Chapter twelve, Question time about a quest.

“This first quest is mandatory. You have no choice or say in the matter. This one you will do. After you finish this quest, we will know what level you’re on and what capabilities you have. There will come more and more quests, but it will be up to you to choose which ones you take on. The quest is called ‘Madness at every turn’. You will be teleported to the starting point after this conversation. If you succeed with the quest, you will get experience points and a new skill or a choice of a level up of an existing skill. If you don’t have any questions, I’ll transfer you now.”

“Yes I have a question,” I said “what should I be expecting on this quest? The name only makes me both curious and a bit scared.”

“It’s a win or lose quest. If you succeed, you will have the ability to do great things. If not, you will get teleported back to Rondellen and Eonde.” Userus said with austerity in his voice.

“Hey about that. You said in the beginning of my coming here that I had a choice of going back. Feels like there never was a choice, was there?” I asked a bit confused.

“Green Raven, you have the possibility to achieve greatness, but not if you always choose the safe way. So no, there were not really any choices here. So go for it and don’t disappoint me.”

Control of the body is temporarily taken over to avoid accidental injury.

Stasis induced

Teleportation to PAERD, location HIDDEN commencing…

Loading..

Loading.

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Teleportation to HIDDEN concluded…

Removal stasis of the body

Waking up Green Raven formerly known as indenture 6012349873

I woke up with a jolt, sat straight up, and looked around. I was once again in a forest. It was a lush green place that seemed similar to the one I woke up in the first time I got to PAERD. The sun was up, and I couldn’t spot any clouds at all. Apparently, I was now about to do a quest. Wait, there was something more that happened when I was with or at Userus. I got an assistant. Time to figure out how he, she, it could help me. So I focused on ‘Yoerus’, “Hey, you there?”

“I am here young, Green Raven, how can I be of assistance?”

“For starters, where are we? What is this quest all about? How shall we do it? And are you a he, she or it?”

“I am an It, but if it’s easier for you, you can call me he or she. It doesn’t bother me. The answers of your other questions are easy. We are on PAERD close to the Gargantious Mountains, where we will find the starting point of the quest ‘Madness at every turn’. The purpose of the quest is to find out if you have what it takes. How shall we do it? You shall do it with my help.”

“Okay, thank you for that. Point me in the right direction and let us be off.” All of a sudden a small map appeared in my field of vision and it was just like a GPS. It was a blinking cursor that was me, and it showed where to go. I started to follow the directions and walked for maybe ten minutes in a quite dense forest that opened up and became more of a grassland.

It started to feel more ominous. All of a sudden, “Green Raven, look out! 3 level 15 Binos are coming right for you. You have 2 minutes until they reach you. Have you fought them before?”

“No, never even heard of them.”

“Okay, Binos are really great to kill. They drop something we call binoculars that you can use to see farther than your eyes. It’s their heads that drop after you kill them. They only attack during days when the sun is shining because their attack is based on sunlight that amplifies through their eyes. The attack looks like lasers, I think one offworlder from earth said. At level 15, one beam takes 26-30 damage a second the laser hits you. 30 seconds out, get ready!”

In the high grass, I now started to see something that really looked like binoculars on legs. They were almost in the same shade as the grass they were moving through making them hard to spot. “Uhm, Yoerus, what is the best way of attacking them? You know my skills and what I can and can’t do, right?”

“Yes, I know your stats page like the back of my hand. I know that you have saved a level-up. I know that even if your skills are legendary or better. They aren’t that good for fighting, at least not at the low level you have them at. So I say that you meet them head on for now. Dodge the lasers and use that sword of yours to take them out.”

The first of the Binos had now almost reached me when it stopped and turned its head towards the sun. I saw how the head went from green to red. Oh oh, time to move. I dodged to the right and pulled the sword into my hand at the same time from [Inventory] and rushed the monster in two fast leaps and slashed right at the legs. The creature fired off a laser beam at the same time that narrowly missed me. Instead, it went straight up in the air. Before it had time to change the direction of the beam, I forced my sword right between his binocular eyes, ending his life. In the time it had taken me to kill the first one, two other Binos were in striking distance to me. Both of them fired lasers toward me. I didn’t see it. I only heard Yoerus;

“Duck!”

So I dropped flat on my belly, and the lasers zipped past me just where my body had been mere hundreds of a second before. “Thanks!” I thought to Yoerus. I turned to my back and the Binos were just about to fire off another salvo when I got an idea. On the grass in front of me lay some broken sticks. If I only could get them to hit the Binos and distract them long enough for me to get up again and attack them. I used [Telekinesis] and got one stick then another one to hit each of the Binos. At the same time, I got up on two feet again. I bum rushed straight at them hitting the first one with the handle of my sword, getting him to tumble to the ground. Then I turned and sliced off the other Binos head. Just in time, I turned back to the first one whose head started to become red and finished him off. After they were both still, I got the notification.

Congratulations you have received 60 points for killing 3 level 15 Binos.

“A question, Yoerus. Do I always have to use [Inspect Being] to be able to loot them? There must be a better way of doing it?”

“No need to inspect them, just loot them. Be warned, if they carry lots of junk and you use ‘Loot All’, your [Inventory] might be overflowing. You will need to drop items before you close down the page.”

“Aha well, I know what to do if that happens.” I answered.

[Loot All]

You have received 30 gold, 3 binoculars and 2 Bino cores

“Huh, what are Bino cores?” I asked Yoerus.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? I thought you knew everything that Userus knew? You're saying that he doesn’t know either what it is? let see if [Inspect Item] gives us a clue.”

Bino Core

A core from the monster Bino

“Okay that did not help one bit. Let me rephrase the question, what is a core?”

“A core is a core.”

“Thanks for nothing. Just show me the way forward on your fancy map.” So he doesn’t know or doesn't want to tell me. I think I’ll hold on to them for now. They might prove useful.

The journey continued through a steppe filled with knee-high green grass and the occasional sound from what probably was birds, even if I hadn't seen any yet. The ‘GPS’ or interactive map I followed, pointed right through the steppe and beyond into a more barren land that reminded me of the desert outside Ostvik. That made me think, “Yoerus?”

“Yes, Green Raven?”

“Is there any way to zoom out the map and show me where Ostvik is compared to where we are now?” I pondered.

“Yes, and no. Usually there is a way, but it’s blocked until you finish the quest.”

“I see.” I said and was quiet while I pondered some more, “so you are saying that when I’m doing a quest, I’m locked in that location until I’ve done the quest?”

“That is correct, and although I’d wanted to speak more of this fascinating subject,” he said with a great deal of irony in his voice. “I must alert you that there is a hoard of 40 TeraLizzard’s coming our way. I presume that you haven’t fought them either before. Hang on while I download the information on them in your brain.”

I was like, what?! Download information? And then it just came to me. Pictures and information just sped past my vision. After that, I knew everything there was to know about TerraLizzard’s and how to best defeat them with the ‘tools’ I had available. In short, it was a Snake shaped lizard that spat a blueish chemical slime that slows you down for 20 seconds if it hits you or if you step in it. It also burns you for the time you’re in the slime. The ones that were going to attack me were level 23. I just knew that too. The damage they took was 40 dmg/second. With my low HP, I better avoid the slime at all costs. Note to self, gotta get that HP up. A note was not enough. I needed a big ass sign in capital letters that was blinking in time with Darudes hit song ‘Sandstorm’. That sign should be right where I couldn’t miss seeing it. I’m jesting of course, but things have been very hectic. Time has gone past so fast the last couple of days since I leveled up to 15. Now I was level 16, but I knew that I had level-up notifications for at least two more levels. With 5 points per level, I had the ability to boost my vitality quite a bit. But with 40 level 23 TerraLizzard’s coming any second, now was not the time for it. I needed to survive this and then do some stats admin.

“Hello, Green Raven, hello!?! Not to scare you, but the hoard is just a minute away now. I hope you have a plan, or you will be a smorgasbord for the TerraLizzards very soon.”

“Yes!”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes Yoerus, I have a plan. Now let me be and let me concentrate. Tell you what, just be quiet until I call for you again.” I said exasperated. I was getting annoyed with another voice in my head speaking to me. Sure, I’d probably get used to him, uh it, but right now I was a long way from getting there. I know I sound like a spoiled brat. Most people would sacrifice his left arm to get a ‘Smart AI’ that helped with things. Even if I played games online, had a cellphone, and did most of my business online, I liked it old school. An old phone connected to a landline, a paper-note with the grocery-list. Getting a second voice in my brain was shocking to say the least. But yes I’d do my damnedest to acclimate as soon as possible. I just wasn’t there yet. This is what I was thinking when I should have made up a plan for the coming attack. When the first chemically blueish slime hit me, It really jolted me back to reality, or at least back to life on PAERD.

Damage taken:

40

Damage negated from armor:

40

Damage taken:

40

Damage negated from armor:

40

Damage taken:

40

Damage negated from armor:

40

Damage taken:

40

Damage negated from armor:

40

Okay, damn, fuuuuck! What to do?! At least my new robe is ass kicking! Even if I didn’t take damage, it felt weird to see the robe bubble from the acid like slime. When it hit me on my left arm, it slowed down my movements. I frantically looked around the area nearby to see if I missed something. There was only dead grass and bushes and sand and small stones. Hang on, could I do something with [Telekinesis] and the small stones?

Damage taken:

40

Damage negated from armor:

40

Damage taken:

40

Damage negated from armor:

40

Damage taken:

40

Now my right arm was moving more slowly. I needed to do something right this instant! I focused on [Telekinesis] and the gravel-like small stones. I flung them and a bit of sand right into the charging TerraLizzards. They did not like that one bit, but that was it. It annoyed them, nothing else from what I could see. Wait a minute, I’m so stupid. I got my sword in my hand and tried [Telekinesis] again with the gravel and the sand. Now, it was more than a mere annoyance. With the cheaper skill thanks to the sword, I was able to channel the skill through the sword and blasted them with gravel and sand. A quick look at my mana bar showed that just as the last Lizzard fell, my mana bottomed out.

Congratulations you have received 1440 points for killing 40 level 23 TerraLizzard’s.

“Okay, you can speak now, Yoerus. Can you scan the area? After I have looted these monsters, I’m going to do some serious admin work on my stats. That felt way too close. It was just thanks to my asskicking robe that I didn’t kick the bucket there. I don’t want to get attacked when I’m doing this.”

“Normally on a quest this is something I will not agree is a good idea. In your case, I say it’s a must to get your vitality up and as you say do some stats admin work. Checking the area…”

He was quiet for approximately 30 seconds.

“Area is safe for 9 hours at least. Go for admin work.”

“Thank you!”

[Loot All]

18 TerraLizzard cores

Wtf! I didn’t ask Yoerus or even inspect them. I just left the cores in my [Inventory]. I mean not even a gold coin. It was just these damn cores that I couldn’t find out anything about. Not yet at least, but there will come a time when I would find out how to use them or what they were for.

I focused on a level up notification.

Congratulation you have reached level 17

You have 3 unspent points to spend on your stats. An additional 2 points for being from another world.

My first priority now is get my HP up, and then maybe mana? The way my sword channeled the skill, I wonder if strength makes it stronger. Or was intelligence? Logically thinking, it should be the latter. Stamina hasn't been an issue since I got it to 70. Maybe even it out to a hundred later down the road? But first HP.

Status:

Name: Green Raven

Level: 17

Coins: 1855 gold, 47 silver,

51 rusty copper.

Attributes:

Strength 12

Dexterity 10

Endurance 7

Vitality 12

Intelligence 10

Wisdom 50

Available points: 17

Health: 120/120

Stamina: 70/70

Mana: 500/500

Skills:

[Inspect item] level 2/10

[Inspect being] level 4/10

[Telekinesis] level 3

[Copy] level 1

17 points to play with. 8 in vitality gets my HP up to 200. Is that enough? 9 points left. Those 1400 points I got for killing off the last monster probably will give me a few more levels. I killed 40 level 23 monsters off with 500 mana. Let's put all 17 points in vitality.

I focused on vitality and put all 17 points in. Just like last time, there was no warning, there was intense pain and black out.