraid of the wolves.”

As Atticus looked around at the wolves he decided that while Lucian rested he would begin skinning them, having learned from his grandfather when he was younger. Upon making the initial cuts and beginning the processes he noticed a small icon in the corner of his eye, he figured it may be important and opened it.

Spoiler :

Your previous knowledge has been converted into a skill!

You have gained the work skill of Skinning!

Atticus closed the windows as Lucian caught his breath.”Many other men in the village and YOU were the one who decided to brave the forest?” His surprise was clear as he thought Atticus would have been scared of the woods without a bow and arrow, But instead, he wields a hunting knife like a seasoned raider would a sword and does not flinch at the sight of blood, He even knows how to dress the kill which was another surprise since most of the young now would rather drag their kill to the butcher in town.

Atticus laughed.”Would you rather I let you get eaten by wolves while I bulked up a bit? My name is Atticus by the way, Atticus Shadowsgrove.” As he began cutting the meat from the bone he gained another skill

Spoiler :

Your previous knowledge has been converted into a skill!

You have gained the work skill of Butcher!

Lucian laughed and shook his head.”No lad I am most thankful for your timely rescue, another minute and the valkyries would have come and taken me to Valhalla to join the Einherjar…”

Atticus nodded as he began dressing the other wolves, soon having four full black wolf pelts, One intact wolf skull, Four sets of paws and four sets of fangs, figuring he could use them for gear later. He had also managed to gain a few dozen thick slices of wolf meat that he would cook soon. “We should return to the village for the night Lucian, your wife and daughter need you more than I do, I'll escort you home and return to deal with the den of wolves...”

Atticus stood up and pulled the man to his feet and began taking him towards the village, taking his time as he noticed Lucian had an injury to his right leg, likely a sprain which is why he was unable to return. not to mention the many new wounds from the attack.

Lucian panted and grunted all the way to the village, in serious pain but he would live.

“Thank you Atticus, It may not mean much but you saved not only my life but that of my families...”

Atticus nodded as he knew if he had died then his wife would have been forced to find another to provide for her, And women who are not virgins when wed were never treated well by their second husbands, let alone their children from the first husband.

“Don't thank me, Lucian, Thank your daughter, She spent no telling how many hours begging everyone who would listen to save her father, no matter how many denied her request she continued to beg..”

The two fell into silence as they finished the walk to the village shortly before the sun had fully set. He then let go of Lucian and let him hobble before they left the tree line to help protect his dignity, As soon as they entered the village and arrived at his home the door flew open and a crying Elena leapt at her father, holding him with more strength than one would expect a ten-year-old to have.

Atticus smiled softly at the sight and soon Lucian went inside and grabbed a box before bringing it back out to Atticus.”It may not be much but this is my favorite ax may it serve you well..”

Spoiler :

Quest completed!

You have gained a Steel Battleaxe

Lucian then smiled as he looked at Atticus."And if you are successful in clearing the wolf den I am sure the Jarl of the village will reward you greatly.."

Spoiler :

You Have Received A QuestFurry ThreatDifficultyBWarning! Must Be Completed AloneYou have been asked by Lucian, a seasoned hunter to finish what he started and clear out the wolf den to the northeast of town, To prevent the wolves from detecting you you must go alone.RewardA Rare Quality Weapon, 5000 EXP, And a Hidden Combat Class Book.Do you wish to accept?YES/NO

Atticus took the box and nodded as he did.”I will most certainly keep my word and clear the den, Now go and rest, I have work to do…”Atticus then spun on his heels and began walking to the inn only to stop and look back to Lucian."Actually, do you have some coin I can borrow until the morning? I want to sell some of the meat I got from the wolves but the store is closed.."

Lucian laughed a bit and took a gold coin that was stamped with a large leafless tree on one side and a crow on the other and threw it to him."Just keep it, my friend, it's hardly a problem..."

Atticus caught it and was shocked as he saw it was gold and had expected coppers."Thank you, Lucian, Hey does you, think it will be fine to wait to clear the den for a few days? I would like to craft some armor before I go to the den."

Lucian grinned as if knowing a secret and nodded."Aye it will be fine for a few days just don't wait too long, I cleared up to the den before I had to run, having been attacked by ten of the beasts at once so if you take more than five days then they will be over running the forest again."

Atticus nodded and took off running to the Inn, Once there he was greeted by the sights one would expect of an Inn, People tired from work but with still enough energy to laugh and play games as they ate and drank, It was on his way to the bar to speak to the Innkeeper that he was tackled from behind, He had to take a step forward to catch himself as he looked back to see a familiar face, Sasha Cinderbloom.

Though he didn't have time to take in her face before as he was in a hurry he took a moment to appreciate the almost heavenly pure face framed with bright red hair, pale skin like a dolls that had many small freckles that only added to her beauty, Her eyes were a deep almost emerald green.

"I was wondering when I would find you!" The young woman was clearly already drunk, no doubt having made some money on her way back into town through some means

Atticus smiled a bit as he turned around to face her properly, noticing she had a new leather top rather than the kilt he had given her which she was now wearing instead of the cloth one she had before."Sorry, I didn't recognize you with proper clothes on.."

As he said this she blushed fiercely and punched him roughly in the stomach."You're such a perv!"

Atticus coughed for a second and had to take in some air, Seeing this Sasha was confused."What are you doing that for, it's not like you can feel it."

Atticus stood up straight and rubbed his stomach lightly."Bullshit I felt it fine enough, What did you turn pain off?"

As he said this Sasha's eyes widened a bit."Yes, I turned pain off! What are you a masochist or something?"

Atticus laughed and sat down at a nearby table."No, I'm not I just want to feel everything this world has to offer, Besides if you don't have pain how will you know you have been hurt? What if someone were to stab you in the back? You could be hurt and not even notice if you switch off the messages."

Sasha still had some surprise in her face."But if you die in the game you can black out for hours from the pain in the real world!"

Atticus smiled bitterly."That just means it will be that many hours less I would have to spend without being able to walk.."

Seeing her confusion he began to explain to her about his fragile bones and how he had been paralyzed three years ago, She looked sad for a moment."Atticus I'm so.."

But before she could finish he held up a hand and shook his head."I don't want your apologies, I took no harm from it, I just plan on spending as much time as possible inside of the game."He smiled happily as he leaned back into his chair."So how was your day since I saved you?"

Happy for the change of topic Sasha smiled happily."I got to level 3 as I spent the day hunting rabbits, I got back to the village a few hours before sundown so I sold the meat to the general store, he's in need of meat so he is paying one gold per piece for rabbit meat, two for wolf meat, and four for bear meat. After that, I went to the leatherworker and bought new top and gloves, And a pair of larger daggers from the blacksmith, What about you?"

Atticus shrugged."I fought a few wolves to save the little girls father and he gave me a whole gold coin and a steel battleax."He thought that was a good haul until he saw Sasha laughing."What?"

She grinned as she looked at him."You know that there is only gold coins in this game right? no copper or silver, just gold.."

Atticus deflated a bit."That cheap bastard..." This sent Sasha into another laugh, They then spent the next few hours talking about random things like how combat worked, the stats, and even began talking about the real world. Come to find out Sasha knew the two girls he had been friends with and was in a few of their classes in college, Through her he learned that the older sister Lily had taken art as her major while the younger sister Alice took graphic design with Sasha herself being a graphic design major as well.

It was not long before she found out his name was Adam as she told him that the two talked about him often and mentioned they couldn't wait to see him as they had only talked to each other through Teamspeak when playing games together. She also told him that they were also in the game though they chose to be elves which made him laugh a bit as they always played elves, even when they were LARPing.

After awhile of talking and drinking Sasha passed out which made Atticus shake his head, He picked her up and carried her to the bar where he paid for a room and asked which room Sasha rented. He then took her to her room and laid her on the bed and covered her up, locking her door and sliding the key back inside of it before he went next door to his own room.

He checked his inventory and saw he had 40 wolf meat, 4 full wolf pelts, 1 leather belts, 1 leather kilt, 2 hunting knives, 1 steel battleax, 23 bread, 23 waterskins. He checked his new battle ax as he went to light the fire in the hearth.

Spoiler :

Steel BattleaxeDamage30-45Durability:150 /150Quality:CommonAttack:30-45A well built and reliable steel axe, it is made with a steel head and a polished oak handle, It is strong enough that it could easily be used to cut down trees and enemies alike..

Atticus smiled a bit and happily replacing his hunting knife in favor of the new weapon due to the higher damage and utility, though the blade would keep a place on his belt to let him keep skinning beasts. He began cooking ten pieces of wolf meat, hanging some to be dried by the fire while the rest was cooked on the small grate in the hearth. keeping 30 pieces to sell in the morning.

Spoiler :

Your previous knowledge has been converted into a skill!

You have gained the work skill Cooking!

He then decided to spend his status points before he proceeded to pack everything into his bags and fall asleep for the night. Planning on getting some armor made with his new wolf leather.

Atticus woke up after a few hours and yawned, going down to the village center where the well was and got a bucket of cold water, he stripped his boots and kilt off and left himself bare in the village center, smiling a bit as he saw the looks from the other users, able to identify them by the looks of shock and horror on their faces as they saw him bathing in public, the NPCs took it as the usual start to the morning though his was a bit of a later start as it was now eight o'clock in the morning.

Atticus kept scrubbing his body using a scrap of rough leather, taking a bit of joy out of the fact that his body now looked much like he had always wanted, weighing close to two hundred and fifty pounds, he had the beginnings of a six pack and every muscle on his body had clear defined lines.

He then realized he had not shaved in almost two years, which had hidden his face for the most part. He took out his hunting knife and began slowly shaving his face, taking his time as the knife was many times the size of the straight razor he used in the real world. after a few tense minutes, his face was clean shaven and his groin was trimmed down, He was not an ugly man but he was not a pretty boy either, he had a modest face with a rugged jawline which now suited his body.

He then rinsed his body off one last time before he pulled his long dark brown hair back into a low ponytail, tying it with a small piece of the leather and then cut off the majority of it, leaving only six inches past where he had tied it, he then pulled his kilt and boots back on, swept up the majority of his hair and went to the forest line where he would dispose of it before he went to the general store.

As he turned around he came face to face with Sasha who was blushing deeply. He grinned a bit."Good morning, Sasha, You should have let me know you were there."

Sasha punched him again though more playfully now."What the hell was that! bathing in public what are you an exhibitionist?"

He laughed a bit."That's how things were done back in the day when this game was based, I bet if you got up early the square would be filled with naked men, the women would wait until the men were out working before bathing themselves."

She shook her head in disbelief as she followed him as he disposed of the hair."I must say the girls never told me you looked like this..."

Atticus sighed."It's just the Strength and Endurance, in the real world I'm only 150 pounds and look like a twig." He began walking to the general store, Once there he sold the 30 wolf meat he had not cooked the night before, and two of his hunting knives and the leather kilt, This earned him 60 gold for the wolf meat, 4 gold for the kilt and another 6 gold for the hunting knives as the store owner had indeed been running low on meats as Sasha said which earned him 70 gold all said and done.

Sasha sighed and muttered under her breath."I meant your face not your body..."

As he had some money he decided to look into some crafting supplies. He looked around and found a small kit for the Leatherworking Work Skill, It included the skill book and all the necessary tools to make leather items at the cost of 30 gold and he could buy a small bag of ten buckles for 2 gold, and a ball of thick black string for another 2 gold, and six pounds of wax for hardening the leather for 4 gold, and a small bag of steel rivets for 2 gold. So he decided to buy all of this in order to begin crafting something to help hold his ax leaving him with 30 gold after he bought the supplies.

Once he was done at the store he paid the innkeeper 10 gold up front to pay for the next ten nights in advance, With this

done Atticus returned to his room with Sasha in tow and activated the Leatherworking skill book.

Spoiler :

You have learned the Work Skill Leatherworking!

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:LeatherworkingBeginner10%You have studied the art of Leatherworking and can now craft leather items such as armor, clothes, and even bags.Using higher quality materials will increase the amount of EXP earned but will yield lower quality products.

With this done Atticus took out his leatherworking tools and the cleaned wolf pelts and set up the small frame that came with the kit and strung up his first pelt and began shaving the fur from it to leave the bare leather, He took his time and followed the movements that the skill had directed him, As he was afraid of damaging the leather he took his time which leads to him spending the entire day preparing three of the pelts, leaving the fourth alone as he planned to use it as a cloak.

After a few hours, he told Sasha to go out and hunt and level up, and to bring him any animals she got and he would skin and butcher them for her in return for the leathers and furs and make her some armor with what she brought him

Atticus then began making a pair of pauldrons out of the leather, he remembered a pair he made for when he was larping and smiled a bit and decided to make another pair just like them, before having had pre-treated leather he only had to shape and harden this was much harder.

It was a simple affair really, the leather formed tightly to his body and was truly only there to help stop a slashing or piercing attack, with some wool on the inside he could have it better able to defend him from a blunt attack by absorbing the blow but for now, this would be enough. He then began working on an array of leather rectangles which when hardened would become as hard enough to stop an ax for a time.

The rectangles were made to become plates which would wrap around his arm, elbow, and down his forearm. But there was a trick to them, he made them so that when he was not in combat then he could slide the segments up and into the pauldrons to keep them from unnecessary wear and tear. He then began to knock holes into the leather pieces where he would later band the rivets into to hold them all together.

After a day he had all of the parts cut and ready to be hardened,But he decided to turn in for the night and finish up in the morning. When he woke up he set the pot that came with his kit over the fire and set the wax inside of it to let it begin melting, then took a few minutes and ate some of his smoked wolf meat and bread to make a small sandwich and drank some water, He had some time before the wax was ready so he went and took a bath early, still no other users were bathing in town, all of them running out into the woods and bathing in the river.

But he didn't mind bathing in town as he no longer had a body to be embarrassed about. When he was done he went back to his room and sent Sasha a message to see how she was doing out in the woods, having sent her to kill wolves near the den to keep them back awhile longer. He smiled as she said that she had killed three so far and was on her way back now with them in tow, having found that when they die animals become much lighter.

He noticed the wax was all melted he moved over to the pot and began the process of hardening the leather by basically boiling it inside of the wax when this is done wax floods the pores of the leather and serves to solidify it. When he noticed the bubbles slowly coming to a stop he would take each piece out, as if all of the pores were filled the leather could become brittle.

After another hour he had all of the pieces hardened and began putting them together using soft leather strips and the rivets, When he was finally done he had a set of two pauldrons with extended leather plate segments, it had cross straps that went across his back and chest, In the center of the back straps he made a small leather tube that was as long as the belts were wide and made it wide enough to fit the haft of his axe.

He also had hardened the full wolf pelt though to a lesser extent to leave it mostly flexible and sewn straps into it to let him attach it to the pauldrons to protect his back, to hide the straps the paws he had left attached to the pelt draped over his shoulders almost like he was carrying the wolf on his back, With the spare leather he made a pair of hardened leather gauntlets which had a cuff just wide enough for the end of his segmented sleeves to slide into before he tightened it down to keep it in place.

Sasha had walked into the room at the end of the process and was amazed by what he had made, He gave her one of his wolf meat sandwiches and took a break from leatherworking and skinned and butchered her wolves and three small rabbits she caught on the way back, He spent two hours skinning and cleaning the bodies of the animals before he handed her the meat to sell while he went out in the woods to bury the animal's bones, keeping the fangs and claws from the wolves.

When he came back he went into his room and began working on his armor again,As he walked into the room he went to the armor and grabbed a different piece of rough leather than what he bathed with and began scrubbing the armor pieces to get the excess wax off of the armor which made them shine and gave the cloak the appearance of being plain fur, after that he went to the leatherworking kit and found a set of small iron letters which when heated were used to brand one's signature into the armor pieces. He put the letters A.S. into the holder and put it into the fire to heat up before branding the pieces. When each piece was branded he decided to inspect the items.

Spoiler :

Black Wolf Leather Pauldrons.Type:ShouldersDurability:150/150Quality:UncommonResiliance:20A unique design first used by the novice craftsman Atticus Shadowsgrove, incorporating full arm, wrist and shoulder protection in a form fitted, lightweight array while offering the added ability to sheath a weapon and attach a cloak without the need for a clasp, Also has room for six pouches.+ 5 Endurance.When the sleeves are pulled down gain +5 Strength and Resiliance.

You have created a unique armor design, You have gained 50 fame. You can sell the design to smiths and leatherworkers for a high price due to the originality.

Atticus closed the message as he planned on keeping the design to himself until he found a smith or leatherworker with enough money to pay him more than a few gold coins like the smith and leatherworker in this small village would be able to afford, he then checked on the cloak and gloves

Spoiler :

Black Wolf Leather Gloves.Type:GlovesDurability:50/50Quality:CommonResiliance:5A simple pair of gloves made by the novice craftsman Atticus Shadowsgrove

Black Wolf Fur Cloak.Type:ShouldersDurability:30/30Quality:CommonResiliance:15A simple wolf fur cloak made by the novice craftsman Atticus Shadowsgrove+2% to Frost resistance.Conceals weapons worn on your back.

Atticus was pleased with himself as he pulled the armor on and tightened it all, he moved his arms around with the segments fully extended to get used to the feeling, he then put the cloak on and slid his ax into the small sheath on his back under the cloak. When Sasha came back from the general store with her gold coins she was amazed to see what Atticus' finished armor looked like and asked him for a matching set.

Atticus agreed but he would work on it in the morning, They then went down into the tavern and began drinking and having fun with the townsfolk, both of them having a good time as the smith and leatherworker all but begged Atticus to sell them the design for his armor when he showed it was more than just a pair of pauldrons but refused as he claimed it was a family secret.

After a while, they turned in for the night and in the morning he set to cleaning up the fur for Sasha's armor as she went out hunting again. She told him she had reached level 4 yesterday and he felt a little depressed that he couldn't level up himself but he was more than fine with boosting his leatherworking skill.

It was late in the afternoon when Sasha got back and she was carrying four wolves today. Having just finished cleaning the pelts from the day before he began skinning and butchering again. He told her not to hunt tomorrow as he needed to measure her for her armor and for her to go to the leatherworker and buy a color dye she wanted her armor to be as he didn't know if she wanted the same dark black armor as himself.

He sent her off to sell the meat as he went to clean these pelts, leaving one of them with the fur on to make a cloak but the other three were cut into the same leather as the rest.

Tonight he didn't go drinking and passed out early, When he woke up it was the fourth day and he had today to finish Sasha's armor and he had to be on his way to the den that night to let him spend all of the fifth day fighting in the den. He took a bath and banged on Sasha's door until she got out of bed and stumbled to the door, wearing a lightweight robe she bought to sleep in. Without waiting for her to greet him he grabbed her arm and dragged her to his room and began measuring her body before he simply pushed her into his own bed where she could sleep for awhile.

He worked hard all morning to get her armor done, the process was speeded up quite a bit as his Leatherworking skill put his body on autopilot since it was all designs he had already made. Soon after lunch, her armor was finished and he handed it to her, it was the exact same as his own but smaller, and dyed a light brown and instead of Strength she gained Dexterity, She hugged him happily and gave him 30 gold coins as a small thank you. She then ran off to hunt while she could though she went to the south today as she knew she could not be with him when he entered the den and if he went in there would be no prey for herself.

As he had a good bit of leather left he decided to make himself a tent, having only used two regular pieces and the fur piece for her armor due to how small she was compared to him, It was very easy to make the tent as he did not have to harden it or shape it too much. He would be able to fashion poles out of wood while out in the field so it was small and light.

Spoiler :

Black Leather Tent.Type:ShelterDurability:300/300Quality:CommonA simple leather tent made by the novice craftsman Atticus ShadowsgroveWhen inside of the tent gain +100% Resistance to Frost, Wind, And Water.When you die you may respawn in the tent rather than the village if it is still intact.

Atticus packed up his tools and left them hidden inside of the room before he went downstairs, paying in advance for five days before he began running to the den.