With his sister gone, Ethan was all alone. He returned to the message board and began collecting the quests.

Quest - Well Armored. 

Quest - Have You Seen My Kitty?

Quest - Something is Amiss…

Quest - Flowers, Skins and Rocks. 

He knew from experience what he needed to do for all the current quests. “Well Armored” was the companion to the weapon quest he’d taken. With his suddenly gained wealth he could knock those out immediately for a quick XP gain. But “Flowers, Skins and Rocks” would introduce him to gathering skills that he could turn in to the same vendors he had to buy armor and a weapon from so he decided to hold off on the quests for gear. 

“Something is amiss” was a fun quest, there was a small swamp in the planes that he needed to investigate. Something about frogmen going crazy, but he knew that hogs and deer were plentiful in that region. Which put that quest on the back burner for now too. 

That just left “Have You Seen My Kitty?” for him to start with. It was a cute little quest line revolving around a little boy who’d lost his pet kitten. The “plot” of the quest was minimal, but it served as a tutorial on movement in the game. Ethan has done it so many times he knew exactly where the missing pet was hiding, but it didn’t matter. He had to do all the steps. One time he’d picked up the child and drug him to the cat, but the little boy just cried in confusion and fear at being abducted. It wasn’t Ethan’s proudest moment. 

Ethan pulled up the quest text to refamiliarize himself with where to get started.

Quest - Have You Seen My Kitty? I

Hello, my name is Ayden Mallory and I’m 8 years old and I need some help. My wonderful kitten, Lord Whitepaw the IV has runned away and I need some help in finding him. I’ll pay you my entire months allowance if you’ll help me. 

Quest progress:

Find Ayden Mallory and ask him about Lord Whitepaw the IV

Rewards:

25 experience

Ethan concentrated, trying to remember where the kid lived. A few seconds later it came to him: near the General Goods store in the north of the town. I can pick up a knife and a pick axe on my way there and not waste time.

Grassmere was not a huge town, especially in comparison to Startesgarde, and it didn’t take him long to get to the general store. Ten copper later and he had the requisite tools that would help him on two different quests. 

When he walked out of the shop he spotted the quest giver sitting on the front porch of a house across the street. The small child had hugged his knees to his chest and Ethan could tell he was crying. 

“Hey little guy, are you Ayden Mallory?” Back home if I walked up to a kid like this I’d end up on some sort of list. Here it’s normal. Ethan was struck by the absurdity of the game in instances like this one. 

“Are you… are you here to help me find my kitty?” The blonde boy wiped his nose and looked up at him.

“Yes I am.” 

“Thank you so much! I miss him so much!” That had earned him a big smile and young Ayden stopped crying. 

“What can you tell me about your lost cat? Was there anywhere he liked to go?” Part of the quest line was to learn how to gather information in the game. NPCs would usually be forthcoming, but only if conditions were met. If Ethan hadn’t asked the boy for the information, he’d be stuck running around the entire town even longer looking for the cat. 

“I’ve seen him climb up that big okay tree over there, but I’m not tall enough to reach the higher branches.” He looked sadly at his feet. 

“Well, why don’t you show me which tree and I can climb up and look. 

Quest update - Have You Seen My Kitty I completed

You have met Ayden Mallory and he has told you Lord Whitepaw the IV likes to climb a big oak tree.

Reward:

25 Experience

Quest Update - Have You Seen My Kitty II

Go with the boy and help him look in the tree. You will have to climb to reach the top. 

Quest Progress:

Climb the tree and look for Lord Whitepaw the IV. 

Reward:

25 Experience

Since he was in a quest line, the follow up was automatically accepted. 

Ethan was a little startled when the young lad grabbed him by the hand and pulled him to a large tree across the street. 

Large branches grew out from the trunk. The lower ones were spaced evenly enough that a small person would have no problem climbing them, but as the tree grew the branches had gotten farther apart. Not a problem for a taller person like Ethan or a cat to climb. 

“He likes to climb up to the top, if he’s up there he should come to you if you call his name.” Ayden looked like he was trying to be helpful.

As Ethan approached the tree a notification flashed into his view. 

Game information: Skills such as climbing rely on your ability points. Strength and Dexterity are required to climb higher and difficult surfaces.

He dismissed it as soon as it appeared. That was the other point of this line, to let the player know that climbing wasn’t just done automatically. He’d have to physically reach the top of the tree. If he didn’t have a high enough strength or dexterity, he could fall. This tree was on the easier scale, but rock wall or buildings could be much harder. 

Ethan knew the cat wasn’t going to be in this tree, he had several more steps to complete. This entire town was to give him enough information to actually be able to play the game. He started up the tree anyway, it was the only way to complete the quest.

When he reached the top a small voice called up to him. 

“Is he up there?” Ayden sounded hopeful that his kitten would be found in the tree. 

“I don’t see him.” Ethan called back down. “I’m coming back down now.”

He descended back down to the boy, who was starting to cry.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. We’ll find your cat.” Ethan kneeled down and put his hand on Ayden's shoulder. “Is there anywhere else he could be?”

“Well, there is one other place…”

There ended up being seven other places. By the time the cat was rescued Ethan had swum, rowed a boat, sprinted after a dog, followed some tracks, and climbed up on a roof before finally finding the cat at the bakery two houses down from where he’d started. 

“Thank you so much for finding my Kitty!” Ayden was crying again, so relieved to find his precious pet. For such a simple quest line it had taken them almost two hours to complete. The plus side was it was a significant amount of experience and Ethan was almost level 4. 

Holy fuck I forgot how long that quest takes. It was now almost 1000 game time and he still had most of the quests in his log to finish. I better hit the new gear quests and leave the village to do the rest if I’m going to finish today. 

With the gold his sister had given him, he could have bought anything he needed for armor or a weapon. However, because his purchases the day before he was already geared as best he could be for his level unless he wanted to invest in full plate armor. 

It would give me more defense, but I’m kind of liking the mobility of leather. I’d have had a tougher time balancing on that rooftop in full plate mail. And I don’t really want to go see that horrible woman again. He involuntarily shivered at the memory of the armorsmith from the day before. I guess I’ll just go buy the cheapest thing I can to complete the quest. 

The ending of the cat quest line put him near the tanner so he returned to the same building he’d been in the day before. The smell of curing leather was just as strong that morning as it had been the afternoon prior. 

“Hello deary, back again?” Gloria’s friendly face looked up from the armor she was currently embroidering. “Looking for anything specific?”

“No ma’am, just browsing.” Ethan waved to her as walked over to the vendor interface. Gloria’s needlework slowed to a crawl as he opened it. 

Just need something cheap. He scrolled through the options. More than likely whatever he bought would end up sold to another vendor for a loss so he didn’t want to part with too much of his new wealth. 

Vendor goods rotated daily, the list he saw was similar to the one he’d purchased from the day before but there were new items. He settled for a cheap leather headband. Even though it added a little armor, his vanity got in the way of him actually equipping it. Thanking Gloria, he left and went back into the street. When he’d been her inventory a thought had occurred to him. Instead of going to the weaponsmith he bought his beautiful axe from, he went back towards the inn. 

When he’d left for the morning he saw a bowyer on his way to the message board. He hadn’t ever really gotten into being a Ranger or a Rogue so he never had given much thought to that particular craftsman. Now, however, he felt compelled to purchase a bow. He had a short ranged attack with his throwing axes, but a bow would give him better range and allow him to hunt more efficiently. 

Unlike the three other craftsmen he’d visited since getting into Grassmere, none of his senses were assaulted immediately upon entering the store. A tall, gaunt man was seated at a table carefully applying feathers to an arrow. Gently and delicately he applied glue with what looked like a fingernail polish brush and very precisely placed a red and white feather onto the wooden shaft. When he was done he held it to his eye and checked it for straightness. 

Ethan stood quietly, not wanting to interrupt the man and cause him to lose focus. 

When the bowyer placed the arrow into a high stack of its brothers, he finally spoke up. 

“Good morning sir.”

“Good morning, good morning indeed.” The voice that greeted him back was almost comically high pitched and fast. “Looking for a bow, are we? What kind are you thinking?”

Ethan was lost for words for a second, whatever he’d been expecting from the bowyer, this certainly wasn’t it. 

“Umm. Yeah. I’d like a bow to hunt with.” He regained his thoughts enough to be able to answer the man. 

“Good. Good. Good good good. And what will you be hunting? Deer? Elk? Bear? Duck? Bison? Hogs? People?” He rattled off the list in quick succession. 

“Probably deer and ducks most… wait, did you say people?” With all the weirdness that had happened to him since he got to this town, this somehow ended up high on his list.

“Sir, I do not judge.” The bowyer waved his hands in front of himself as if deflecting guilt. “It is not on me if you are after the most dangerous game.”

“Yeah, no I’m just after regular, um, game.” Ethan was becoming a little uncomfortable with the proprietor of this shop.

“Okay, good good. Well in that case I recommend a longbow. It will give you range and accuracy better than a short bow.” He walked over and pulled a long stick from a rack. “You will have to strong it, of course, but it is a reliable weapon of choice for whatever you end up hunting from afar.”

“Ummm. Thanks. I’ll just look through your inventory.” He walked over to the interface book, feeling the need to keep this strange man in eyesight. Even with the time dilation he wasn’t sure he wanted this guy to be behind him. 

There were really only a couple of options: short bow, longbow or crossbow, so it didn’t take Ethan long to pick. He purchased a longbow and a quiver of arrows, the interface automatically deducting 2 silver from his total. 

When time sped back up he quickly thanked the proprietor and left as fast as he could. 

Several notifications were glowing in the corner of his vision. He’d forgotten he set quest alerts to hidden while he was busy during the hunt for Ayden’s cat. He swiped and selected the pulsing alert:

Quest Update: Well Armored - Complete!. 

Good armor will literally save your life. Find a replacement or upgrade for any armor slot. Armor can be sold by a number of vendors depending on type needed. It can also be crafted. 

Quest progress:

1/1 New Armor Acquired

Reward:

1 silver

50 Experience

Quest update- A new weapon. - complete!

Weapons can be made by a skilled Weaponsmith, found from dead enemies or bought from a vendor. Find someone who can sell you a better one!

Quest progress:

1/1 New Weapon Acquired

Reward:

1 silver

50 Experience

The golden light of level advancement surrounded him in a rush of air. 

Congratulations! You have advanced to level 4! You have 4 unspent skill points. 

Ethan’s stomach rumbled hunger as he read the message. Two levels and now it’s time for lunch. He had felt like he was dragging through Ayden’s questline, but with how quickly he’d leveled up he realized he was still on track to meet his friends in Startesgarde. 

The store he’d just left was only a short walk to Ye Olde Dog and Pony Inn. By the time he got to the door his stomach was sending him pains of hunger and a debuff popped into view. 

You are hungry. If you don’t eat within 1 hour your focus will drop and casting spells becomes more likely to fail. You will also suffer from Exhaustion. Every hour beyond that which you do not consume food the effect will worsen.

Usually missing a meal wasn’t such a big issue, but Ethan had been busy that morning and had burned a lot of energy. 

Good thing I’m literally 15 feet from food. He wryly thought to himself as he walked towards the inn. 

A rich, meaty smell hit him as he walked into the building. Mentally, it made his hunger worse but it had no effect on the debuff. Alera was behind the counter so he chose a seat at the bar. Jerry apparently had the lunch shift off as he was nowhere to be seen. 

“Look at you all fancy in your metal armor.” She reached for a flagon of ale but Ethan shook his head, not wanting such a strong drink at lunch and on an empty stomach. He had more to do the rest of the day. She nodded and reached for the small water pitcher.

“Oh this? Just some stuff I picked up.” He tried to play her compliment off nonchalantly. “It’ll do for now I guess.”

“Yesterday, you had to borrow a shirt from Jerry just to cover your nipples.” She reminded him in a teasing voice, ladling a scoop of thick stew into a wooden bowl and passed it to him. 

Ethan grudgingly accepted the bowl and began eating. 

“I don’t even know why I keep coming back here, all the constant digs at my appearance….” He muttered under his breath between spoonfuls. 

“You paid upfront and this is the only inn in town.” The barmaid had begun washing dishes a few feet down from him and didn’t even look up from her work to call him out. 

She has got to be the snarkiest NPC I’ve ever met. I wonder why she got put in Grassmere? No one stays long and people rarely return. Her AI personality is almost wasted here. 

Ethan finished his meal in silence as she continued working. 

“Thanks for lunch.” He stood up and dropped a couple coppers on the counter in payment.

“Be safe out there.” Alera nodded at him coolly as he walked back to the door.