The trek to Rosewood took him about four hours on foot, thankfully his high Endurance, and his Farmer benefit kept the cold from being too much of a problem. He guessed it must be close to Winter time, based on how cold it was. The Ember Kingdom was usually very warm, so for him to be able to see his breath as he exhaled meant the first snows were not far off. Finally, as he reached the apex of a tall hill he could see several lights brightening the shroud of night.

Gray smoke gently flowed from a few of the dark wood and stone homes as he started to make his way down the steep slope. It'd been awhile since he had last seen Rosewood, it was a level 0-10 area and was one of the three areas where newbies starting in the Ember Kingdom would first spawn. It was also where he had started a long time ago…

***

A few years ago...

“Whoooa, this place really is so realistic!” Jacob said as his avatar looked around, and Miles gave a big smile as he too looked on in awe.

“Yes it really is! These NPCs are even looking at us a little funny.” he whispered towards his friend who instantly looked around, his eyes wide with excitement. VRMMO’s really had come a long way from the old beta testings.

“So what do we do?” Miles asked as they looked around, being sure to keep his voice low this time around so as to not garner any shock from this surprisingly realistic NPCs. He was anxious to get started, he’d already learned his first spell and wanted to feel what it was like to cast magic! His eyes gleamed brightly at the thought as he looked over to his friend.

“Hmm, as realistic as it is, it is still a game and this is the starting area. So I reckon there's maybe some monsters around? Maybe we should try to see if the town guard has any quests relating to that?” Jacob suggested, and Miles nodded in agreement, and they started to look around.

Minutes passed, but after finally asking around for the Guard Captain to a few NPCs they were given directions to the barracks. Then, with excitement brimming in their chests, and wanting to level up their newly created characters, they gave a knock on the barrack doors…

***

The doors to the barracks opened after Raven pounded on them for a few moments. A sleepy looking individual gave a yawn as he looked at the figure who had woken him up and down.

"What can I do for you?" The figure asked, and Raven blinked a few times. Sometimes he really was lucky! The Guard Captain himself had answered the door. He opened his mouth, ready to ask for quests to slay nearby monsters when he suddenly had a spark of curiosity.

One thing about the game that had irritated players before is that you couldn't join guard forces. You could only enlist in a military and start at the very bottom, but since he wasn't technically a player in the normal sense…

"I’m uh, I’m interested in joining the Rosewood guard” Raven said after a few moments, willing to take the chance. Even if they denied he could just ask for the monster bounty quest afterward, but the words that came out of the guard captain's mouth were a welcome surprise.

“Yeah sure, we have a spare bunk. Looks like you have no other place to go, come on in” they said and waved a wide eyed Raven to follow.

‘Well that was lucky...does my luck affect NPC discussions as well?’ he thought to himself as he squinted, but followed the guard captain regardless. He was given the bottom bunk in the back corner of a room with six bunk beds, all the other ones were full, which meant including him and the guard captain there were around thirteen guards to patrol Rosewood. Not too much, but enough for a spawn location.

" I'll have your equipment ready in the morning, we have an early patrol so you can come with me so I can show you the ropes. There's a small horde of slime that needs to be taken care of. You can call me Captain Gerald, Captain, or Cap, I'll refer to you as your last name..which is?" Gerald prompted, looking at Raven who answered promptly.

"Winter, Raven Winter." He said with a firm nod, the Captain gave a small nod at the quick reply, he didn't like when people were slow.

"Winters then. Get some rest." He said and turned to walk back to his office.

'He seems nice' Raven thought to himself with a small smile. It had been a long time, but the feeling of being in Rosewood again filled him with a spark of joy, regardless of the dark circumstances that brought him there.

A faint blue glow lit up the darkness around him gently as a status window appeared before him, and he was, once again, shocked by its contents.

Class Gained:

Militia

He blinked, Militia was definitely not a class, but honestly the changes to the..'game' continued to change from the original, at least when he was involved. He opened up his status window just to confirm…

Available Attributes: 4 Points

Name: Raven Winter Level: 1 Militia (0/350 EXP) Ranks: 2 (Farmer)

Health: 21/21 Concentrated Power: 1

Strength: 10 Willpower: 10 Agility: 12 Concentration: 10

Endurance: 16 Charm: 10

Luck: 30

Skills:

Titans Blessing- Shifting Fate

Ranks:

Farmer - Rank(s): 2

Rank 1: A farmer is used to wear and tear and bad weather! +25% resistance to harsh weather conditions. Rank 2: A farmer is never down for the count when there is work to be done! +5 Health.

He nodded to himself, even if he hadn't heard of it ever being a class, it was still good to have one. Now he could go past level 1, and when he gained levels in a class he would get more health. Regardless, though, he would still have to try to find a way to become a Swordsman.. that was a problem for later though, tomorrow he would get some equipment, and start earning some EXP. He took a deep breath, nestled into the rough mattress, and fell asleep…

***

The next few weeks passed by quickly as Raven entered a rather monotonous routine. He did receive his equipment, which was just slightly better than normal starting gear. The real reward was the amount of quests he got as a militia member, and the rewards that came with it. Not only was he in a squad that helped him slay bigger groups of monsters, but the guards split the loot of these creatures and were allowed to sell it. Which meant he was getting safe EXP by slaying these things in groups, he was also drops and money, then when he turned the quests in he would gain the reward and EXP for the completion of the quests.

‘Now I’m in the game, and the grind is on’ he thought to himself about five days in when he was cutting his way through rabid bat rabbits, fluffy looking creatures with leathery wings and elongated fangs. Truly terrifying.

He leveled quickly, and his pockets filled with coins, from quests, selling drops, and the 5 Silver a week the guards received as payment from the town. It was a blissfully safe leveling haven that he was more than willing to grind at all the way to level 30..

The first week in though he was reminded of his overarching mission, as late one night he was startled by a crimson red notification:

Quest Failed:

“To Be a Hero”

The Winter Family Farm has burned.

It was always in the back of his head, the nagging images of those knights, the flames around the farm, the scream of his parents in this world. He was even more resolved for the fight ahead after that night.

It got to the point where people started calling him a ‘Battle-Maniac’ the amount of monsters he threw himself at. His equipment constantly needed repairs, his sword arm was always tired, and his eyes were always locked on the next group of monsters that came near. When he first started playing, tons of players would be out here grinding, but now it was all his.

His fellow guards thought he just really hated monsters the more he fought them, but what they didn’t know is that he was leveling, and while his health increased the newbie level monsters were far less scarier than they had been before. He thought things were really on the rise...until about halfway through his third week he got a notification:

Level 10 Reached

Max level for Militia reached, no more EXP will be earned until achieving a new class.

He received it after finishing off a wide eyed blue slime that was trying to eat a glowing rock or something. He panted as he leaned back after a long day of grinding, as it was getting harder to earn decent EXP on these under leveled mobs.

“Oh come on..” he groaned as he slid to sit on the grass, the starlight above reflecting off the sweat that coated his face and arms. He had started to grind monsters at night so he could get less split experience, but he never thought his class would max and 10, that made things a bit harder. He slid up on the air in front of him to call up the System Info and glanced at his stats:

Available Attributes: 40 Points

Name: Raven Winter Level: 10 (0/4,000 EXP) Ranks: 2 (Farmer)

Health: 66/66 Concentrated Power: 1

Strength: 12 Willpower: 10 Agility: 12 Concentration: 12

Endurance: 16 Charm: 10

Luck: 30

Equipement:

Rosewood Guard Uniform: +6 Defense Rosewood Guard Shortsword: +5 Damage 50 Silver pieces.

Skills:

Titans Blessing- Shifting Fate

Ranks:

Farmer - Rank(s): 2

Rank 1: A farmer is used to wear and tear and bad weather! +25% resistance to harsh weather conditions. Rank 2: A farmer is never down for the count when there is work to be done! +5 Health.

“40 points huh, that’s quite a bit saved up.” he said to himself as he took in a slow breath and leaned back, he had also gained a +2 to his Strength and Concentration Attributes due to his monster slaying the past few weeks, he was still a bit weaker than most players of the same level though, because he didn't actually have a real class, the Militia one he had did give him 4 Attribute Points per level instead of a measly 2 at least, his Luck didn't trigger to get him anymore unfortunately. However, the class also didn't give him any skills, he was relying totally on his stats, which would not help him in the long run.

“I’ll start by spending these I guess..no use in saving them forever. I’m still aiming for Swordsman so..” he started to spread his points…

+8 to Agility- Attack Speed Increased, Miss Chance Increased to 1%.

Agility was his main focus at first, since he still had to move forward as if he were going to be a solo player. The Miss Chance was too good, and if he could attack really fast with a good weapon he could afford to have a little less base damage to start.

+4 to Endurance- +8 Health, Physical Resistance Increased to 2%, Physical Status Resistance Increased to 1%.

Endurance was his next focus, the majority of effects he would encounter in the game were Physical, as was most damage. The health was also just too useful for going solo.

+8 to Concentration- Concentration Power Increased to 2, Skill Cool Downs reduced by .5 seconds.

“Nice, I can use the skills I don't have more often..” he complained to himself, it may be a silly choice to upgrade it now but when he got a few skills he would be beating himself up for at least not investing into it sooner. Better to take a small hit now to avoid a large one later on, he concluded.

+8 to Strength- Attack Power Increased by 2, Carrying Capacity Increased by 5.

Damage was damage, being able to carry more was less important, but being able to hit for a decent amount would pair well with decent Agility, good and solid choice.

He nodded at his choices so far, and glanced at his remaining 12 points, wondering where he should put them. Agility was a good option, but he didn't want to not focus on Willpower just in case he ran into some magic monsters…

‘There's also a Mage with the group that attacks the farm’ he remembered suddenly, which solidified his choice.

+10 to Willpower- Magical Resistance Increased to 2%, Magical and Mental Resistance Increased by 1%.

He clenched his fist as he made the choice, he needed to get stronger still but he had the foundations now. He put his last 2 points in Charm, he didn't get anything in particular due to it being so low still, it would still help out with merchants and such though, albeit only a small amount. Now his stats were starting to look like a proper character:

Available Attributes: 0 Points

Name: Raven Winter Level: 10 (0/4,000 EXP) Ranks: 2 (Farmer)

Health: 74/74 Concentrated Power: 2

Strength: 20 Willpower: 20 Agility: 20 Concentration: 20

Endurance: 20 Charm: 12

Luck: 30

Skills:

Titans Blessing- Shifting Fate

Ranks:

Farmer - Rank(s): 2

Rank 1: A farmer is used to wear and tear and bad weather! +25% resistance to harsh weather conditions. Rank 2: A farmer is never down for the count when there is work to be done! +5 Health.

He wiped some sweat from his brow as he stood, he looked down at his body and noticed that his physique was actually increasing, he could feel his perception growing sharper as he felt the cool night wind blow past him.

‘I’m starting to get somewhere. This is a lot better than dying in a hospital bed for sure.’ he thought to himself as he wiped his blade off on the grass beneath his feet. The fields were starting to spawn less monsters, he noted as he looked around. It wasn't a surprise, the more monsters that were killed in an area the less that would start to spawn. An area could never be completely devoid of monsters, which is why when guilds started to pop up they would try to monopolize new areas for their members, or even make others players pay to grind in the area. Fortunately for him he had no such worries, he was the only person that could benefit from these starting areas currently.

“Well...It’s probably time to call it a night. I’ll have to start thinking about my next steps tomor-” he stopped part way through as he felt the ground beneath his feet tremble slightly. A small layer of fog started to appear on the ground, coming up to his ankles, and steadily grew thicker, rising until it hit his knees. A chill ran down his spine as he turned towards a soft sound that was steadily growing louder as it encroached on his position.

Boom…….Boom………..Boom….Boom...BOOM...BOOM, echoed throughout the general area. The chill across his skin grew colder, the fog grew thicker. He glanced towards a small forest, from which the sound was echoing from, and gripped his sword tight. Glowing red eyes appeared from behind the trees and fog, belonging to a towering figure that weaved through the trees, until Raven finally caught a view of what was coming for him. Above its head appeared a bright green health bar, and a name in crimson red letters revealed what the being was:

[BOSS] De’rune- Protector Ent Level 25

“B..b..boss monster?!” Raven screamed in shock as the figure stepped fully from the forest, a hulking mass of wood, leaves, dirt, and stone, that easily stood at 12ft. It glanced down at Raven, and let out a ferocious roar. The mere act sent a shockwave of air that blew past him, causing him to stumble back a few steps. This was not good…