Available Attributes: 5 Points

Name: Raven Winter Level: 11 (3,000/5,000 EXP) Ranks: 5 (Farmer), 1(Squire)

Health: 89/89 Concentrated Power: 2(4)

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

Endurance: 20 Charm: 12

Luck: 30

Equipement:

Leather Armor Pieces: +5 Defense Metal Bracers: +4 Defense Steel Shortsword: +5 Damage 20 Silver pieces.

Skills:

Titans Blessing- Shifting Fate

Quick Slash

Perfect Parry

Sky Piercer

Parry

Ranks:

Farmer - Rank(s): 5

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. Rank 3: A Farmer of the land is hard to put down, Physical Resistance Increased by 5%. Rank 4: A farmer is always focused on their work, nothing can distract them from getting it done! Concentrated Power increased by 2. Rank 5: A farmer knows how to get knocked around, from farm animals to rowdy city folk! You can reduce the amount of damage you take to 0. Cooldown: 12 Hours.

Squire - Rank(s): 1

Rank 1: A squire has been trained to do the most basic of knightly duties! You can now Ride a Horse effectively, equip Light, Medium, or Heavy Armor, and gain an additional 1% Physical and Mental Resistance due to your intense training!

+5 Strength, Attack Power increased by +1, Carrying Capacity increased by +5.

Raven nodded to himself as he closed the status window, he wanted to put those five points he received for leveling up to level 11 into Strength, for just a little more Attack Power. He glanced over as Tristan wiped the dirt off his sword and sheathed it on the scabbard on his horse's saddle.

A large smile found its way to the knights face as he pulled himself into the saddle, before he then looked down towards his new squire.

“Alright well...now that you’re my squire I guess I should tell you where we are heading.” Tristan reasoned with a nod as he started to gently trot down the road. Raven grabbed his bag and started to walk alongside his new mentor.

“That would be useful, I agree.” Raven said with a chuckle as he threw his bag over his shoulder and readjusted his sword belt.

“We’re heading to the Frost-Spear Mountains to look into some rumors of people and animals going missing.” Tristan explained, “Should be a relatively simple thing. It’s just the trip that’s the long part.”

Raven went silent, and couldn't help but release an internal scream for a solid minute or so before he looked up at Tristan.

“Frost-Spear, got it, would uh...would we be heading to uh...Winterlin Village perhaps?” Raven asked casually, earning a curious look from Tristan.

“That’s exactly it, actually, how did you know that? There’s quite a few more notable places spread among those mountains.” Tristan questioned.

“Just a coincidence. I had a friend from there once.” Raven clarified as he waved a dismissive hand in the air.

‘Actually that’s where a DRAGON LIVES YOU STUPID GAME!! Back in the game it was a Legendary Ranked Boss...but that is another hundred years in the future though...so maybe it won’t be there. If it is, this is gonna be a short life.’ he thought to himself as he continued to follow alongside Tristan.

Winterlin and the Frost-Spear Mountains were to the far north of the Ember Kingdom, actually dipping into the Starfall Kingdom. From Rosewood it would probably take them about three weeks to get there.

***

Days Passed...

Training with Tristan was incredibly convenient, and the following few weeks passed in relatively simple repetition. On the second day Tristan bought Raven a small riding horse so that he could get used to using one. She was a pretty cream colored steed that he dubbed Chestnut, and they were fast friends.

From there they rode throughout the day, and found a comfortable place to camp around the time they would sit down and eat dinner. Then they would train for a few hours before sleeping, and starting out early the next day. Due to Tristan mentoring him, and training him everyday, he earned about 1,000 EXP every two days as long as he trained both of them.

Additionally, after every two days of training he unlocked a skill from the Swordsman class that he would have received if he had leveled with it from level 1. In Wrath of Titan’s, classes got skills every five levels or so, which meant he had two skills he needed to choose:

You have trained with a strong Swordsman! Gaining 1,000 EXP to the Swordsman Class, retroactive Skill Reward being applied:

Choose one of the Skills below:

- Parry:

Costs: 1 Concentration, Cooldown- 15 Seconds (14.5 Seconds)

The next Physical Attack that would hit you is instead deflected to the side, dealing no damage.

- Overhand Slash:

Costs: 1 Concentration, Cooldown- 20 Seconds (19.5 Seconds)

You grip your sword in two hands and deliver a blow after a 1 second delay that deals additional damage equal to twice your Strength.

Raven picked Parry almost immediately, despite having Tristan he was still assuming he would be solo most of the time. So he had nobody to cover him for the 1 Second he would need for Overhand Slash. Plus, defensive skills were more rare than offensive ones and it was good to stock up on them.

By the end of their first week of travel he was able to acquire the next skill from swordsman as well, this time it was Static Skills. Skills were either Static, which meant you always had them, or Combative which meant it required Concentrated Power and was more often used in combat.

You have trained with a strong Swordsman! Gaining 1,000 EXP to the Swordsman Class, retroactive Skill Reward being applied:

Choose one of the Skills below:

- In Shining Armor:

(Static Skill)

Increase your Physical Resistance by 2%.

- With Blade in Hand

(Static Skill)

Increase your Attack Power by 5.

Once again this was an easy choice, Physical Damage was the most common in the game. So being able to take an additional 2% less of it would bring him up to a solid 10%. Which was some of the highest early game Physical Resistance he had ever seen, his Farmer Rank really gave him a boost in that regard. Also, once again, it was better for solo play.

The rest of the time traveling was spent training basic swordplay and getting to know Tristan, he learned that Tristan was a rare kind of fighter that was able to manipulate physical energy called ‘Aura’, which Raven vaguely remembered as being a unique class back in his days of playing the game. Aura Blade, a unique class that let someone push themselves beyond physical limits. But, similar to unique quests, unique classes were one time things, and the one who had it in the past never did much in the public eye. It was still interesting to see an NPC have one though, maybe he could even learn it from Tristan if he were lucky!

He also found out that Tristan had a younger sister and his mother back in Cinderwall, and that his father had been a knight before him, who fell in battle with the Iron Tower Empire. It was nice to have someone to share conversation with, it was nice to have...to have a friend. Tristan asked about his family, and he just told him about the small farm back home...he left out the part about it burning seven different times and being murdered though.

As he continued to train he got an additional 9,000 EXP throughout the constant weeks of training, which was just a little better than if he had been grinding on monsters the whole time, so it was well worth it. Now he was sitting at level 13, it felt good to actually be leveling up again, and very soon after he finished reaching level 13 they arrived at Winterlin.

***

It had been a long time since Raven had felt the cold misty wind of winter, a long time since he heard the satisfying crunch of his shoes on snow, a very long time since he was able to enjoy the chill that krept up his arms and down his throat. His lungs filled with a refreshing blanket of cold air, and he couldn't stop himself from kneeling down to brush his fingers across the snow with a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

Winter had always been his favorite time of year, thus the last name he gave to his online persona, and though true winter was still approaching, the reasons he loved it were prevalent here. The cool air that tingles on the skin, the crisp snow that crunched underfoot, how perfect the warmth from a fire felt when it warmed your core.

He gave a very content sigh as he broke himself from his daze, and pulled Chestnut along with him after giving her a soft pat on the head. Tristan was just ahead staring down at the village of Winterlin, a quaint little mining town that was actually a popular player hub back in his time of gaming. There were two reasons for it being a good place for players in particular.

The first, was that there was a Legendary Ranked Boss, an Ice Dragon that was occasionally seen flying around. As far as he could remember the dragon stuck around for a while, until the majority of people reached level 100 and finally a large raid party took it down.

The second, was that back in the day a powerful guild made this location it’s home base back in the day, The Winter Monarchs. The guild had a run of good luck with finding unique and special classes for its members for a long time, which made people gravitate for quests in the area. Some even found unique classes themselves but never released to the public how they found them.

‘Maybe I can find one of those unique classes myself...or even kill the dragon if it’s here. It won't be as strong as it was back then surely...’ he thought to himself as he and Tristan started down the hill towards the village below.

The streets were busy, but it was obvious people were on edge as they went about their daily activities. They kept casting looks to the sky, some looked scared, and others went about their day as normal...though perhaps stuck to places they could easily jump into should something come after them.

“Something definitely has them scared.” Tristan commented quietly as they gently made their way through the town. Seeing the pair of them seemed to brighten some people's moods though, a fully clad Ember Knight was enough to give people a little hope when monsters were the talk of the town.

Soon enough they arrived at an inn dubbed the ‘The Icefall Regent’ a popular tavern for players and citizens alike. The barkeep, back in his day, here used to have a ton of unique and rare quests that The Winter Monarchs had monopolized back in the day. A lot of people assumed that was how they got so many unique classes, and it also made them a small fortune in game, because they would sell the quests they didn't want to players desperate for the loot and EXP rewards of a unique quest.

“Hello, we’d like two rooms, two meals, two hot baths drawn, and two stable slots for the horses tied up outside.” Tristan listed off, obviously very used to having to stay in various inns and taverns throughout the realms. The innkeeper, Markus Krinkle, simply nodded as Tristan handed over 10 Silver. He was not the innkeeper that Raven was familiar with, but that was to be expected due to the change in time the game was currently in.

“Consider it done, Ser Knight, rooms are gonna be 301, and 302. We’ll give the horses a good rub down for ya both as well.” Markus assured, saying a few other things about meals and baths...Raven's interest slowly wandered off until the innkeeper's voice was a dull echo in the back of his head.

‘Room 302...why does that sound so familiar…’ was all that he could think of as he followed Tristan up the stairs, one flight, and then two, the familiar dark wood hallways dancing with small torchlight. Funny how the people could be different, but the location feels so very familiar.

“Alright Raven, baths should be ready down the hall in thirty or so minutes, meals delivered a little after that. Try to relax a little, and tomorrow we’ll go visit the mountains where the majority of people and animals have gone missing.” Tristan said smoothy, gently tossing a room key over to him.

He caught it, and glanced along the number that was etched on the top of the bronze key 302. He glanced up at Tristan and gave him a brief nod as he stretched his body back to get a small pop out of his back.

“Sounds like a plan, get some rest yourself Tristan.” he replied with a small smile, before spinning on a heel to open the door behind him. The lock clicked pointedly, and the door slowly creaked open into a well kept dark room. Raven stepped into the room before gently clicking the door shut behind him. Suddenly the hairs on the back of his arm and neck started to rise, and a bright blue screen opened in front of him.

Unique Quest:The Secrets of Winterlin

The Town of Winterlin holds many secrets, perhaps if you investigate you may even find a few for yourself…

Raven blinked as he read through the lines of text, then it all suddenly came rushing back to him, why this room was so important, why he recognized it so much. This was the room that the head of the Winter Monarchs would stay at, lines use to stretch down the stairs and outside the tavern all the way down the street...all starting from room 302 at the Icefall regent...Raven always thought it was just where they liked to stay, but obviously there was something much more here...something that allowed that guild to take over the whole region…

“What’s so special about this room though…” he said quietly to himself as he started to move forward, then blinked as the world around him started to move up at a fast pace.

Luck Trigger: TripEnvironmental Hazard, Rug

“Whoa!” was all he got out before he slammed hard onto the ground. Everything moved so fast he didn’t even have time to put his hands out in front of him. No, instead he slammed face first into the ground and his vision went black as he briefly fell out of consciousness...