Chapter 12 - Hard Work Pays Off

When I woke up in the game I was laying down on a bed of straw. Teacher Hen was lying next to me, snoring loudly. The stench of alcohol was strong on his breath.

After I passed out in the game he must've found me and carried me here… and then continued drinking. This drunken old bastard. I sighed and checked my status screen that I had hoped would have changed with my training yesterday.

Name: Foris Age: 22 Race: Human Titles: None Attribute: None Fame: 0 Satiety:94% Level: 1 (75%) HP:130 MP:100 STR: 15 VIT: 13 AGI: 12 INT: 10 WIS: 11 DEX: 19 LCK: 6 LDR: 5 END: 16 Attribute Resistances Fire:0% Water:0% Earth:0% Wind:0% Light:0% Dark:0%

Holy… I got a lot of stat increases. I even seem to have gotten 60% more exp from completing that training. My strength went up by 5, vitality by 3, endurance by 6, and dexterity by 7. On top of those my agility and luck went up by one.

After that I checked the notifications screen.

Archery

Level:4 (61%)

Passive Skill

Description:Through extraordinary work, you managed to hit the center of a target in one day.

Effects:

Able to wield the bow and arrow in battle.

Arrows do 5% more damage.

Tough Mind

Level: 2 (14%)

Passive Skill

Description: Your focus through all the pain led you to completing your objective.

Effects:

1% less chance to be stunned

+2 END

Skill Titles Levels Stealth (Active) 1 (23%) Killing Intent (Passive) 1 (1%) Archery (Passive) 4 (61%) Tough Mind (Passive) 2 (14%)

So that's what happened… I actually managed to hit the target in the end.

I got up off the hay bed and stretched my sore muscles. I glanced over to Teacher Hen who was still snoring away peacefully. I smiled at that and went back out into the forest to grind my new archery skill.

On my way out, I didn't notice, but Hen’s eyes were open and he was just faking the snoring sound.

I reached the forest quickly. Maybe because of my heightened agility? I didn't know, but it took a little shorter time to reach here.

For the time being, I climbed a nearby tall tree to see where I should go. While I was in the tree, I noticed some monkey type monsters swinging from tree to tree. I climbed down and headed after them.

The monkeys were elusive. They had high agility and dexterity, which meant they could move extremely swiftly in a forested canopy. I tracked them from the broken branches they left in their wake.

A few minutes later I happened upon what I assumed was their watering hole. The monkeys were facing away from me. They looked about 3 ft in height with green fur. There was a large one sitting down in front of them all that looked to be about 4 ft tall. There were scars all over that monkey’s figure.

The monsters hadn't noticed me just yet. Probably because I adroitly activated Stealth before stepping into the area.

I decided it wouldn't be a good area to kill one of the monsters that was in a large pack like they were. So I waited for one to leave.

Thankfully I hadn't waited long before one was ordered by the pack leader to search for something. I decided to follow that monkey.

It was a lot harder to maintain Stealth while I was on the move, so I decided to abandon it when I judged I was far enough away from the pack.

The monster, startled by my sudden presence, actually missed the next tree limb he was reaching for. I couldn't miss the opportunity that presented me with the monkey falling.

I drew and loosed an arrow in a fluid motion, almost as if I had been trained in the bow for years. The arrow accurately struck through the monkey’s neck. That shot was obviously due to the new Archery skill.

Critical Hit - 170 DMG

Because I attacked that monster, the monkey’s health bar became visible above its head. From the sight of it, that shot took out over 3/4ths of its health.

Since it was still falling, and I engaged it in combat, the damage the monster sustained was shown to me.

20 DMG - Stunned

The monkey fell on its head and was stunned from it. It was still alive though, with just a sliver of health.

I approached the stunned monster without any caution. I looked it in the face as its concussion continued to affect it. I pulled back my arm and punched it directly in the face.

15 DMG

The monster’s health hit rock bottom and the monster started to evaporate into particles. Seems like the monkey dropped some items for me, how kind.

Green Monkey Gloves

White Equipment

These gloves, dropped from the Green Monkey, are weathered. They don't have high durability, but make up for it in grip strength, in order to swing around trees like they do.

Durability: 12/15

Stats: STR +2

I was ecstatic at the drop. I equipped the gloves and began gaining my bearings again to head back to the monkey pack, when, suddenly, the bushes near me rustled.

Alerted by the sound I quickly swiveled and readied my bow. As the tension was reaching the peak, all that came out was a small bunny. While being sad at myself for getting so afraid, I loosed the arrow and killed the bunny in one shot to the head. Evidently, my strength allows me to one-shot bunnies now, good to know.

I approached the bunny to pick up the two coins that dropped when suddenly a killing intent was directed toward me. A sudden arrow flew by my face, scratching my ear

2 DMG

Shocked that it was another person attacking me, I quickly retreated into the bushes to hide. I felt safer while I was hidden in the bushes, but apparently the enemy still knew where I was. “You know, those bushes don't hide you completely.” Said a gravelly voice.

My heart was racing as another arrow zoomed past my ear once again. I managed to move my head in time but it proved that the assailant still could see me clearly.

I ran through dozens of scenarios in my head, not many of them ending well. I chose to retreat as fast as possible while weaving through the trees.

The voice behind me just continued to laugh as he shot arrow after arrow with impudence.

3 DMG

7 DMG

28 DMG

The first shot scraped against my ear again, the second against my leg. The third shot actually lodged itself in my right forearm. I stumbled a bit after that shot but I kept running, knowing that it was the only way I'd survive. If I tried to fight a person who could hit my accurately in the ear, twice, then that person was obviously better than I was.

Out of breath and my health at 90/130 I hid behind a boulder. I took out the arrow from my arm. I heard the twang of a bowstring in the distance and wondered what kind of shot he was trying to take. When suddenly, an arrow came down at an almost 90 degree angle, and ran through my left hand.

18 DMG

FUCKING BULLSHIT! This guy is way too good. Why is he after me? I took out the second arrow and began running again. Thankfully I kept track of where I was going through all of this and knew that I was heading towards to town. If I could just make it there, the town guards could help me.

With hope in heart, I sprinted for my life a second time.

END