《Heart of the World (LitRPG)》Ch: 4 Story of Mr. Bear
Advertisement
Chapter 4 - Story of Mr. Bear
I woke up in the respawning area called the Star Pool. I was took out!
“Come on!” I screamed.
All that trouble and a single distraction caused my demise. I was so livid I wanted to go wrestle a bear. And the way I felt, that bear had better give its all. But, as I sat there at the serene Star Pool, I breathed deeply and slowly, and I mean slowly, as I calmed myself down. It helped that it was a beautiful place with star-like lights glittering in the clear water. Still, the frustration bubbled up in me again. It was the first time in two weeks that I was struck down and had to respawn.
I shrugged and started to check my runes for my eventual return. While I was waiting, I also got out my mortar and pestle and crafted a single regen health potion. There were just enough ingredients for it. A reminder that I had to spend time gathering the uncommon resources for potions like that, but I didn’t mind that too much. I’d much rather spend the more than average effort in finding the hard to locate Quria plants and Jinxo Grass, than end up in a tough spot like the fight I just had without a regen HP potion.
The clock still showed a minute to go until I could get back in the game. So, I started sharpening my blades with a wet stone. The more uncommon a blade, the less chance it had to go dull beyond a fifteen percent drop in cutting potential, but sharpening kept it at hundred, and as there was the extra buff on sharpness attainable for taking the time, I was more than willing to spend the time. And to be honest, every single edge in a fight helped.
There in the middle a light brightened up the water and I got up. The counter quickly struck zero and I flashed back into the meadow.
Just this time there was no rampaging Hob Goblins there, and all in all, the place looked peaceful again. That was a good thing even though I was severely bugged by being caught off guard. There was a golden carrot though: Loot!
From my experience, Level Scaling monsters always carried rare loot. I quickly ran to the area where I downed three of the monsters, only to stop in shock. I fell to my knees in horror. Oh the horror!
The rookies were just about finished picking the monsters clean. It was true there was a loot sharing system in place for all who took down a monster. That is if one in the party that took it down is still alive, at the end of the fight. As I was not in a party and died, it became a free for all unclaimed loot drop.
And what would you know. I wasn’t alive to claim my loot. If I had known I was going to hit the dirt, I would have at least quickly tapped the Miasma Druid for ‘take all’ before going to the last enemy. Now the big guy that had been a sorry sight was decked out with several rings far beyond the starting zone.
I plucked at my hair in frustration when a hand tapped my shoulder. My step-sister.
“Um, sorry about that. I realized a bit late.”
I waved her off, too busy trying to pull the hair from my scalp and most certainly more than entertained the thought of becoming the next rampaging monster in the meadow.
Advertisement
Though, I bit that one down. The boss won’t be happy with me going on a noob killing rampage. Oh but I wanted to… Finally, I breathed deeply and said,
“Yeah, well, it was interesting to say the least.”
She rubbed my shoulder and all I wanted to do was wail like a rookie. But, I manned up and got to my feet.
“What are your plans?” I asked offhandedly. Not really too keen on staying to chat.
“One of the Spires in this region is open for a siege. So, Aimee and I are heading towards the teams prepping for it.”
A Spire Siege! That was awesome!
For a moment I thought about going to join in. But, the rookie checking out his enchanted rings really worked at my nerves up to a point where looking for a bear to wrestle might be the way to go. Regardless of that fact, yeah fact; Spire Sieges were always big events. It opened up a new region to explore in the game, or a new dungeon system or sometimes even entirely new biomes. It was extremely hard to find and even harder to clear out. Exciting stuff.
“Well, enjoy. And say hi to Aimee.”
Eri blanched like I had slapped her.
“Huh… You aren’t coming? You loved your first Spire Siege.”
My neck twitched. It was true. But, I reaaally wasn’t in the mood.
“No, I’m going to the Hem-Iree Woods.” I said.
Then I recoiled a bit. She had this glare that could cut steel. I almost wanted to apologize for something I didn’t know that I did.
Then her cheeks puffed up and she exploded.
“What did those bears ever do to you—“ Ah, she knew. “–They don’t drop anything besides low level furs and they never attack players unprovoked. They are only there for taming as pets! Why would you want to attack such cute and cuddly bears out of nowhere?”
She got me there. In fact, I couldn’t fathom an answer to a glaring girl about why I chose the bears of Hem-Iree Woods for my frustration dampening wrestling matches. Except for they were big, and they made excellent sumo wrestlers when provoked. And, that it taught me a thing or two on how to attack huge monsters when your only weapon was on cooldown.
Now, my step-sister was going to tear that reason to shreds… So what would you know? I was sweating again. Buckets.
“Um, they make great sparring friends…?”
“Words kind of left you there, didn’t it?” She said flat-panned with narrowed eyes, and I could just scratch at my head.
“Yeah, it did. But hear me out. It is true! Well not the friends part, the bears immediately get suspicious when I go there lately.” It was strange really. It hadn’t always been like that.
“It’s no wonder. You go attacking them out of the blue every other day.”
Now that I think about it, she had a point. Was that one of the main AI’s handy work? Maybe I should trick that AI into revealing that to me… My step sister’s glare made me twitch. Though, I wasn’t going to give her any more ammo regarding that.
“Well, there is something there to learn.”
“Like what?! The ideal way to arm lock a big bear into submission while you practise your crazy laugh?!!”
“Hmm, that is a really good idea.” I said sincerely without thinking.
Advertisement
“Wil…” Eri groaned.
I snapped out of my new plans for that day’s sparring match.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll only wrestle three bears.”
“Wil! I’m serious.” She said with more meaning.
I smiled at her and said,
“Say what you want, they really do make excellent wrestling practice.”
Before she could fire another shot of artillery at me, I waved at her and activated my boots of haste again. I still had to win an argument against her. So, I got out while I still could.
She shouted stuff from behind. But, I was already two thirds to the closest Travelling Stone. Luckily I had completed the Travelling Stone Quest of the Hem Iree Woods; each region or area had one, some far and I mean faaar more difficult to complete than others. That one was actually quite a brutal chain quest to unlock fast travel to, and I have no clue why. It still bugged me.
The oval stone standing in the grass hummed as I approached. Within seconds, the energy in the stone rushed through me as I chose my destination.
I landed in the peaceful woods and was immediately met with suspicious stares. They really did know me as the guy that messed up their day. No matter, they got a lot of fight in them too, so it wasn’t like I had it easy. I rubbed my hands together and ran towards the toughest looking one of them. Though really, they never attacked without being attacked first. My fist struck the bear and I started on attempting the idea of an arm lock as it growled and tried to maul me.
Half an hour later.
I cackled madly in the forest. Four bears was licking their wounds close by. The arm lock had worked! I had to thank Eri for the idea… uh or not.
I wiped some sweat from my brow and was about to call it a day and log out, when a big shadow fell over me. Odd, the in game was still a ways off from switching to night. I turned around and immediately swallowed. A massive and creepy looking bear was glaring at me. It was different from the other bears in the region. Its ears were capped with threatening looking protrusions and it had weird burnt orange stripes on its face and completely black body. Different or not, what made it really creepy was that it was twice the size from the normal ones. And it definitely didn’t look too peaceful to me.
I stepped back, It stepped forward. I stepped back again and it followed.
“Uh-um, hi Mr. Scary Bear, I don’t want no trouble.”
It charged. And before I realised it, I was locked in an epic struggle. One that would keep me up at night.
Two hours later.
I was grunting on the ground, my arms felt like lead as I nurtured my numerous bruises. Looking over, I saw Mr. Scary Bear doing the same. But one thing was for sure. I have met my wrestling match. A stalemate raged between the two of us. Neither of us could get out on top. And my pride as a strong bear wrestler denied me even a hint of the notion to use my weapons. No! I will prevail!
I worked up strength from somewhere as I looked at the bear also getting unsteadily back to its feet. I stumbled upright and lifted my arms. Round Fifty Seven. A sudden alarm went off, startling me. A recorded message popped up from Macy.
“Um, Wil. I know you said I shouldn’t bother you while in game, but your boss says his boss wants to speak to you.”
Agh…
I looked at Mr. Scary Bear with intensity and it returned the stare. Then I nodded in respect, pointing a finger.
“This is not over.”
The bear tilted his head ready to charge. I shakingly lifted my arm and flipped through the menu up to the log out button. I tapped it before he entered my combat zone and the world broke into a thousand shards.
The pod powered down and the MSL flowed off of me without leaving a drop behind as I got up out of it. It was a fun little quirk of the support liquid. I stretched with a focused resolve. Macy came up to me and held out a hand.
“Good job in there, I only received the news a few minutes back.”
The whole five minutes real time for an actual hour in game really was an interesting challenge to manoeuvre around for the Outside Game Admins. I would never have had the patience for that. And for that I had a lot of respect for the OGAs.
“Thanks. Though… next time start with something like a Miasma Druid when giving me last second intel.”
She giggled as she blushed.
“Sorry. I’ll be sure to.”
I half saluted her and left the circular command room. Though as I walked I was furiously trying to understand why on good earth I received the title Bear Wrestler. It was while busy fending off Mr. Scary Bear’s attempt at squishing me while I had it in a neck grab.
Monster Wrestler I
You have wrestled valiantly against
monsters of all sizes, and have even discriminated against
the peaceful monster bears of the Hem Iree Woods.
With it, you have gained extra bonus strength when you attempt a grapple while unarmed.
Strength +5 while grappling.
Bears will be even more wary of you
[Congratulations! You are one of only ten to have have discovered Monster Wrestler. But you are the first to make bears more wary of you!]
+1 in Skill level
I groaned again while thinking of the text that had accompanied the skill. My step sister was going to have a field day way with that one. But, that was a battle for another time. What a fierce battle it will be. Still, what was with that sarcastic humor from the game?
Really the title was interesting to say the least. I had grappled with hundreds of bears and the title had never popped up until now. I didn’t even know the Bears of Hem Iree Woods were considered monsters. In the game there was distinct groups called critters, animals, and monsters, etc. Sure, those specific bears were creepy looking, but, it was something I didn’t know. Either way, the +5 to strength when I grappled something unarmed was a welcome bonus.
Macy coughed behind me, clearly to grab my attention.
“Yes?” I asked.
“Your boss’s boss wanted to see you.”
Oh! I scrambled out of the room.
Advertisement
- In Serial30 Chapters
The Dungeon Boss's Favorite Game - A Virmo Story
Kragathor is the final guardian of the world’s deepest dungeon. He is an immortal pinnacle of existence that is otherwise known as an ancient dragon. And he is terribly bored. His sole source of amusement comes from scrying on the adventurer teams that are in the upper levels of his dungeon. Through spying on adventurers, Kragathor hears of a new magic item, called a Virmo, that allows one to project their mind into a fictional world in some sort of grand-scale game. Recognizing these Virmo games as a potential diversion for his endless boredom, he orders a minion to infiltrate the nearby town and acquire some of these games. Once the minion returns, he logs into a game set in a world that runs on the twin magics of ‘science’ and ‘technology’, and embarks on his new journey as Bob, the Level 1 Human with no class. Release Schedule: As I wrap up the end of the first major arc, I will publish the chapters as they're completed. However, as I transition into the next arc, I will go with a two or three times a week release schedule, since I will be splitting time between this story and Chimera. Discord Server
8 139 - In Serial322 Chapters
Binary Progression
JohnWillStab is the poorly-named shut-in on a quest to get into MMOs after a failed online career backfired leaving him uninterested in his speciality, strategy games. He discovers an old, abandoned game with an active, albeit very eccentric, community of no more than five-hundred players on a single server maintained by an unknown individual. Unbeknownst to him, the game he found is more than just an ordinary WoW clone and after many adventures with his group, they make the terrifying discovery that after two full volumes this story becomes a god damn isekai. What’s worse, JohnWillStab, the number-one edgelord on the server is somehow ending up in positions of power despite literally being an undead rogue with evil magic tentacles! Will John’s edginess ruin the isekai? Why does the doctor have the highest kill-count in the game? Is 👑 really a valid character you could use for your username? Can the chef perform an exorcism? Why is God asking John for chicken nuggets? Really, he could just spawn them in - in fact, we saw him spawning food in before! Find out like… two of those within the virtual pages of Binary Progression! Credit Post-Chapter Banner by @ThatNoLifeArti1 (https://twitter.com/ThatNoLifeArti1) Icons for end of chapter image by 'Lorc' Story updates and shit-posting available on twitter @MrBadWithNames1 https://twitter.com/MrBadWithNames1 Old cover by @EldricthAnomaly https://twitter.com/EldricthAnomaly
8 194 - In Serial12 Chapters
A-Zero
Prisoner 145 is a high-risk criminal kept at the world renowned prison complex Militant Base Prison Zexar aka MBPZ. Due to the numerous, horrendous crimes he had committed before arriving at the prison, it was assumed that Prisoner 145 would be sentenced to death. In the meantime, the King of Zeria, suddenly thought of an ingenious plan to expand Zerian territory without incurring the wrath of surrounding countries. This plan just happened to involve sending the most dangerous of criminals into the world. In a wicked twist of fate Prisoner 145 is released back into the world after ten years of solitary confinement as a part of this plan. How will he adapt to a world he has never seen? Who will still remember him? Does he even remember himself after all this time? I'm completely rewriting it. Cause I'm upping the quality. So uh, yeah. UPDATE: As suggested, old chapters (1-19) have been removed from RRL. If you feel like reading it, then visit my wordpress site: https://aspiringnewbie.wordpress.com/ For more information on this change go to my blog post: https://aspiringnewbie.wordpress.com/2016/03/19/welp-im-sorry-but-im-back/ Updates are super slow. Be Warned.
8 149 - In Serial26 Chapters
The Isekai
This is the story of a boy that suffered a lot in his other life, he got bullied at the highschool and his father always beat him up, cut him making him suffer, and one day he died because his father killed him. After being killed he found himself reincarnated as a baby in another world with a special mission to do. Do you think that it can get any crazier than that? Wait and see. Hello, this is the first novel that I have written. I hope you enjoy it. A friend recommended me to write this because he said that it was a good idea. Let me know how I am doing if you can. The story won't bore you. The story is: Adventure, drama, fantasy LitRpg and romance. Cover made by Harumy-kyun Deviantart. Remmember this isn't real.
8 186 - In Serial10 Chapters
My never ending cycle of Life and Death
My name is Stewart, Christopher Lynn Stewart. I am a normal Junior high student, and the 2nd son of a normal family. Well... I should be... however, my memory is being inherited by some genius in the territory of an ancient kingdom. not only were he able to comphrehend my memory and knowledge. he even put it to great use... alas... he has a short life just like me... but... there's a diffrence between me and him... that is... he is cursed... it is unknown whether it is curse or blessing but... you will understand this when you read this neverending cycle of my life and death...
8 199 - In Serial22 Chapters
Contact Through Voided Lenses
[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge] Edit: Fixed some inaccuracies in the synopsis. The void is a vast unexplored ocean filled with various wonders and dangers all waiting to be explored by those brave enough to travel and record. Many souls do find themselves brave enough to face the vast distances, the various risks to personal safety and do the hundreds of task required on a craft. However, at times the void itself can be boring with absolutely nothing to do but as time pass and more and better technology is reached, things got better. The various trips got faster, communications became faster than light and you can be home to see your loved ones after only months now. Through the various planets whether rocky or gaseous, the various stars whether small or giant, the various systems both eerily similar or completely alien. As part of an expeditionary scientific exploratory survey craft, one could see that the void offers no reprieve from all the discoveries and wonders. At times, it can feel empty and silent where no soul can hear you scream and at others it can be overwhelming with sudden phenomenon that can overwhelm the brightest of minds. The void itself is a truly fascinating ocean where one must chart the various islands or drown in its deadly tidal waves. But the question still remained no matter how you try to hide it in of itself… is there truly other intelligent life out there? Are we alone in this ocean? Those very questions still haunt the minds of those on the crafts themselves as they brace for every jump ready for the unknown and the known. Many would try to explain that yes there is other intelligent life out there whilst other still say no after 2 centuries of continuous flight out of the home system. Still, those are questions that bury deep in the minds of the crew and those at home as the voidcraft jumps to a system with a single yellow star orbited by 8 other planets with one crowning blue jewel being the 3rd closest with its 5 oceans and 7 continents, a planet called Dirt which is inhabited by a primitive species called Humanity. Hello, author here and this is my newest dive into writing particularly for the Writathon currently in progress being my first one. I hope you give me story a try but in case you still want more information on what you’re getting into, below are some pointers about the story itself. First Contact: CTVL is a story about a first contact scenario between an advanced alien civilization and a slightly more advanced modern day humanity on their planet called Dirt. Characters: The story will take place mainly on the perspective of the alien visitors themselves though there will be human POV characters who will show how the rest of humanity react through media and forums. Action: It won’t be an actual alien invasion but you have to see for yourself how well first contact went. Sci-Fi: I will be very forward here, I WILL bend the rules of physics in order to add in parts of the plot and there WILL be parts that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Theme: It will be a brooding story talking about the futility of pe… Just kidding, it’s mostly wholesome stuff to be honest here. Alien: The aliens themselves will… actually why should I tell you, you have to go and read it to find out what the aliens are though I will draw a few things here and there to aid in the process. Extra tidbit: If you are a grammar nazi or someone who really wants a realistic scifi story... this story is probably not for you at all. Anyways, that’s pretty much all I can say before I spoil something major of the plot itself, the story is slice of life so make sure that type of story is what you like because I am terrible with anything else as I found out, anyways, have a good time everyone and good luck to the other Writathon participants.
8 158