The butcher grabbed a pig from a wooden box filled with ice and slammed it on top of the counter. After letting it thaw for a bit, he began to prepare the meat while explaining it to Jack in detail how he should cut it, how to preserve the meat once he was done, what to avoid doing, what parts were worth deboning or not deboning, so on and so forth.

It was so much specialized information that Jack was afraid he wouldn’t be able to remember it all after Tony was finished. How would he complete the quest then? Thankfully, his worries were unfounded. When the butcher finished explaining every minutia of the job, a window popped up in front of Jack.

You acquired the Prepare Game mastery! Prepare Game (beginner) lvl 1: 0% - Allows one to prepare the meat from hunted animals or beasts. The higher the level, the stronger the monster you can prepare meat from. It also influences the quality of the cut and the value of the meat when sold as an ingredient. Useful for hunters, chefs, butchers and maniacs.

Maniacs? This “game” is scary sometimes…

Tony grabbed another pig from an icebox and let Jack try doing by himself this time. The youth was surprised to find out that once he began the process, vague instructions popped out in his head about what action to take and how he should go about each step. Because of this, he was managing to do an okay job even though it was his first time doing anything of the sort.

So, this is how masteries works. How mysterious!

“Right, that’s it. Cut below the bone now. Good job!”

“Thanks,” said Jack as he went for the ribs. “What about all that chosen stuff you were talking about before?”

“Oh, that. We call chosen the ones that can grow and evolve beyond us mere mortals. Fierce warriors, powerful mages, deadly assassins… you name it. The chances of anyone becoming a chosen are slim. What’s strange though is that everyone that comes from the old monastery portal become chosen without fail. They quickly grow to levels that are astonishing to us regular people. Chosen are also the only ones capable to find treasure in the most unusual places. I saw one retrieve a sword from a dead snake once. Until this day I don’t know how he pulled it off.”

Hum, so chosen to them are those that can reach high levels and loot mobs then.

Jack kept talking with the butcher to learn more and continued his work on the pig. When he finished preparing the meat to the best of his ability, his mastery gained one level, reaching beginner 2.

“Not bad for your first time. You butchered a few parts here and there, but it was okay overall.”

“Thanks.”

“That’s it then, go to the woods south of town and bring back my 20 boars’ worth of meat! You can borrow that knife till then.”

Quest updated. Collect 20 boars’ worth of meat for Tony. Time limit: 5 days.

Jack walked out of town and went for the woods with the same stray dog in tow. He’d no idea why the dog was following him nor could he make it go away, therefore he decided to just ignore it. Taking the spear out of his inventory, he equipped it and entered the forest.

Apprentice’s Spear – Common – Damage 1-3 – Range 1-2 – Impaling Weapon

“All right, let’s go!”

“woof!”

“Shh, quiet you.”

“Nah, you shut up.”

“Huh? Again?”

He turned around with a spin and quickly glanced to the somewhat empty streets. After eliminating the few passersby he suddenly glanced at the dog. The mutt looked back at him and tilted is head sideways, raising his ears a little. Jack stared at the dog for a long ten seconds before sighing.

“Forget it, I’m hearing things.”

After heading to the woods, it took five minutes of walking around till Jack found a wild boar. The creature noticed his presence, puffed through its nose and charged at him with his large tusks. Jack was terrified. The boar was large, coming up to his waist in height and its ferocious charge made the earth tremble a bit. It was completely different than what he thought hunting boars would be like.

He lined his spear against the creature and held it tight, making his hands hurt in the process. His heart was beating wildly, threatening to jump out of his mouth as he waited for the beast to impale itself on his weapon. When the boar was almost on top of him, he shouted.

“Beginner’s Luck!”

The boar crashed against the spear. Jack felt a strong recoil on his arms and his feet left the ground for a moment before he was thrown backwards with force. He felt some pain, but more than anything he felt a crazy rush of adrenaline overtake him. A number appeared on top of the boar’s head and a window popped up.

-12

Critical hit! Your attack hit a vital organ of the monster, dealing x4 times the normal amount of damage!

You’ve defeated a wild boar and gained 5 XP.

Don! The scary sound and effects once again popped into Jack’s view.

You earned an achievement! Everyone remembers their first time [+1 pts]: How was it? Did you like it?

Jack stayed sprawled on the ground breathing roughly. His body was covered in cold sweat and trembling from goose bumps. It took him almost thirty seconds for him to recover.

“Holy cow, that was awesome!”

Jack’s heart was pumping like crazy. He never felt so alive like the moment he stood there waiting for the boar to reach him. Time seemed to slow down and he felt a mixture of fear and anticipation as the mighty beast charged over. It was electrifying.

“Right, what are all these windows? A critical hit? That’s why it died in one blow. Good! Beginner’s luck is a great skill. I also got some xp and… what the hell is this achievement? Man, this game is sure wei-awesome!” he quickly corrected himself. “Oh? I took some damage too, I almost forgot about that. I need to be careful with their charges from now on. But for now, let’s loot this puppy!”

Crouching down near the boar’s corpse, Jack removed his spear that was impaled in the beast’s mouth and scratched his head in doubt. How did one loot monsters in this place? He touched the boar’s body and a small window popped up.

Empty.

“Go figure.”

He grabbed the knife Tony lent him and began preparing the boar’s meat. All the while, the stray dog kept circling him, trying to approach the fallen beast.