Kit found Mars inside the stable talking to Pint. “Pint, we are friends now buddy, come on, time to go on an adventure.”

Mars was trying to coax Pint out of the stall.

‘I wonder if he will have any luck. Even if he doesn’t this will be good to watch.’ Kit didn’t announce his presence. He wanted to see how Mars was going to entice the huge animal out. Kit was betting this would be entertaining.

“Pint, my new friend. Once Kit learns how to make beer, I’ll give you all you like. Hmm, that sounds good, yeah.”

“Pint you’re the most handsome horse in all of CAL. When I get money, I’ll get you a mare, come on Pint.”

Mars received a snort in reply.

“Pint if you come with me now, I’ll get you some new accessories so you can look as good as me.” After the last sentence Pint took a step backwards.

‘Ahh! I nearly lost it after that last one. The horse has more dress sense than Mars. Seriously that was gold. Lucky, I didn’t insult his dress sense, each to their own I suppose. Even if it is dressing like a giant pirate rooster. I don’t think I can watch this much longer, and stay quiet, it’s way too funny.’ Kit kept enjoying the spectacle in front of him.

“Pint come on, we can have matching accessories. You will be the best looking horse in all of CAL.” Mars excitement was coming out in his voice. Kit could tell the horse was going to get some new decorations soon. Pint gave a loud snort and shook his head. He took another step further back into the stall. Kit thought he saw a look of fear in the horse’s eyes.

‘Ahh, I can’t wait to see that.’

“How are you even a horse, you don’t even want to leave a stall. I didn’t want to ride you anyway. I just wanted you to carry the bounty.”

“What bounty are you after?” Kit’s curiosity got the better of him after that statement.

“For the love of gooseberries! Kit, you scared me.”

“I was just listening to you sweet talk Pint.”

Kit gave Mars a cheeky grin. Mars blushed a deep red and turned his head away so Kit couldn’t see his face.

“Sweet talk, please. Nothing works on this damn horse except beer. You’ll be busy learning to make it for a while. I thought I would earn some money while waiting for you. I was going to buy Pint a saddle bag to help carry items while I was exploring.”

“It’s ok, I’ve learnt how to make beer this morning. So, you won’t have to go by yourself.”

“Already, I thought it would take a couple of days, that’s why I was trying to leave with Pint. This is great if you’re done. Want to go explore outside the village today? I want to earn some more money so we can buy supplies for adventuring.”

“Ok, but if we are exploring, I think I will need more space in my inventory. It will fill up too fast otherwise. I only have 10 slots.”

“They have pouches and bags at the clothing store we can head there first. I’ve also noticed you only seem to have a knife. We should head to the smithy as well.”

Kit remembered his embarrassment at having a poor weapon. He was a swordsman and didn’t even own a sword. He was glad Mars reminded him to buy one today. Kit followed Mars out through the stable doors.

A short time later they arrived at the clothing store. It was the same size as all the surrounding shops and there was no star under the sign. Kit was a little disappointed, he was hoping to see another level 1 store.

“By the looks of things, the only store in the village to have a one star is the grocer. I wonder why that is? Mars, do you know?” Mars nodded his head.

“It’s rare for a little village like this to even have a building with a one star. The town is usually twice the size of this one before a one star building is seen. A two star usually doesn’t appear until a population over 100,000 is reached, three stars is over 500,000. There are not many four star buildings. So far, they are only found in capital cities. Five star stores have yet to be built. It’s believed that the requirements for five stars will likely never be reached. Well that’s the rumour anyway.”

“Thanks Mars, you’re actually really knowledgeable about this game.”

“Well, my whole family plays so I have learnt a lot from them over the years.”

“Why didn’t you start to play earlier?”

“I didn’t want to be supervised. I wanted to be able to make my own decisions about how I played the game. So, I waited till I was old enough to play by myself. I also didn’t want to be under my brothers’ shadow. This way everything, I do or achieve is all due to my own hard work and no one else’s.”

“Well, I’m happy you waited Mars or else I would have no one to adventure with.”

Kit gave Mars a megawatt smile. He knew Mars didn’t have an easy upbringing from the little he had disclosed to him previously. He didn’t want Mars to feel sad. Kit decided to distract Mars with something else.

“Speaking of adventures, let’s get me kitted out so we can adventure.” Kit motioned Mars to follow him, then headed into the clothing shop.

After five minutes Kit emerged with a new pouch. Kit was a little unhappy he had to part with 2 silver and 500 bronze crowns. It could not be helped though he needed the extra space for storing items. Kit sighed he knew he was about to part with more money for a sword.

“Let’s go find the smithy, then we can head to the forest. Do you know where it is?”

“The smithy is the easiest place to find we just have to follow the smoke.”

Mars looked to the sky. Kit followed his gaze. Plumes of smoke were coming from a shop in the distance. ‘Well, that is a neat trick to find a smithy.’

Kit was happy about finding out about this little trick. Even if he wasn’t with Mars in the future. He would always be able to find a smithy in any town he visited. Kit followed the smoke to the forge.

The forge looked different from the other shops it had an open area attached to store front. A large muscular man was banging away on a red glowing sword on top of an anvil. Behind him was a stone fireplace built into the wall.

Kit could feel the heat from where he was standing. He could see the sweat dripping from the large man. He could smell the coal and molten iron, it hung thick in the air around him. It felt like it was burning his nose. Kit thought he was going to be stuck with the stench up his nose for a while.

“He looks so focused, how do we get his attention so we can buy a sword?”

Mars shook his head at Kit. “Honestly how would you have managed without me, we go inside the store silly.”

Mars pointed to the old wooden door of the building the open area was attached to.

“Seriously how would I know to enter there, he is right there making a sword.”

Mars pointed to a sign above the door. [Disturb the blacksmith at own risk] Above that, was the sign for the store Bonfire Forge. ‘Yep, I should keep my mouth shut now, I look stupid.’

Mars was having a lovely chuckle at Kits expense.

Kit left Mars out front to get himself together. Inside the shop was a range of weapons. Kit knew he didn’t have any experience with swords. He went straight to the counter to ask for help.

He left the shop with a beginner sword. The stats were average. He was still happy, they were a great deal better than the rusty knife he had been using. Mars was watching the blacksmith work as Kit approached.

“New sword looks nice, I like the blue handle. What are the stats?”

Kit shared the sword information with Mars.

[Weapon: Beginner Sword, common]

Level 12

Attack + 30

Agility + 5

Speed + 5

“That’s quite good for a starter sword. How much did you pay?”

Kit felt a pang when Mars asked about the price.

“5 silver and 500 bronze crowns. They threw in the sheath for free.”

“That’s a really good price Kit. You should be happy. I could tell you hate parting with money after you were pouting about the pouch price. Don’t worry you will put those items to good use in the forest. You’ll soon get your money back on their investment.”

Kit felt a little better after hearing that. Mars was right he couldn’t collect better flora and fauna without getting close to higher level monsters and a rusty knife wouldn’t protect him.

Kit felt like he was at least looking like a swordsman now he had a proper weapon. Hopefully he could master using a sword. Right now, he didn’t have much confidence in wielding the weapon after his poor skills at using the knife. He was going to need to find someone to teach him the basics of sword craft. He needed to learn to walk before he could fly.

“Well, I’m ready to go now. I just want to grab something to eat first. I didn’t get the chance to have breakfast with Iris. None of the meals were ready.”

“Ok, I’m a bit hungry too.”

They headed to the bakery to grab a bite before leaving for the forest.

Mars and Kit were standing in the south meadow on the opposite side of town to where Kit first appeared in the stone arch. Mars was looking at a forest that was at the edge of the meadow.

Ding!

[CAL]

[Map Found: Sweet Meadow Forest.]

Rewards: 50 experience, 1 Sweet Meadow reputation point.

“We should find some good flowers and plants to sell in the forest, compared to the meadow. There is more danger inside, so we should be able to gain higher rewards. We will have to be on guard inside. Creatures are more likely to attack unprovoked in the forest.” Mars then stepped forward towards the trees.

The first thing Kit noticed on entering was the change to the daylight. The trees filtered the light. The trees were large and had a dense covering of green leaves. The further Kit walked into the forest the trees became much more plentiful. The lack of light piercing through the trees up ahead gave the forest a gloomy atmosphere.

This change made Kit feel anxious. He couldn’t see very far ahead, and there was a thick covering of forest floor. The ground was covered in thick grass, moss and fallen leaves. Kit’s feet made crunching sounds as he walked.

The forest floor and densely packed trees would easily hide predators. Hopefully, the crunch of leaves would alert Kit to something approaching, making it harder to sneak up unannounced. Kit thought this was like the horror movies his sister liked to watch, where unsuspecting people would be attacked by a ghost haunting the forest.

‘Lucky I am not like my sister, she would refuse to go in thinking a ghost would lurk inside. I can’t wait to try out my new sword.’

“Mars, can we handle the creatures inside the forest?”

“We should be able to, it‘s a starter village after all. I spoke to Iris about the forest last night while we were doing dinner service. There are only three types of creatures in here. The blue fairy bird which is very low-level. Iris said we just hit it once, and it should die. A checked snake, they are what we must be careful of, they sneak attack. Lastly the wild Fornax boar, it’s aggressive and will attack us on sight.”

“Iris said the boar is in the deeper parts of the forest, and we probably won’t come across it. So, we should be able to collect quite a bit before returning to the village.”

“Ok! Let’s do this!” Kit pumped himself up to dispel his anxious feeling.

Kit started to search the forest floor for things he could collect. After a few minutes of looking, he came across a small purple flower with a yellow centre that looked like a pansy. It was nestled at the trunk of a tree. If he hadn’t been concentrating on the ground, he would have easily missed it. Kit pulled out his knife and cut the stalk.

[petite purple]

‘Well, it has an accurate name it’s only about the size of my thumb nail.’

Kit glanced around at the other tree trunks and was able to spot the petite purple now he had seen one. Even though it was small, the purple and yellow stood out against the dull colour of the brown tree. Kit showed Mars the flower and they started to gain a collection of petite purples.

“Kit, what do you want to do in CAL. For instance, I want to be an adventurer and find hidden treasures or rare herbs. I want some excitement. Maybe fight some rare beasts, or explore some uncharted territories of CAL. I once heard an adventurer got a town named after him. That would be cool.” Mars had a faraway look on his face as if he was picturing his exploits.

“That sound good Mars. I don’t want something so exciting, don’t get me wrong, I want some adventure, but I want some stability as well. Knowing I have a place to come back to that’s mine is my dream.”

“When my dad died, my home and stability got taken away from me. So having something that is all mine and can’t be taken away, is important to me.” Kit continued to harvest petite purples as he talked.

“Kat and I had an unstable time when we first moved out. We had to move houses a couple of times, money never lasted. We even went hungry often, at first. We never had to worry about those things before.”

“We soon adjusted to our new living situation and slowly things became better. Food became a big part of my life at this time, whether it was lack of or making meals for the two of us.” Kit glanced at Mars and kept talking.

“I want to open a restaurant and create new food for people to enjoy. When I cook, I can forget about all the horrible things that have happened in my life. Instead, I can look forward to giving someone else a little moment of joy in their day.”

“I’ve learnt through my experience that the little moments of happiness all add up. To someone in a dark place those little moments can give a new path to follow out of the dark times.” Kit had a melancholic look in his eyes as he spoke.

“I’m looking forward to handing out a little moment of happiness in my restaurant. Whether it’s enhancing someone’s joy or creating a new delight, that’s what I can’t wait for. Does that sound silly?”

“Not at all. It makes me want something like that too.” Mars was giving Kit a thoughtful look.

“I like your plan Kit, it sounds nice. I will become the official adventurer of the restaurant and collect you the best ingredients from all over CAL to create your dishes.” Mars gave Kit a huge grin.

“Deal.” Kit and Mars shook hands.

Kit felt his heart swell with warmth. Even though they had only known each other for a short time, Kit was starting to think of Mars as family.

‘Well, its official, Mars and I are sappy people, at least we will get along well. It really is nice to have a friend again.’

As Kit went to get up from the ground after harvesting a purple petite, he heard a hiss from above him. Kit automatically scrambled backwards. Hanging from the tree just above where he was seconds ago was a giant green snake covered in white checks. Its body was as thick as Kits arm. The head was the size of a clenched fist.

On top of its head was a large silver diamond shaped mark. Its lower body was wound around the tree branch. It swung its head from side to side never taking its eyes off Kit. It hissed at Kit once again. It revealed two large fangs glistening with a thick liquid.

Kit’s heart was thudding wildly in his chest from the close encounter.

‘Well at least I know how it got it’s name. When they made this forest were they out of name ideas so just went with the obvious?’

Kit didn’t get much time to ponder. The snake struck towards Kit’s face. Kit felt himself freeze at the sudden movement. His eyes widened as he watched the larg

e fangs approach. He didn’t have time to react. A silver blur flashed above Kit. A quick slash was given and in the blink of an eye, the snake’s head was removed from its body.

Kit followed the silver sword with his eyes back up to the person holding the hilt.

‘Crunchy potato chips! How fast is Mars! That was incredible. He was over at that tree just a second ago, plus the snake was lighting fast itself when it struck. I really thought I was going to have a snake attached to my face.’

“How the hell did you do that, you were so fast. Was it a skill or are you a superhero in real life?”

Mars gave a little chuckle at Kit’s words.

“I learnt sword skills and mixed martial arts in real life along with my brothers since I was about four. Remember I told you my family was into sports.”

“How the hell does anyone connect knowing how to use a sword to someone who says they are into sports.”

Mars gave a shrug.

“It’s common in my family. I forget everyone else’s families are a little different.”

‘Mars is a bad ass. How am I only realising this now. I should see if he will teach me some, maybe I can become a bad ass too. Who am I kidding, I would still be as cool as a stick. Learning some basics really wouldn’t hurt.’

“Mars could you teach me some basics in swords and mixed martial arts each night?”

“Sure, but don’t expect to be an expert overnight, it takes a long time to learn. Don’t try to rush things either or you will hurt yourself.”

“Ok I’ll listen to you Captain.” Kit saluted Mars.

“Why am I Captain, and not sensi, master, or even teacher?”

“You look like a pirate with that hat, I was even thinking about getting you an eye patch.”

“…..”

Mars had an unbelievable look on his face.

Kit quickly busied himself, or he knew he would be in for a lecture about Mars’ clothes if he stayed still. Kit collected the meat from the checked snake and continued to search the ground for plants. While Kit was making himself busy, he came across two varieties of mushrooms.

They went with the theme of being obvious and were called brown small mushroom and brown medium mushroom. He also found another flower that was like the petite purple except it was blue with a red centre, and of course it was called petite blue.

After two hours of collecting, they decided to take a break. Kit sat down on a soft patch of grass waiting for Mars to finish collecting the last of the blue petits in the area. As Kit glanced around the forest, he spotted a small bright blue bird.

‘That must be the blue fairy bird Mars told me about earlier, it is pretty. Its coat looks more like down than feathers. Is it a baby bird? I’m glad I finally get to see a cute animal. I was thinking there might be something wrong with this game.’

Kit stayed sitting watching the cute little bird. He didn’t want to move. It was only a low level creature. Kit was sure it wouldn’t cause any harm. It was so tiny, about the size of a sparrow. It hopped around as it scattered the foliage looking for food. Its bright neon blue colour made it stand out amongst the dull forest.

Kit continued to watch the blue fairy, it hadn’t noticed Mars or Kit yet. It was happily pecking away oblivious to its surroundings. Mars wandered over to Kit and sat down next to him, they both watched the blue bird shuffling around eating.

“It’s really cute hey.”

“Yes, finally something that’s not overgrown.”

Just as Kit spoke the blue fairy raised its head and stared straight at him. It paused, then opened its beak, and let out an ear-piercing screech.

- 5 damage

- 5 damage

- 5 damage

Kit stuck his fingers in his ears to stop the sound. ‘Well, I was not expecting that big of a sound from the cute little fellow.’

Next to him Mars pulled out a knife and threw it at the blue bird. It was an accurate hit, the bird was pierced with the knife instantly dying.

Kits eyes widened at what he just saw.

“Mars seriously, are you a ninja? You are so freaking cool. If you keep it up, we won’t be friends anymore because I will turn into a crazy fan instead.”

Mars shook his head and got up to retrieve his knife, then returned to where Kit was sitting.

“Kit, you already saw me throw knifes at the Spectral Nile Reptile’s yesterday. Why are you so surprised today?”

“Oh, that’s what you did. I didn’t really pay attention yesterday, I was more focused on staying alive.”

Mars chuckled at his response. As they were talking neon blue shapes started to appear all around them. Kit got a shock when he realised, they were being surrounded by the cute little birds. After counting over 30 Kit realised, they might be in a bit of trouble.

“I don’t think they are so cute anymore.”

The blue birds suddenly stopped and countless pairs of eyes fixed on them. Kit was starting to be creeped out by their unblinking eyes. He felt an ominous shiver go down his spine. The blue fairies opened their beaks at the same time as if they had a telepathic connection and a monstrous noise emerged.

Kit eyes widened in fear. He was not fast enough to cover his ears.

Ding!

[Player Kit has died]

30 seconds.

The words hung in front of Kit and the world around him turned pale. Kit was unable to move. Under the words Kit has died was a timer counting down from 30 seconds. Kit could still see Mars. He had stuffed material in his ears and was currently killing the blue fairies with ease.

Kit was amazed at how fast he had died. He had survived the hulking rabbit and the monstrous Spectral Nile reptiles. He could not believe he was done in by a flock of cute little birds. His first spectacular death was robbed by the neon blue cuties.

Kit was upset that it was not even a grand way to die. No saving the damsel. No sacrificing himself so others could live. It was just plain embarrassing.

‘Seriously this is the first time I die. How am I supposed to live this down? This is so embarrassing. I will need to convince Mars to keep quiet about this incident.’

Kit tried to come up with an idea to keep Mars quiet. He didn’t want Kat to find out. He knew she would not be able to contain her evil streak if she had something this good to tease him about.

“I wonder what happens at the end of the timer?”

Kit was not left waiting for the answer long. A white light flashed causing Kit to close his eyes.

Ding!

[Player Kit revived at Spring Meadow]

Player under level 10 no penalties.

Kit opened his eyes and looked around. He realised he was at his starting point under the stone arch north of the village.

‘Well at least it won’t take me long to return to the forest.’

Kit tried to think of ideas to convince Mars to stay quiet as he headed towards the village to go and find Mars. Hopefully he would be successful in convincing him not to share this story with anyone.