The goblins were apparently last reported in the west of the village, so Andius left out the western gate and started traveling. It was still fairly early in the day by the time he found himself in the open country road, and the light scents of nature once again came rushing back to him. This alone made the game worth playing, and he knew that he would probably be happy even if he had chosen to play a non-combat class. The game was beautiful in so many ways, the sights, the smells, the sounds. They all combined to create an experience that felt so much more real than the stink and gloom of city life he had grown accustomed to.

Here the world was alive and vibrant with life, and his enhanced senses could pick up the subtle birdsong that gave life to the mid-morning air. He also heard the sound of a wagon rolling nearby, and looking down the street confirmed his suspicions. It was actually two wagons, one looking like it was for transport, and the other looked like cargo, four armed mercenaries on either side of the small convoy as it bumped down the trail towards him. Andius kept on walking as he watched the group, but when they drew close the atmosphere took a tense turn.

“Halt!” one of the armed men shouted, “What are your intentions traveler?” His hand rested on the hilt of his blade, ready to draw on Andius at the first sign of danger. This of course immediately put Andius on guard and he stopped in his tracks, blinking at the guard for a few seconds and saying nothing. A few inches of the blade were made naked as the man approached Andius, suspicion in his eyes, “I said, why do you block our path!?”

Andius finally understood what the man was saying, and stepped off the road with a small smile, lowering his hood and saying, “Oh, sorry about that. I’m not from around here and I’m not used to your customs yet.” His years of customer service coming in handy once again as he spoke in a calm, almost cheerful tone. “I’m looking for a group of goblins that’ve been spotted around this area, have you seen any?” Lifting the job listing from the village to show to the man.

“Actually, yes. They lurked around the edges of the forest a few miles back. It looked like they were going to attack, but thought better of it. Goblins only attack groups if they have more than double their numbers.” The man explained, his blade returning to it’s sheath without any delay. “But I’d not recommend going after them alone, the little buggers are known to be brutal.”

Andius nodded a few times and smiled. He wasn’t worried about a couple of Goblins, in all the games he played, Goblins were some of the lowest level enemies that even a fresh level one player could take out without breaking a sweat! “Thank you for the words of advice, but I think I’ll be able to handle myself. I have some experience in dealing with Goblins after all!” A genuinely bright smile given to the man, which made him chuckle.

The armored mercenary patted Andius on the shoulder, a bit too hard in his opinion, and said, “Well, should you really clear them all out yourself and live to tell the tale, be sure to come find me in the tavern and tell me all about it! We could use some new drinking stories around this place!” This got hearty laughs from the rest of the guards, and the wagons got moving again, leaving Andius alone on the road with his thoughts.

The man had said they were lurking on the edge of the forest a few miles down the road. If that was the case, Andius would want to be in the treeline before then, so the little creatures didn’t spot him before he spotted them. He moved off to the side of the road far enough that he could still make out the road to not be lost, but he would be hard to spot among the greenery and plant-life. He thought about his time in Astrala as he traveled, remarking on the fact that he had successfully taken down fantasy monsters that a normal man was trembling in fear from. To be fair, he did get a sneak attack off on the first one, but still!

He thought about all of the different skills he had gained, and how he could use them, what kind of crazy combinations could he come up with? He noticed that he pace in the woods had slowed considerably, and thought about what he could do to increase the pace without sounding like a bull was running through the undergrowth.

Looking up, he noted that most of the branches in this neck of the woods were quite large and weren’t spaced very far apart from one another. “I bet if I could get all the way up there, I could run across the branches…” Sure it wouldn’t increase his pace all that much, but maybe it would gain him a couple of skill levels? Not like he had much else to keep him occupied as he traveled.

He walked over to one of the trees that seemed the easiest to climb and put his hands around it. For some reason now he knew the exact places to put his hands and feet to climb the tree effectively, and with a small jump, he found himself making startling progress up the rough bark. Within moments he found himself at the branch he was aiming for, hardly a sweat broken! “Wow, those extra skill gains really did the trick!” He shouted with a happy grin, before looking for the next branch in his path. It was a decent distance away, and he would have to jump to make it to it.

With a slow running start Andius leapt to the next branch, missing by just a hair but catching onto it with his hand and pulling himself up. From there he walked over to another branch, working to keep his balance as he crossed the thin natural walkways that the world itself was presenting to him. This wasn’t exactly faster than his normal walking pace, but it was certainly more fun, and the notification he got a moment later made it seem even more worth it!

——————

Acrobatics Level: 3

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Andius almost cheered out loud until he realized he was probably growing close to his quarry. With slow and steady movements, he climbed up higher into the treeline until his head poked out of the top of the canopy, looking around the area he found himself in and trying to familiarize himself with the lay of the land. He had veered a bit more north of the road thanks to him following the natural pathways the trees had given him, but he wasn’t too far off course. A bit northwest of his location he spotted what looked like old ruins of some kind, and to the east he saw the town he had just come from, which actually looked a fair bit more impressive now that he had a better vantage.

What really caught his eye was the massive city off in the distance, one that he had seen in the trailer for the game back when it was first announced. That had to be the human capital of Acair. He knew for a fact he wanted to go there one day and see what it had to offer. It was probably the best place for high level crafted gear, skill trainers and the best quests!

Andius shook his head a few times to get it out of the clouds… figuratively, he wasn’t that high up. Scanning around a bit more, but it seemed that if the goblin encampment was here, it was pretty well hidden. He thought for a moment about what he could do while he searched, and his eyes wandered back over to those ruins. They weren’t too far out of his way, and for all he knew, the goblins could be set up there for the shelter it provided.

Not seeing any other options, Andius scrambled back down to the natural pathways he had been using and started to head towards the ruins, enjoying the freedom that such travel gave him. He slipped and nearly lost balance a few times on his journey, but his high dexterity saved him from ever taking a painful fall. Aside from that, the journey was uneventful, and he let himself get into this sense of calm as he moved from branch to branch; the world was beautiful and every step he took seemed to immerse him into it more and more. He didn’t want to leave this world now that he had seen it, he knew it was just a video game, but the precious little of the game world he had seen had already enthralled him.

Within another few minutes he arrived near the ruins. They weren’t much, just what looked to be the remains of a small building, perhaps a temple of some kind, and inside of it was a large pool of shimmering water that didn’t look natural. Andius was about to call this whole journey a bust when he noticed something near the building hiding amongst the shrubbery. A large black form that rose and fell with it’s breaths, lean muscles moving subtly under the dark and sleek fur, it was a massive black panther!

A greedy grin spread across Andius’ face, he may not have found the goblins, but he was certain that this thing’s fur would sell for a hefty price to any leather workers. Besides, it was just an animal, he had killed those wolves easily enough, so taking down just one beast shouldn’t be an issue for him, right? “Hello little payday, ready to pay my rent?” He whispered in a barely audible tone, creeping forward in the trees as stealthily as he could.

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Stealth Level: 4

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Andius almost laughed, it seemed the game agreed with him on this decision. Time to hunt a panther!