Second chapter of the day, GO!

Enjoy

Note: holy crap this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Since I was proud of the original training scene, I fixed it up to match this revision, but I most likely missed something. I'll fix whatever you guys find wrong after I rest my eyes. 4218 words, phew

---------------------------

Steel opened his eyes to the new day as his avatar body appeared next to the east gate. He checked himself over and nodded in satisfaction that everything was exactly the same as when he logged out yesterday. When he logged off, his body would disappear, not allowing anything to happen to it while he was in the real world.

Since it was still early in the morning, Steel decided that now was as good a time as any to gather the 25 green herbs since he was right next to the east gate. Like last time, he walked up to one of the gate guards and handed over the letter with the leaf on it. The guard inspected the letter and nodded.

“Per request of the alchemist Roxanne, you are permitted to spend the day in the farmlands in order to gather green herbs for her. You must be back before sunset otherwise you will not be permitted to leave again. If you have any questions for me regarding the area in the farmland, ask now.”

Steel noted the difference in treatment compared to the previous night, but held his tongue on the matter as it was a different guard. “Tell me sir, what are the dangers in the farmlands?”

The guard nodded, “Though you cannot see it, there is a wooden fence that runs the length of the farmlands. Guards patrol that fence and keep large predators away, however many vermin slip past and make their home in the area. Among the enemies you may encounter, they will include rats, rabbits, foxes, and in rare cases a wolf. The order in which I have mentioned them is their strength, so avoid foxes and wolves if you can help it. You may come across a farmer while walking around and may accept quests from them to exterminate some vermin.”

Steel nodded his head in thanks and entered the farmland. As it was early in the morning, Steel had his first real opportunity to see the farmland in its full glory. His first impression of outside the wall was one of amazement. Beautiful grassland and tilled farmland separated the wall from a forest, in which he could vaguely see the outline of a fence. He could see small animals moving through the grass and butterflies flying through the air. A river flowed nearby through the fields and made its way from the north part to the south part.

Steel became very excited as he took in the sites before him and felt a sense of wonder-lust rise up inside him. As he made his way down the path toward the farmland, he came across a bunny in his path.

The bunny watched him for a little while, and then resumed eating grass. When he got close, it took off, stopped and resumed staring at him while eating grass. Annoyed, Steel began walking again, but the bunny did the same thing and blocked his path. This time though, the bunny turned and pooped in his direction before turning back around and eating grass again.

Peeved, and slightly irritated the bunny gave a shit at him, Steel chased the bunny around the field for the next 30 minutes, with each time getting close to the bunny it was almost in his grasp, yet so far it escaped every time. He ran so much his stamina level hit zero and he had to lie down to rest. Looking around, he noticed a group of bunnies watching him and the other bunny, all nibbling what looked like a carrot.

"Oh great, I'm providing the entertainment for dinner." He said weakly. Seeing that his stamina would take a while to recover, he put his head back down and watched the clouds above his head.

"The realism is amazing here." He muttered, amazed at the level of detail the world had, "Even the clouds move like in the real world."

As he lay in the grass with his eyes closed, he felt pressure start to build on his body, like as if a rock had been dropped on his stomach. He opened his eyes to find himself covered in sleeping rabbits.

"How cute," He thought, "I feel bad for trying to fight them."

He moved his right hand up to pet a bunny on his chest. It sneezed in its sleep and rubbed its head against his hand. Steel smiled as he pet it, and then froze in fear.

The rabbit had yawned, revealing a mouth full of razor sharp teeth and two large fangs that blended in to its fur. It reached its hind leg up and scratched itself before farting.

"Uhhh, what kind of rabbit has teeth like that!" He screamed in his head. He quickly scanned the rabbits lying on his body in a panic.

“Scan.” He muttered as he activated his ability. Scan was an ability all players possessed that allowed them to see another’s information. It was the reason why Steel could see the names of players above their heads as well as their levels.

According to the scan, the majority of bunnies resting on his body were regular bunnies at level 2 and 3. However, the large bunny directly in front of his face was a different story.

“Le . . . level 5 Devil Rabbit.” Steel read hoarsely as he stared at the screen, “Rare rabbit variant that prefers to eat the flesh of its victims along with carrots. Beginners should avoid at all cost.”

According to the system, a devil rabbit had a 5% chance of spawning in any area with a high enough rabbit population. It was tamable and a possible evolution for beast tamers who raised rabbits, but was hard to get due to its vicious nature.

“You can tame animals in this game too as well as evolve them? Man, this game sure does have everything.” Steel muttered under his breath, “A beast tamer profession as well, maybe I should look into that.”

“Wait a moment,” He realized, “This is not a time to be impressed by game mechanics! I have to use my superior intelligence to slowly extract myself from this situation.”

Then, he sneezed from the rabbit hair tickling his nose.

The rabbits slowly opened their eyes and stared at him. Steel stared back, sweat beginning to come off him in droves.

"Heh heh, nice bunnies?"

The Hungry Bunny looked at him and smiled, which did nothing to reduce his stress as he watched the large fangs come into view. It hopped over to his neck, sniffed him and

(SLURP)

The thing licked his mouth! Instantly, Steel shot up and rolled jumped onto a grass hill, freaking out as he ran toward the gate.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHhhhhhhh! Demon bunnies!" He cried, trying to escape with his life.

Unfortunately, his stamina was still down, and he collapsed halfway to the gate. He could only watch as the herd of bunnies hopped toward him; closer, and closer, with the Devil Rabbit at the head of the herd.

They reached him, and he put his hand over his face. Before the rabbits reached him, however, he heard footsteps behind him and opened his eyes to see the rabbits scatter in front of him. He got up and turned to see guards marching down the path toward him. He sighed in relief as they approached.

“You’re lucky traveler that it was time to switch patrols.” The lead guard said, “In the future, stay away from large herd of bunnies as they are likely being led by a devil rabbit.”

“Yes sir.” Steel thanked the guards, who quickly left and resumed their march toward the fences.

“Now that that’s over with,” Steel muttered, “I’d better hurry and find the herbs before that herd comes back.”

Thankfully, the quest box included a picture of the herb that he was supposed to find, otherwise Steel wouldn’t have any idea on where to start. The quest arrow had changed into an area on the map where he could find the herbs. After a few minutes, he came across the first herb.

Steel scratched his head for a moment, than shrugged and bent down to pick the plant. As he touched it, the herb disappeared.

Item AcquiredGreen Herb (poor)

He frowned as he read the herb’s quality. “Maybe it’s because I don’t have the foraging skill Roxanne mentioned.” He mused to himself, “But, I should be able to get the skill if I do this long enough.”

After collecting a few more bad quality herbs, another notice popped up in front of his face.

You have learned the skill: ForagingDescription:This skill allows one to harvest plants from the ground. Higher proficiency in this skill will result in better quality produce.Level:Beginner 1Effects:Able to harvest plants with reduced penalty.

Sighing in relief, Steel found that now every other herb he licked came out as decent quality. It took him a few more hours, but he was able to harvest the remaining green herbs needed to complete the quest. Once he verified it for a second time, he quickly made his way out of the farmland into the city and back to Roxanne’s store.

When he reached the store, he found Roxanne leaning behind her counter with a bored expression on her face. She perked up as soon as Steel entered and clapped her hands together. “If it isn’t the young traveler, back from the fields. Have you brought me what I asked for?”

Steel nodded and took out the 25 decent quality green herbs from his inventory. “It took me awhile to get this since I kept breaking the plants, but I was able to get the foraging skill which helped out.”

Roxanne nodded as she inspected the herbs on the counter, “This is indeed what I asked for. Since you worked so hard, I’ll also buy the poor quality herbs from you as well. I can still make weak healing potions with them so it’s no bother to me.”

Quest Completed (Special)Gather HerbsYou were successful in gathering the required herbs for RoxanneReward:Intimacy with Roxanne the Apothecary has risen to Trusted

1 silver for gathering extra herbs

Roxanne’s Letter has been moved to Personal Items

Exp has been acquired

Steel smiled in happiness as a screen informed him of his level up. He bowed to Roxanne, “I have completed the quest, is there anything else I can do to help you?”

Roxanne nodded, “I’m still going to need more herbs for my potions, so you can continue to use my letter in order to gather herbs at your leisure. I’ll pay you for whatever you bring me.”

Quest AddedGather herbs IIRoxanne the apothecary has taken a liking to you and has asked your help in gathering 25 green herbs for her shop. This quest is repeatable and has no time limit.Objective:Gather at least 25 herbs of at minimum decent quality and return them to RoxanneReward:Money for herbs, increased intimacy with Roxanne

“I’ll be glad to help you again.” Steel said with a smile.

---------------------------

Steel felt something shake him as he slowly came to. Groggy from all the blows taken from the golems, his eyes slowly focused on the figure of Eric, who was pouring water on top of Steel’s head.

“Get up boy! Now’s not the time to be sleepin when there’s training to be done.”

Currently, it was the third day of training, and Steel didn't feel any closer to the skills than he had been before. After leaving Roxanne’s shop he had come straight over to the Training Hall and trained with Eric. He had been so tired after the second day he had logged off and went to sleep early. Now, he was back in the hall and had just gotten knocked out again.

"Really Master, I don't feel like I'm learning anything anymore." He complained, "I already figured out how to force distribute, so why am I still running this course?"

Eric snorted, "Why boy? Well, because ye wooden shield keeps cracking every time ye run it!" It was true; Steel's current shield had a long crack down it.

Steel glared at it, the one imperfection to his days of hard work. "Sorry sir, but I really feel like I understand it and how to use it now."

Eric's smile grew cunning, "Really now, you so sure? Let’s put it to the test then."

With a snap of his fingers, the dummies disappeared. Out of the ground, 5 wooden figures arose. They were humanoid shape, but lacked any distinguishing features. They had a fake sword on one arms and a shield on the other, with every other figure having the sword in the opposite hand.

Steel blinked, "What are these Master?"

"Boy, these are practice golems. Seems the bonk on the o’le noggin made you forget about them. See if you can defend against their attack." With a snap of his fingers, the golems moved forward in a line and attacked Steel, one at a time. Startled by the sudden onslaught, Steel brought up his shield and took the first blow head on. Instantly, the shield shattered and he was once again hailed in splinters. The golems stopped and returned to their original position.

Eric chuckled, "Come on now boy, not even the first blow? Show me ye learned something these past two days." With a grimace, Steel put on another shield and stood ready. The golems came again.

“You almost had it that time boyo. Here, let me show ya again.” Eric equipped a shield and swung it into the air in front of him, beginning his lecture again for the currently knocked down Steel, “A shield and shield bearer share the force taken in. If one be weak, both u’l suffer. On the other side, if one be too strong, then the other will eventually break as well. When ye blocked the golems, ye had the shield take everything. That ruined it. This is the same as the last exercise, except ye targets are throwing their blows at ye instead of taking them. It’s ye job to roll with the blows; golden rule with shields is that ye never take a strong blow head-on. Ye always push it away, or roll it off of ye. Anyone can hold a shield, few can truly block.”

Steel nodded, completely understanding his mistake. Annoyed as hell he hadn’t figured it out by now, he gazed down at his wooden shield, “Sir, does that also relate to attacking as well.”

Eric nodded, pleased, “Good job for making that connection. Yes, attacking head on with a shield can turn out badly against a larger opponent or a heavily armored one. Exceptions to this be shields like you own.” He gestured to the shield on his back, “Though using it without training can be tricky, your style should change with the type of shield you use. Long as you remember how to hit and take a hit, you should be golden no matter what type of shield ye choose to use.”

Steel eyed the column of golems, “I’m ready to give it another shot sir.”

“Then hurry up and get into position boyo!”

Steel took his stance in front of the golems. Legs apart, left foot forward, head down behind his shield, Steel kept his eyes locked onto the first golem. It jerked, and started walking toward him, sword held up high.

He waited for it, watching the golem swing it’s blade down at him. He leaned to his right, curving at the waist before swinging back knocking the golem’s sword aside. The shield shuddered, but didn’t break as the golem fell over. It melted back into the ground as the second golem approached, its sword being in its left hand. Steel angled his shield to the fight, before performing the same maneuver and knocking the golem’s weapon aside. This time, the golem didn’t fall sideways, instead pressing forward with its shield as it moved the sword back into position.

Steel swore as he jumped to the side, away from the second slash. He rolled to his right, getting up and shield bashing the golem on its side with a slapping like motion. The golem toppled forward, falling to its own weight and vanished. Steel grinned, but barely dodged two sword swipes from two golems. He looked over, and found the previous two were waiting next to the last golem. Steel rolled away, shouting, “Sir, what’s going on?”

Eric yelled back, “It’s no use to get used to only one enemy boyo. Shield users have to be able to take punishment from more than one person or monster. Ye’ll pass this part of the training if ye can survive 5 of them.”

‘Oh great, it gets worse.’ He thought to himself, jumping back from another slash. The two golems walked together, mirroring each other’s movements like a reflection. He quickly thought of a plan, and dodged another swing as he moved back.

Steel jumped between the two golems and tapped both of them with his spear. As they turned to slash at him, he rolled out of the way as they get each other and fell.

“Good show boyo, but use ye shield to block before winning next time. Otherwise this training u’l be for nothing.” Eric called, resting on a cane as he watched Steel.

Three golems came this time and moved differently from one other. Two came head on, while the third began to circle around to his back. Not wanting to be surrounded, Steel lunged forward toward the lone golem. It raised its shield put and charged forward suddenly, forcing Steel to roll out of the way. He used his shield to push off the ground, and ran forwards toward the golems back. A bash knocked the golem to the ground and took it out of the fight. The next two were running at him from two different directions, each holding their sword a different way. The first one thrust toward him, allowing for an easy push by the shield out of danger; the other came from below in an upper cut like fashion, forcing Steel to jump backwards. He eyed the two golems, one a fencer and the other some strange sword style.

He ran at them, this time jumping to his right as they charged to meet him. As the sword from the right golem came up again, Steel pushed his shield against its hand, using the assistance of gravity to keep the slash from coming. Twisting his body, he whirled the shield into the golem, pushing it back onto the incoming thrust of the second golem, and watched it vanish as well. He had no trouble against the last golem, and just knocked its thrust aside before slamming the top of the shield into its body, his back 45 degrees from the wall. Boxing videos had been one of his pastimes back in real life, and he enjoyed its fighting style, even if it looked a little funny with a shield and spear.

4 golems came forward this time, each holding a wooden dagger this time without a shield. It was obviously a bandit scenario, and Steel had fought against this one before. The first two came at him, while the other two circled around to flank him. Lacking an opening this time, he used the shield to block his opponents, taking the two thrusts head on. They left dents on the shield, but not cracks.

Lacking a wall this time, Steel could not win the same as against the muggers. He opted for the next best thing, the floor. As one of the golems came forward, Steel threw himself forward onto the floor, his shield catching the golem’s legs. At the sudden force, the legs slid backwards, sending the golem tumbling forward and disappearing as he stabbed it with his spear. Steel rolled to his left, avoiding the other golem’s slice narrowly as clanked against the floor. He charged this one, careful to not trip over his spear. That would assuredly break his shield if he landed on it funny. He raised his shield over his head as he ran forward, and brought it crashing down onto the golems arm. He forced his legs to bounce against the downward force, slamming the shield up into the golems head as he jumped up. He stabbed downward with his spear as it landed, causing it also to disappear.

A jolt of pain alerted Steel to the golem behind him. It had snuck up and stabbed him on the right side of his back. While it didn’t puncture the armor, it did deplete a bit of Steel’s health. He growled as he whirled around and slammed his spear through the golem’s head as he knocked it to the ground with the follow through. As if adding salt to the wound, he punched it into oblivion with his shield. He reached back and pulled the dagger off his back, finding that it stuck to him once it hit.

“That’s to remind ye to pull the blasted things out.” Eric called from the side, “Ye may look cool covered in arrows and swords on the battle field, but it’ll hurt like hell and ye won’t be able to move eventually.”

Steel nodded as he jumped into the air over the last golem’s knife thrust, using the weight of his shield to spin himself as he crashed into the golem’s body. They both landed on the ground, and Steel slammed the shield into the neck of the golem in a coup de grace maneuver. After finishing it off with a spear thrust to the gut, he stood up and inspected his shield. The wooden frame had begun to buckle from the blows he had delivered and taken, and he estimated it wouldn’t last more than a few more blows.

Still, he was almost done with the training. The last 5 golems materialized in a circle around him, this time holding huge two-handed blade. Steel blinked, asking, “Sir, can I not use magic for this one?”

“Nope, now hurry up and win or lose. If ye take too long ye’ll fail anyway.”

Sighing at the whims of his trainer, Steel gripped his shield and positioned it in front of him while holding his spear behind his back like an old baseball pitcher and frankly looked a little ridiculous. Golems, not having a sense of humor, took it as his ready position and activated. All 5 charged him, their swords moving back as they prepared to attack. Steel tightened his fist; he was ready this time. They swung down at the same time, their distance far enough that their swords would not hit each other. However, that meant only the tips of their sword were aimed for Steel.

They were wide open inside their reach.

Steel spun around, using his shield to increase the speed of his body. As the swords fell, he used his momentum to hit each sword aside like falling dominoes with his shield, before knocking the closest golem back with a shield “punch” to the chest. He was able to clothesline a second golem with his spear before the others managed to regain their grips. The three left charged him; the left one swinging from its right, the right one swinging from its left, and the middle one launching an overhand swing from its back. Steel grinned, and threw himself forward between the legs of the middle golem. The two side golems followed him with their swings, cutting the middle golem in half with their respective slices. As they turned to reposition themselves, Steel slammed into the left golem, sending him away and causing his shield to crack loudly from the blow.

Cursing, Steel barely avoided a huge side sweep from the last golem, not noticing that it didn’t stop with its momentum. The huge sword soon returned, flying back at him in a whirlwind, and Steel was forced to take the hit head on with his shield. The shield shattered, but Steel ignored the pain, jumped onto the golem. Wincing, he took his spear and drove it into the golem’s head. It vaporized underneath his grip, leaving Steel covered in his former shield and virtual blood.

Eric walked up and inspected Steel. “Hm, besides that last fight, that be a very decent attempt.”

Steel’s mouth fell open, “Attempt?”

Eric nodded with a snort, “Yes boyo. Those be golems after all. At their highest strength, they still fall short of strong warriors, unless boosted by magic of course.” He nodded toward the dusty remains on the floor, “So yes, it be a good attempt. In fact, I would say ye’ve past this part of the training.”

Steel smiled happily, before freezing at the words, “Once you have survived without your shield breaking.” Unable to take it, he fell backwards unconscious as his stamina hit rock bottom again. Eric scratched his beard in amusement, “Hmph, can’t even take a joke, what a weakling; ha ha ha.” He laughed and pulled a weak healing potion out of his hat, “Come on now and wake up boyo, it’s time to graduate.”