Gears whirred and pulleys spun as the massive doors creaked shut like the jaws of a beast. The players were locked in now: in a box of steel surrounded by burly men dressed in metal plates, waving around sharp objects. Another deep thud of the mechanism caused the two newbies to jump.

A couple of warriors chuckled. "Oi, Miss, that's the sound of the drums. Nothing else makes a sound like that, except the beating of a femur on leather. They have to treat it right though: human skin's too weak, you know, but I'll spare you the details." said a bearded NPC with a crazy grin.

This caused Jodie to take a step back and whisper. "Hey, John, that's just lore, right? This man looks like he's been through a world war."

"It's just something they tell new hunters," John reassured. "Besides, the taint doesn't have that technology. No lion would really care for music: they just consume and devour."

The group was silent for a moment as the Cage started up. Then the light stone in the elevator shut off, leaving them in darkness as they descended.

"John, why's the light off?" Gram inquired.

"I don't know. To save power or something."

But the elevator seemed to work just fine, carrying the group down the rocky shaft. Halfway down, one of the rough faces opened up, letting the light and cold ash in. There, the foreboding Tainted lands made themselves known.

"Are you sure this is a beginner zone?" Gram asked suddenly.

"I mean, you guys read the map. You choose this spawn." John replied, laughing inside.

"Yeah… But aren't we supposed to, like, fight a wolf or fox or something?" Jodie asked.

"You don't even know what you'll be fighting yet…"

When the elevator reached the bottom, the NPC adventurers all disembarked and scattered into the horizon in pairs or threes, leaving the trembling healer-tank duo at the foot of the butte. They reluctantly followed John, like conscripted soldiers, hugging the face of the Bulwark which towered above them.

"What are you so scared of?" John teased. "It not like there are any jump scares – you can see a hundred meters in every direction; even more on a clearer day."

"Damn you," Gram exclaimed. "I bet you were just like us on your first day. It feels too real, and we couldn't even stream desktop horror games."

John had nothing to say to that and guided the group along for a while. But he did recall that first first day. Gyead was certainly not for the faint of heart, and the once timid teen hadn't fared much better. Perhaps it wasn't as obvious, but John had lost his dagger in the sand during his first fight from jellified knees and trembling fingers.

While he was in his memories, out of the brown mist, a dark figure emerged, small and barely a foot in height. A set of tall pointy ears composed a third its height, the rest made by a plump body. Red eyes darted, looking for a place to settle its twin yellow buckteeth.

"That's a… bunny?" Jodie said.

"That's a tainted rabbit," John confirmed. It came into range for identification.

[Tainted Rabbit]

Level: 1

HP: 60/60

"So now what?" Gram asked.

"Go kill it."

"What?"

"You are a six foot something, two hundred-odd pound man and that is the weakest mob on this plain."

"I mean is there a strategy?"

"Make sure to hit it with the edge of your sword."

"Oh, genius…" Gram grumbled as he hesitantly charged towards the tainted rabbit.

In truth, John's advice was more than just common sense. RISE classified damage into certain types based on the weapon's method of attack. For instance, a fireball would obviously cause fire damage along with subtle explosion damage.

The most common damage types were the physical ones: collision, slash, penetration, and scrape. The names were rather self-explanatory. Attacks weren't limited to a single damage type either.

Each enemy also had their respective damage resistances and weaknesses. The tainted rabbit had rough bristles which lined its soft flesh, protecting it against general collisions and scrapes, but it was weak to focused forces: slash and penetration. Hence, the greatsword, which could inflict major collision damage with a blunt side strike needed to be slash concentrated through a clean sweep.

Additionally, enough damage, any type, on a certain body part could reduce its function. This might be in the form of pain, weakness, or even complete severance.

The rabbit seemed to have a low detection range, as it reacted slowly to the approaching warrior. It made a high-pitched screeching noise and leaped in the air.

Helios broke his run and planted a foot in the ground. The excess momentum went into the sword and as it came down in a heavy overhead strike.

-27

The tiny mass of the rabbit shot to the ground like a meteor and sent dust flying.

"How's that?" Gram grinned back to Jodie and John, breathing heavily.

"Good job!" Jodie praised.

But the rabbit pulled itself off the ground, a bit dazed but with half its health remaining.

Each damage type had a chance to develop an additional effect on the target depending on the type. The effects could be localized to the part hit or influence the whole victim. This bunny, for example, struck by the heft of the sword and the ground contact, was affected by full body blunt force trauma, the collision proc.

"It's still alive, you got to stab it when it's down," John commented. But in truth, he was impressed with the streamer's adaptivity. Helios and Selene weren't top ranked avatars for no reason.

"I got it." Gram said as he gave the rabbit a fierce side swing and a thrust, causing the slash proc, bleed, and the rabbit's prompt death.

"Not bad," John admitted. However, he knew that Gram's exaggerated style was ill-suited for the rabbits. Larger numbers of the agile foes would undoubtedly cause trouble.

Gram planted the sword into the ground and nervously laughed, relieved. "Haha, it's just a beefed-up rabbit after all."

The beefed-up rabbit ended up dropping a couple [Tainted Rabbit Bristle(s)], some [Tainted Rabbit Meat] and oddly, two [Tainted Rabbit Skull(s)]. The experience was small, around 1% of a level. John stuffed the items into his inventory and the trio continued their cautious patrol.

The next enemies they encountered were a pair of the same monsters, but both were beefier and had a higher health total. They were proactive and immediately engaged the moment the trio entered their detection range.

"Helios, sic 'em!" John commanded with his arms crossed.

Gram muttered something under his breath, but still block the mobs' advance. The first rabbit took a blow to the jaw and spiraled out of its leap, screeching. But the second used the opportunity to leap on Gram's shoulder. The sharp teeth plunged into Gram's neck.

-30

"What is that? A beginner mob just did a third of my health!" Gram shrieked, and he hastily flung the beast off.

To comment on damage calculations in RISE, damage was a function of strength, motion, damage type, resistance, location, and more. The fast, sharp teeth had dealt major penetration and slash damage to the soft flesh of the neck, resulting in the huge damage numbers.

At this time, the first bunny recovered and, with the majority of its health, leaped on the startled warrior. In his panic, Gram lost his balance and fell to the ground.

-8

The second joined the first and the two tore up the poor man. A couple more rabbits responded to the screeching of the first pair of rabbits and rushed from the mist, piled onto the armored warrior.

-9

-6

"Alright, Selene, his time is up, your time is now – take out your staff and heal him," John instructed.

"I'm a starter elementalist…"

That's when John opened the party menu and noticed the abundantly clear pyromancer icon. He stared blankly at the Jodie for a moment, then at the mage's staff she had taken out. 'Was my memory wrong?' In truth though, knowledge of the future was not omniscience despite the overwhelming advantage.

-8

"Help me!" Gram called out in the background.

"Okay, okay… Selene, just use a fireball while Helios has them distracted." John informed.

"I don't know how to use spells in this game."

"…"

-6

"I thought you were supposed to have taught me."

"…"

-5

"John…" Gram called.

-9

"I can't just kill them… You're supposed to learn how to…" John sighed. They were beginners after all.

-7

But in the end, he unholstered his two thief weapons, a pistol, and dagger. RISE was different from a lot of the fantasy world games with the prevalence of pseudo-modern technologies. This meant dwarven engines, the mechanical Cage at Gyead, and definitely guns.

One of the most predominant ranged classes in other games, the ranger, found a new rival in RISE – the gunner. Of course, firearms couldn't be the overpowered modern tubes of death, at least not in the early game. The RISE gunner had a similar playstyle to a ranger, but dropped silence, traps, and pets, in favor of a higher ranged burst and rapid crowd control.

Thieves too had different playstyles as a result of the gunpowder revolution. Two distinct playstyles developed in the class: the bladed thieves which relied on twin short swords and daggers, and the new gunner thieves which used pistols in conjunction with the aforementioned daggers.

-6

While both were equally viable, the former tended to require partial point allocation in strength to increase burst melee damage to terrifying levels, while the latter required a smaller amount to handle the small arms, focusing more so on agility and dexterity. Overall, the blades did more damage and were stealthier, but lacked in a fair fight when compared to a gun.

Now, the gun-based thief, John, pointed the starter pistol at the largest rabbit. The round discharged with a nostalgic recoil and cloud of unburnt powder. The bullet found its mark on the tainted rabbit's left cheek.

-13

It tumbled off Gram and hissed, aggroing on the pesky thief.

-14

-12

Another series of shots rang out, drawing the attention of an additional pair of rabbits which grouped up and chased after John. Gram flung of the remaining one and scrambled to his feet with barely any health to spare.

Guns had a distinct advantage over dagger against melee matchups: a mechanic called kiting, which allowed ranged characters to sustained damage dealt while avoiding the same. RISE had no specific kiting patterns due to the sheer freedom of movement, but generally, firearm users would briefly stop running before lining up a shot. The time required for each of these actions were generally a good indicator of mechanical skill and experience.

John paired the classic gunner technique with Cripple, an advanced firing sequence developed by professional players in his past life. One shot to a center of mass, an easy hit that staggered the target to expose them to further attacks; two shots the knees to prolong their lack of motion; three scattered shots to the head and upper chest to knock down the unbalanced foe and deal critical damage. Six shots, just the right amount of ammunition in a typical magazine.

Of course, every target was different, especially a rabbit, but that was the advanced nature of the technique. Anyone could rapidly shoot six shots, but only experts could adapt the pattern to best control every foe, while also repositioning and aiming between every shot.

In this fashion, the tainted rabbits were led in a like a train into the stream of metal. Penetration procs, internal bleeding, tore up the rabbits constantly as they staggered and crumpled under fire. The first six-round magazine flew out of the gun almost as fast as the rounds themselves, as John reloaded a fresh one and continued fire.

Jodie's eyes widened up in response to the flurry of rapid movements – a veritable bullet waltz – and the pinpoint barrage of lead. Gram's jaw too, dropped as he finished off the last rabbit with a comparatively lack-luster swing. And then, the tainted rabbits were dead.

Gram dropped his sword in exhaustion. "John, what was that?" he couldn't help but ask.

Feeling too cool, John impulsively blew the puffs of gunpowder just like the old western movies. "It's just some beefed-up rabbits," he said. This caused a giggle from Jodie and they both gave Gram a look. His health was barely existent, his clothes bloodied, and armor, scuffed.

"Alright, listen, boy. Those are some rabbits straight outta hell. Say what you will, but those things vicious!"

The John chuckled and turn off to find the next band of rabbits. Jodie gave Gram another look and followed behind.

Gram stood there for a moment. He took a few heavy breaths and picked up his sword. Then, he realized what he himself had said and gave a hearty laugh, running to join the merry band of rabbit-hunting idiots.