Chapter 9: A Man’s Unlikely Mount

Traveler Richard’s POV:

It’s only been two real life days since Medieval Monstrosities Online has been released but it’s already topping all the charts. In just over a week of game time people have experienced countless thrills that in some areas even surpass that of their real life counterparts.

Imagine eating a meal when your sense of taste and smell is ten times greater, enhancing perception can do that. How many people have ever dreamed of an entire day of just sex, now with higher endurance it’s possible. Everything just seems so more vivid in game.

The only thing to complain about is how hard it is to get good classes. A person only gains levels when doing something related to one of their classes which means no running messages back and forth to earn exp., there is no giant exp. Bonus when you finish a quest, quests aren’t even officially recognized by the system most times.

Apparently just training and practicing can also raise melee classes but at a lesser degree than combat will. The other complaint about classes is rarity. To start leveling a person needs a class so that means a person usually has to choose one of the very first options. Almost everyone ended up with a common first class which pisses people off since the higher level you are the more important a good class is. So far no one has figured out how to unlearn a class yet so if you choose it your stuck with it.

I ended up choosing the warrior class just so I could start leveling like a lot of others, almost 50% of the player base has the warrior class because it’s the easiest to get. You just have to kill 5 things with a weapon. Simple, almost too simple. Still I could hopefully upgrade it to an advanced class at level 10, if I could meet one of the hidden rank up requirements.

So far, I have been trying to find a way to get out of the city. It is jam packed with all the other players. Most of them have been out hunting but still the city was crowded with countless bodies. The locals were all giving us the stinky eye and I can’t say I blame them. More than one traveler lost a hand for attempted thievery. Ouch, I shudder just thinking about it. While there are pain limiters their set at around 50% which I’ve heard doesn’t feel much better when you’re dying. Thieves can’t even get their hand back without dying or having a high level healing spell cast on them.

I spotted a small merchants caravan and decided to try my luck there, I had asked other caravans and people but I was too low leveled and had nothing to pay them to take me along as baggage. This one seemed a little more beaten up and weathered than most with only three wagons each pulled by a team of dark brown horses.

“Well what are you doing here boy?” I bristled at the word boy but let it slide. The man talking to me seemed like some kind of grizzled soldier, or guard more likely.

“I’m looking to join your convoy and head out of the city with you.” The man chuckled and said something to the other guard who laughed. Then he thought about a minute and said.

“As the head of the guard I can let you join if you can do two things. First, you’d need to be the cook for the entire caravan, it doesn’t matter if you have the cook class as long as you have the cook skill. Our cook Joe took ill and won’t be joining us this time. Secondly you have to be able to keep up so you need a mount if you want to come.” Well that derailed that hope I’d seen the prices of horses in town and there was no way I could afford one. All I had was a single silver and a few coppers.

“Is there anywhere I could find a mount to tame? I’m a little short on cash.” The two looked at each other and shrugged. The older guard who was apparently in charge turned to me again.

“It is rare for someone to want to tame a mount but if that’s your choice I won’t stop you. There are three places you might find a tamable mount: Desolate Cliffs, Poisonous Swamp, and the Foggy Valley. The desolate cliffs it ten miles to the North of town, if you’re at least level 10 and can survive the climb you can acquire a mount from there. Poisonous Swamp is about three days trek to the Southeast. There you can find many tamable beasts from levels 5 to 25 but beware the poisonous miasma that coats the region. The last is the location of a more unconventional mount two days walk through the forest to the Northwest will take you to a small valley nestled between two mountains there you will find level 4 to 10 creatures that can be used as a mount. We will be leaving the city in a week’s time so if you wish to go with us be back here before dawn on the seventh day.” With that he walked back into one of the wagons and the other guard followed him.

So, it sounded like the best mounts would come from either the Desolate Cliffs or this Poisonous Swamp. Unfortunately, for me though I’m only level 4 and I don’t relish the thought of my chances of scaling a cliff while I’m attracted by wild animals or my odds of coming out alive if I venture into an area where the very air is toxic. Guess I better try my chances at this Foggy Valley. I wonder how unusual this mount could be?

After two long exhausting days of wandering through the woods while trying to go Northeast I finally found the valley and what do I see donkeys. Sure, these were big long haired horse sized donkeys but they were definitely donkeys. Now I get why he said they were unconventional mounts and the other guards faced changed when he heard him recommend this place. He was laughing at me going off to catch a donkey. How many people besides a poor farmer would be caught dead riding a donkey? Even then most farmers have work horses or mules not donkeys.

I went through hell to catch a donkey. I almost died on three separate occasions. First was the killer squirrel incident, how can a squirrel be so much stronger than me. Level 8 squirrels are not to be messed with. That is one perk of being a traveler, all travelers get a lesser form of observe which can show a creature’s name, class, and levels. Unlike with observe it doesn’t improve with practice though and will never offer up any extra information though. Still it kept me from walking straight into that killer fern. How is a plant level 15? God, it seems like everything is out to get me. The level 6 bear cub was the only threat I managed to beat and even than I was left running from the enraged mama bear only my higher agility saving me.

Still with all my crazy adventures I did learn three skills. After avoiding the fern, I gained the Wilderness Survival skill and have leveled it up to beginner level 2. Then last night when I was starting a fire with a piece of flint I learned the Fire Starter skill and the cooking skill. Apparently, my meager real life cooking skills was enough to elevate me to beginner level 3. No if only I’d had some meat to cook instead of just making a soup of roots and berries, it tasted about as good as it looked terrible. The soup did give me a level in Poison Resistance so maybe if I ever come back here I can head into the swamp. I decided to think that the berries had been poisonous in the end and it wasn’t a result of my bad cooking. Now that I think about it there had been a rotten smell hanging around the plant.

Now it is donkey catching time because as much as I don’t want to do this it’s probably my only chance to join a caravan. If I pass this up I’ll be stuck here like everyone else. Still though, why did it have to be donkeys?