Name: Ether Diros

Species: Human

Class: Adventurer (Lvl 3)

HP: 16

MP: 16

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 10

Vitality: 11

Willpower: 11

Active Effects:

[Adaptive]

[Aegis of the World Tree]

Skills:

[Casting] Lvl 1

[Identify] Lvl 2

[Reflect Projectile] Lvl 1

[Running] Lvl 1

[Basic Weapon Proficiency: Glaive]

[Pocket Sand]

Spells:

[Shock]

[Silent Lesser Heal]

Available Stat points: 2

“Hey, Perseus?” Ether called as they walked further north. “Do you have any idea why I have stat points in Vitality and Willpower that I never put there?” He impulsively added 1 point each to both Strength and Dexterity as he spoke. He knew it probably wasn’t a great idea to split up his points too much, but he wanted to see how much of a difference a single point really made. Sure enough, his glaive felt a bit lighter as his new point in strength took effect, and though it may have been his imagination, he thought he felt lighter on his feet as well.

“[Adaptability],” Perseus answered immediately. “Most races have a single stat they tend to be better in than the others. Humans get [Adaptability] instead. Whatever you used or needed the most between one level and the next gets a free point when you finally level up. I’m guessing you got Vitality for letting Orlando curb stomp you and Willpower for facing higher level opponents - or maybe just from relying on magic. Once you get a proper class, that’ll boost you up too.”

“That reminds me,” Ether said with a glance towards their newest party member, “how do you already have a class, Sharlette? I thought we couldn’t pick one until level 10, but my skill says you’re a Battle Chef.”

“You can just call me Shar,” Sharlette replied, “and that’s a weird story. Apparently, if you happen to have 2 or more skills that apply to both cooking and combat and use them both in the same battle, you unlock the option to become a Battle Chef. I got lucky, since my first skills were [Slice] and [Flash Fry], I was able to unlock my class as soon as I beat that boar.”

“There aren’t too many classes you can get early on like that,” Perseus said smugly, “but as it turns out, I got one too - [Rogue]. Just needed to take out an enemy from [Stealth] to earn it.”

“Wonderful,” Ether said dryly. “I’m lagging behind already.”

“Don’t worry, most of the people playing this game are worse than me!” Perseus said modestly. “And they don’t even have the excuse of not knowing what the hell they’re doing, like you do!”

“Was that supposed to make me feel better?”

“No, it was supposed to make me feel more amused.”

“So are you two always like this, or…..” Shar looked back and forth between the bickering pair, raising an eyebrow.

“Usually,” Ether admitted. “We’ve been annoying each other for about 20 years at this point, so any conversation between us that doesn’t start with a taunt or an insult makes us nervous.”

“It just feels wrong,” Perseus agreed with a melodramatic shudder. “Though to be fair, it also feels kinda wrong that we’ve gone this long without Violet yelling at us to shut up.”

Violet was Lily’s equivalent to ‘Ether’, her preferred pseudonym - and 9 times outta 10, the party’s tank.

“Speaking of…” Ether trailed off, tapping the flashing message notification that appeared in front of him.

Hey, moron number 2. Get Asher to answer his messages and finish the damn tutorial!

If you guys aren’t here by the end of the day, I’m gonna go hunt bosses without you!

- Violet

“She’s getting impatient,” he said with a shake of his head. “We gotta hit level 10 and leave the valley ASAP. Let’s deal with those goblins and find our next quest before she tries to go and solo a raid boss.”

Shar frowned as Perseus laughed. “She wouldn’t really do that, right? I mean… that’s insane! This game actually hurts!”

Perseus just laughed harder.

“We should hurry,” Ether translated dryly. “She’s the sort who -”

Whatever he might have to say about his childhood friend was cut short as an arrow slammed into his shoulder, prompting a smug combat window to pop up.

[Goblin] has attacked you for 5 points of piercing damage.

If only you had a skill specifically for blocking arrows!

Ether winced as he pulled the arrow back out, quickly patching the wound with [Silent Lesser Heal]. Arrows soared through the air as his friends scattered, seeking shelter from the sudden onslaught - but the only shelter to be found was a handful of boulders along the horizon.

Boulders that were covered by half a dozen goblins.

[Goblin] Lvl 3,3,3,4,4,6

Goblins are clever little fiends, and they almost never fight alone.

Their antics vary front tribe to tribe, ranging from mischief to outright banditry

With razor sharp teeth, even an unarmed Goblin is a deadly threat to the unprepared.

The complete lack of sarcasm in the [Identify] menu made Ether nervous.

“Perseus, [Soaring Blades] please!” He called as he charged forwards. He wasn’t a tank, but between the sole point he’d earned in Vitality and the skill he’d earned from Orlando, he was the most durable person there. He deflected arrows as best he could, desperately spinning his glaive as the goblins filled the air with deadly projectiles. He felt the cost of sustaining his defensive skill as his MP drained away and his muscles burned, but he kept pushing forwards, determined to keep tOne of the archers fell as the smirking [Rogue] gave them a taste of their own medicine, nailing them between the eyes with a dagger.

That, as it turned out, may have been a mistake. Wordlessly and in perfect unison, the small green men and women adjusted their aim and began to pelt the pale man with arrows, all but ignoring Ether and Sharlette. Perseus blurred, activating some sort of movement skill as he lunged towards another of the archers, but the goblins showed no fear. He stabbed the tiny green bowman with one knife while pulling another out from behind his back, but he never got a chance to use it. The fatally wounded goblin smirked as it pulled out a weapon of its own - a smal, black sphere with a burning wick attached to it.

“Sonuva-” a massive explosion cut Perseus off as the goblin’s sacrificial attack sent him flying back, agony tearing through his body. Ether jumped in front of his wounded friend, desperately trying to block the arrows raining around them while he cast another healing spell. He took the spluttering cough and groan he heard from behind him as proof of his success, lunging towards a goblin as it dropped its bow and drew a wickedly serrated knife instead.

This goblin seemed faster than the other two, and it easily dodged his clumsy thrust, closing the distance between them with practiced grace. Ether felt pain shoot through him as the grinning goblin slashed at his side, leaving a shallow but painful wound. It tried to move past him, lunging towards the prone form of Perseus -

“[Flash Fry]!” Sharlette screamed, holding out one hand towards the goblin just as she had with the boar.

The goblin skid to a halt as flames leapt up around him, quickly forming a dome. There was a horrific screeching sound as the flames closed in around him. The explosion that followed would’ve blinded Ether if he looked at it, but having seen the spell once before, he knew better.

He turned toward the horrified goblins, charging in their brief moment of terrified paralysis. It wasn’t enough to let him cover the full distance, but he didn’t need to. Lightning leapt from the tip of his glaive as he pointed it towards the nearest archer, blasting it from its perch atop the boulder.

The remaining goblins moved in unison, each firing one last arrow his way before dropping their bows and drawing short, rusty iron swords. Standing between him and their wounded comrade, the pair of them snarled at him, pointing their weapons towards him as if warning him to stay back.

He slowed as he drew near, glancing back and forth between the two goblins. The goblin who’d so easily dodged him had been the strongest one, but these two were each still a higher level than him, and blocking their arrows earlier had drained the last of his MP. He couldn’t strike them without getting dangerously close, and his weapon was beginning to feel heavy in his hands. Ether felt his heart sink. This wasn’t a fight he could win alone.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to. Two blurs shot past him as his party caught up to him, each of them lunging towards one of the goblins. Knives flashed in the midafternoon sun as the adventurers clashed with their attackers, viciously pushing the goblins to their limit.

Perseus fought like a madman, blades blurring and whirling as he unleashed a relentless, lightning quick series of slices and stabs at one of the snarling goblins. The tiny green raider fought back valiantly, but in the time it took for him to swing his short sword even once, the vicious [Rogue] had left half a dozen shallow cuts across his chest. It was hard to even call what followed a fight, as the pale adventurer systematically tore the poor goblin to shreds.

Shar hardly had to do anything on her end, the frantic, panicking goblin too worried by her mere proximity to put up a proper defense. It swung at her once… twice… the third desperate strike was its last mistake, throwing the green menace off balance long enough for her to strike. The wounded goblin struggled to her feet, eager to help her companions, but by the time she drew her blade, it was too late.

Ether thought he’d been handling this fight a lot better than the last one. It helped that the goblins were… well, goblins. They looked more human than the boar or the wolf, but they were still clearly monsters, with oddly wide heads, crimson eyes and razor sharp, triangular teeth. Still, the horrified look in the last goblin’s eyes as she stared at the corpses of her friends seemed all too real. He pushed that aside as best he could, reminding himself that it was just a game.

The tiny, wounded goblin girl stumbled backwards, terror in her eyes as she found that the boulder on which she’d been perched seconds ago now blocked her only escape route. Suddenly, the dread seemed to fade from her eyes, replaced with a steely determination. She steeled herself as Ether stepped forwards, her rusty blade held high and a vicious smile on her face. Her hands shook slightly as she stared him down, but she didn’t flinch as he lifted his glaive. She had chosen to die fighting!

That choice was taken from her, though, as a dark blur whizzed past the three adventurers, claw-like hands outstretched. The trio watched in abject horror as the level 6 goblin that Sharlette had blasted with [Flash Fry] earlier lashed out with lightning speed and ripped the still beating heart from the smaller goblin. The scorched goblin turned to them with a wicked smile as he - no, it - tossed the lump of quivering flesh into its waiting maw.. As it swallowed, an eerie blue glow began to leak from the creature, shining through its blackened skin.

“You are all just meat,” it rasped in a thick accent. “Meat and blood and souls, all mine! MINE!” The glow intensified as it stepped towards them, scorched skin beginning to flake off to reveal a skeletal, emaciated form beneath. The blue light poured through its face in the shape of a skull as its smile grew unnaturally wide. “Feed me! Feed me more and more and MORE AND MORE!”

Ether reflexively sank into a defensive stance as he tried to [Identify] the now cackling beast.

WARNING!

Deadly monster encountered.

[Demon Goblin] level 6

7

8

[Demon Goblin] level 9

Demons grow quickly in strength, devouring the souls of the fallen.

They spread like wildfire, and must be destroyed.

KILL IT.

Congratulations! For scanning a deadly creature at close range, [Identify] has reached lvl 3!

NOW KILL IT.