The three of them crawled through the tall grass. They were on a mission to gather as much Shoar leather as possible. A herd of shoar were grazing ahead of them, unaware of the sudden death that would fill the air in seconds. As they crept closer, Alora split to the left and Hrenian to the right while Carter was to drive them forward towards the mountain. A large cow was right in front of Carter, so close he could smell its foul breath when it snorted.

A few meters in front of him he saw Alora standing up, waving her arms and shouting. The herd quickly saw the threat and stampede towards the right where Hrenian was waiting. He stood up in time doing the same and split into two groups. One going to towards the mountain and the other heading straight for him.

He jumped up and charged straight towards the fleeing herd. Shouting and waving his arms just as he saw Alora do moments before. The herd stopped dead in their tracks and spun around catching up to the first group. The three of them ran after them, trying to corner them against the mountain. “I count 7 of them!” Hrenian shouted over the rushing hooves. Carter scanned the herd and saw that he was correct.

As they got closer to the mountain Carter started loading the fire ball in his left hand while drawing his Elven blade with his right. He saw Alora do the same with her bow and knocking an arrow all while in full sprint. Hrenian took out his staff and together they kept the pressure up. “Only a 100 more meters!” They crossed the distance rapidly and soon the group of shoar stood with their backs towards the mountain facing them. The shoar organized themselves with the calves behind them and the bull and cows in front.

“Sorry boys and girls, but it’s for the money!” Hrenian wacked the closest cow, immediately knocking her unconscious. Surprised, Carter thought he must have really high strength attributes. He leaped forwards and stabbed at the bull who screeched violently as the sword entered between his neck and shoulder blade. When Carter pulled his sword out, painting himself with a red spray of blood, the bull charged with it. A thhwwip sounded as an arrow buried itself in its side, stopping it in its tracks. It focused its attention on Alora and charged her and the herd followed. Carter threw a fire bolt into the ground in front of the bull, making it change direction with Hrenian short on their heels. As they were speeding back towards the mountain Hrenian took his spear and threw it into the bulls left hind quarter, making it stumble with a squeal. Alora fired a arrow quickly into the struggling body. It vanished into smoke. The herd was now cornered against the mountain. And they quickly finished off the remaining six.

Congratulations, you have killed 6 shoar (cow) and 1 shoar (bull) for 910 xp!

You gained 3 combat levels!

Loot

Shoar tusks x 2

Long curved tusks used for rooting up vegetation in search of food.

Shoar hide x 7

Thick magic resistant hide from a shoar. Used with the crafting skill to create ranged armour.

“Well done, that’s a good start! Off to the next herd!” Alora said as she picked her way back into the undergrowth of the Golwynn forest.

The whole day was spent gathering shoar hide and whatever herbs they seem to pass and he gained the following:

You have gained 7 combat levels!

You have gained 4 herblore levels!

After the hunt they returned to Breau and sold all their loot, totalling to 800 gold split, putting Carters gold pouch at just over 2.4k gold. He then sold his Cowl of the Black Snake for 600 gold equalling to a full 3k gold in his pouch. They roamed the city for a bit before deciding to log off for the day and agreeing to do a new dungeon tomorrow.

As always, Carter carefully put his GlassOS back into its case and went to his parents in the living room. “Hi mom and dad. We made some good money today! It was lots of fun!” His mother and father seemed happy for them but the mood in the room was lowered severely with the fact that his father has no income anymore. He had to make a plan.

“Do you want to do something today Carter?” his father asked from the couch. They never left the house unless it was absolutely necessary. The chaotic turmoil in which the world was at the moment was far too dangerous for law-abiding citizens to walk the streets. “Are you sure that's a good idea?” his mother asked. “Yes my love, it's good to go scavenge for some clean air when there is a chance.” She sighed but didn’t object. “I guess that's a yes!” He told Carter excitedly. “Boys trip!” and he punched the air. They left the apartment in the early afternoon, entering a littered and worn downstreet. Cars have become exclusively Elite luxuries and normal people relied on public transport in trams. All trading has come to an end except for hobby stores and grocery stores. A monthly stipend was paid out to families according to the number of household members but it was barely enough for rent and food. All buildings were owned by The Elite. As they walked through Dallas city center he could see large billboards with Chang’s face on them and that evil smile. Advertising jobs on the ships transporting gas from Saturn. But that was a 16 year round trip. And it was lonely work as only 20 people manned a 2 kilometer long ship. Divided into sections with sensors for leaks and stability. You practically lived in a container for 16 years looking at a screen and waiting for it to warn you of a leak. Which then leads to a major panic as you relay that information to the captain who must then send out a team around the outside to fix it with carbon paste.

As they walked down the road they didn’t see many others. His father took a route between the large noisy factories and there was a familiar humming of the machines filling the air. “Dad, do you think there will ever be more to life than just working and playing video games?” He broke the silence. “Son, honestly I can’t say, I have known nothing different, but having a family and watching you grow up is what makes it all worth it.” They walked in silence for a few minutes. “Well, it just feels like something is missing in this world, and I am scared I will never find it. I love you dad.”