The walk to the camp was fairly quiet. Lonnie didn’t have too much to say and that in of itself was interesting to Mickey, who was still trying to understand the limits of HWO’s NPCs. Mickey would occasionally bring up a topic he thought Lonnie could answer, careful to not provoke a freeze. In fact, the questions Mickey led with were questions he thought would return very NPC-like responses.

“What’s your grandmother’s name?”

“What do you do out here?”

“What do you think of skeletons?”

All the questions returned simple answers.

“Her name is Theresa…”

“I make sure the lampposts are all lit and the roads are safe…”

“I think they’re scary.”

If there was one thing that Mickey was sure of now, it was that the denizens did not have any trouble reporting simple facts about themselves and about the world around them.

As they walked, Mickey was also getting acquainted with his Slate. Through that, he learned that there was a new app that appeared—a bestiary with one entry, Laughing Bones.

It seemed to work like it did in other games. The more Mickey fought monsters the more the bestiary would fill. At the moment, he had the monster’s name with the next milestone being defeating a total of 50 Laughing Bones.

Becoming acquainted with the proper names for the monster got Mickey curious. “Hey,” he said, “is it only Laughing Bones in the area?”

“Laughing Bones? You know what we call them, Tralas Mick?”

“Yeah. I learned the name recently.”

“I see. You’re asking about other monsters though? In this area… Actually, yeah. There’s a dangerous one—”

A dangerous one—he has info!

“—its name is Mauling Peter.” Lonnie pointed ahead of the pair. “See that tall hill poking out over the forest?”

The pair were currently walking through a path that cut through a dead or dying forest. Far beyond them, above the tree line, was the hill with a dead tree on it. From a look at his map, that hill was a bit of a walk away from the camp.

“Mauling Peter lives at the foot of the hill, in the ruins of a home. I’d be careful of going over there. He’s pretty dangerous. Other Trailblazers have fallen to him.”

I bet. He’s got a name… Must mean he’s a unique enemy—maybe an overworld boss?

As Mickey kept examining his map, having it as parchment in his hand, a new icon appeared. It marked the spot Lonnie spoke of with a small circle with horns on it.

“So, this is your camp, Lonnie. It’s nice. Are there any facilities here?”

“Facilities? No, I can’t say we have any.”

“I see.”

It was a simple camping ground nestled within a patch of forest. There were four log cottages on either side of the road and many lampposts were surrounding them—likely for safety.

“Thanks for escorting me, Tralas Mick! It was a real relief to have a Trailblazer around.”

Mickey doubted how true those words were given how quiet Lonnie had been, but the thought was noted.

With one last wave and a warning, “Try not to stay out past sundown!” Lonnie returned to his dwelling, leaving Mickey to inspect his Slate. He was going to check the map again, but he noticed another alert.

***

Instance Quest

Escort Lonnie, the Lamppost Repairman

Lonnie is going home. It wouldn’t be so bad to protect Lonnie while he goes home after a long day of doing his duty to the people of Asniels.

Rewards: 1EXC, 10EXP, 25EX-EXP

[Quest Completed. Rewards have been delivered/applied.]

***

How casual. I’m not just imagining it, right? And this kind of confirms it; there are quests I can do that I might miss… But I got 1EXC for it… Really? For that? No, I shouldn’t complain. I know escort quests are a thing, but I did nothing—not even a single bone moved on that walk. Hmm? Wait, hold on. There’s another alert.

As soon as he pressed on the other alert—a white exclamation point in a red bubble—his mouth fell slack.

“I leveled.” Mickey shot his arms up and cheered. “My first level!” His cheeks went red and he quickly pulled his arms down, clearing his throat and playing it cool. “Yeah. Of course I would level up. I put in the work.”

Mickey looked around and after making sure no one was around smiled at his Slate as he tapped through to his status window.

My stats didn’t increase too much—I guess this game really is more focused on Skill development as opposed to parameter development. Still, I appreciate the bump to my health... It’s too bad I wasn’t healed on leveling. Oh well, I have potions anyway.

Mickey looked to the distance, at the hill with the single dying tree, and muttered. “I’ve already got 2EXC… And that hill… It looks like it could be a Landmark. That’s another Excia…” Mickey tucked away his Slate. “The alarm still hasn’t gone off, so there’s nothing wrong with me checking things out with my remaining time…”

Getting swept up in the spirit of adventure and exploration, Mickey cut into the forest, Ball&Chain in hand.

***

Now loading... Inter-Chapter Action

Mickey fought: 8 Laughing Bones

Mickey collected 3 vials of Bone Dust.

"Huh… The skeletons are giving 1EXP each now…"

Bestiary

Laughing Bones, Level 1 –

Base Ratings Relative to Level (From E to A+, with S denoting Special Quality)

S1: HP:D, ATK: E, DEF:D+, AVG-> D

L1: Known to be sadistic. When given the choice between killing a denizen and prolonging their suffering, they will choose the latter.

Mickey's Stats

Level:2, HP: 110, ATK: 12, DEF: 11