The next morning, Vina returned to Pawld’s shop as soon as he opened. She spent the first half of the day powering through repairs as best she could. Pawld kicked her out again at midday, but she had repaired 12 items to his satisfaction and she received thirty-seven Randars in payment. Her work today had leveled her repair skill up as well. She was excited to see what skill bonus options she would get after reaching level five tomorrow.
Skill Level Up: Repair has reached level 4. You can repair items 9% faster and repaired items are worth 72% the value of the item when it was new. You have gained 70 experience from leveling a skill.
Vina quickly checked her progress toward her next level, but she was disappointed to see she was only halfway.
You are level 3. Progress to next level is 425/1000 experience points
While performing repairs today, Vina had spotted a broken bow amongst the pile. The bowstring had snapped and she restrung it. To her surprise however, the bow had different stat requirements than the one she had seen yesterday.
Item: Hunter’s Short Bow Common Dexterity: 14, Strength: 10 Damage: 5-10 This is a basic hunting bow used for hunting small animals.
Vina’s eyes lit up. She was just one dexterity point away from being able to use this item. She asked Pawld about how much she could buy it for. Since it was a repaired item, she expected the cost to be much lower than a brand new one. After a quick barter opportunity, she managed to secure the item for 30 Randars. Vina was overjoyed, but also a bit hard on herself. She was not making any progress financially.
Nonetheless, Vina headed to the hunter’s hut and secured some arrows. She applied one of her last two attribute points to Dexterity and began to practice. Vina was initially concerned that the bandage on her hand would prevent her from using the bow correctly, but that didn’t turn out to be true from her experience. Her hand was mostly healed now thanks to the bandage and a full night rest. In some ways she was shocked by the rate of her recovery. She felt she would be able to remove the bandage the next day after Jan inspected it.
The bow of course felt slippery in her hands at first. In short order though she had gained the skill.
New Skill Learned: Archery. Progress to next skill level 82% Quest updated: Learn Skills 2 16/25
Vina persisted in practicing until she could hit a target at a decent distance with some reliability. Her skill had leveled up twice and she felt ready for a real challenge.
Skill Level Up: Archery has reached level 3. You are able to reload your bow 6% faster and bows do 10% more damage. You have gained 70 experience from leveling a skill
By this point, midday had slightly passed and Vina prepared to leave the town on her first hunt. According to the hunter, she should be looking for small animals. He had recommended targeting something called a Marf. The description Vina had received sounded much like a rabbit, but it apparently had four ears. She had no real idea what she was doing, but she hoped there was a skill to be learned here that would guide her better.
Vina initially stalked the forest and did spot several animals, but they were much too large for her bow’s abilities. Some of them were so massive, she estimated they were bigger than a Moose back on Earth. Additionally, the animals seemed to spot her long before she could get into position to even examine them. Vina began focusing on her steps and the sounds she made. She focused on the wind and the direction it was blowing. Finally she moved slower while breathing softly. All of this had zero effect on her success. “There has to be a skill I’m missing!” she muttered to herself.
As the sun began to fall lower in the sky, Vina began to spot more and more animals. She moved from the dense forest and stalked at the edge of a large field, hoping to spot something that wasn’t paying attention. To her great satisfaction, she found something, but it wasn’t an animal. Vina examined it while crouched down in the tall grass.
Creature: Pilidar Level 2 Common The pilidar are squat creatures capable of basic tool use. Pilidars are aggressive to most people, animals, and other creatures. The Pilidar are known for a nomadic lifestyle, pillaging towns and robbing people while they travel.
Vina was looking at a three foot tall tanned bipedal creature. Its large ears flicked around like a cat’s and its tongue occasionally flicked outward to lick its own nose. It was gesturing wildly with one of its four fingered hands, and it held a basic carved spear in the other. It was chattering in some kind of language, but Vina couldn’t tell who it was talking to. The pilidar looked around as if it heard something and then resumed chattering.
New Skill Learned: Stealth. Stealth is an active skill. Progress to next skill level 5%. Quest updated: Learn Skills 2 17/25
Vina continued watching the Pilidar, but also activated the new Stealth skill. She was fascinated to see another species that could use tools to the extent humans could. After watching for a while, Vina could tell this creature was quite capable of complex thought and ability. It certainly was speaking a language that it understood perfectly, even if she didn’t.
The pilidar was done talking, seemingly angry now. It bent down and grabbed something. Vina jumped when she heard a child scream. The three foot tall creature had drawn a knife and began to cut away at a young child’s clothing.
Rage filled Vina’s heart at what she thought the Pilidar was about to do. Vina knocked an arrow, took aim at the creature, and loosed the arrow in one swift motion. The arrow flew through the air and hit the creature in the shoulder blade. It squealed in pain and tried to pull the arrow out. To its dismay, its short arms couldn’t reach it. It began to look around in fear and panic.
Vina knocked another arrow and fired it as soon as she could. This one landed square in its chest and the Pilidar fell back, pushing the arrow in its back further in.
You have slain a Pilidar. You have gained 150 experience points.
Vina ran to the young girl and scooped her up. She was crying with fear and completely incoherent. Vina kicked the Pilidar corpse to make sure it was dead and then she carried the child back to the woods. Vina looked at the girl. She had to have been no older than nine years. Vina tried to calm her down, “You’re safe now. I’m here. You’re not in danger anymore. Are you injured?”
The young girl locked eyes with Vina when she heard her voice. “It… it.. It was going to…”
Vina spoke before she could finish, “I know. But it didn’t. We stopped it. You’re safe now. What's your name?”
The girl swallowed hard and tried to wipe the tears from her face, “I’m Milly.”
Vina tried to keep Milly distracted, “Nice to meet you Milly. I’m Vina. Where do you live? Do you live in Prosit?”
Milly nodded, clearly trying to keep calm despite the horrible situation. Vina set Milly down beside her, keeping an arm around her shoulders. She pulled some spare clothing from her backpack and Milly’s eyes went wide when she saw it. Vina smiled and said, “Yes. I have a magic backpack. Here, put these on. Are you able to walk? I don’t think I can carry you the entire way back.” Her strength was simply not high enough.
Milly was quiet as she replaced her ripped clothing. Once she was covered again, she said “Thank you for saving me. I think I can walk to town. I am not injured…” Milly trailed off.
Vina took her hand and they began to walk together. Vina kept trying to distract the girl from the events that just happened, “Where in Prosit do you live?”
Milly looked down at the ground and said, “My parents own one of the taverns in the market. I can show you.” Milly kept walking and Vina was having trouble coming up with ideas to chat about. Milly didn’t seem to want to talk anyway and she continued in the silence. When they were at the outskirts of town, she finally spoke, “I know I’m not supposed to leave the town. I just wanted to help our shop. We were running low on certain spices, and I felt I could gather some quickly. I thought my parents would be proud of me.”
Vina gave Milly a considering look, “Your desire to help is already admirable. I am certain your parents are very proud of you. We don’t need to take risks to be valued by others though. We only need to be available when they need us.”
For the first time, Milly smiled just a little bit. “You sound like Trina.” Milly said.
Vina walked with Milly quickly back to her home. Once there, Vina described the events that occurred to Milly’s parents. They were horrified, but immensely grateful for Vina’s intervention. Milly’s father pushed 50 Randars into her hand and she was told she could eat at their tavern for free for life. Milly’s father explained the situation further to her, “There’s been a bounty on the board for those damn creatures for weeks now. They come out of nowhere and the guards won’t do anything about it. One day a place is perfectly safe and the next it’s crawling with creatures. It’s like someone is teleporting them around. Even worse, we haven’t had any adventurers our way in quite a while to clear them out.”
Vina felt her blood boiling. Her anger was overpowering her reasoning and she asked for directions to the bounty board. Bidding Milly and her family farewell for now, Vina headed directly to the bounty board. She saw many requests posted on the board, but she pulled down the one asking for the Pilidar encampment to be cleared. Her eyes widened when she saw the payout. “Three hundred Randars!” She exclaimed. The only evidence she needed to claim the bounty was six left Pilidar ears.
She knew she needed to come up with a plan if she was going to make this happen, though. She couldn’t just rush in there with rage. Vina felt a pang of guilt when she realized what she had to do. Vina activated her stealth skill and headed to Pawld’s shop. Once there she pulled out a lockpick and picked the lock to the shop. It was a difficult lock, but her dexterity and mastery prevailed.
Skill Level Up: Lockpicking has reached level 2. Locks are 3% easier to pick and lockpicks are 3% less likely to break. You have gained 35 experience from leveling a skill.
Skill Level Up: Stealth has reached level 2. While using stealth you are 3% quieter, 3% more difficult to spot, and inflict 25% more damage. Standing near lights will reduce or eliminate the benefits of stealth. You have gained 35 experience from leveling a skill.
Vina closed the door behind her and remained in stealth. She began gathering what she would need. Vina took a basic hunting spear and light armor from two different racks. She checked the other bows that were available, but she didn’t meet any of the attribute requirements. She barely met the strength requirement for the light armor.
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Item: Basic Light Armor Common Strength 10, Dexterity 12 Armor: 8 This is basic light armor. It will protect only from the most basic attacks.
Vina cringed at the pop up window she received after picking up those items.
New Skill Learned: Stealing. Stealing can only be done while using the Stealth Skill. Progress to next skill level 66%. Quest updated: Learn Skills 2 18/25
As Vina was about to leave, she saw something she hadn’t seen before. It was a leather belt holding six throwing knives. Vina strapped the belt around her waist and found it fit perfectly. She couldn’t help but grin. “This will take my throwing skill to the next level!” Vina facepalmed when she got a skill notification.
Skill Level Up: Stealing has reached level 2. Stolen items are worth 5% more when resold. You have gained 35 experience from leveling a skill.
“I’m going to return these items, Trina.” Vina whispered. She stealthed her way back out of the building after locking it again. During her search of the town, Vina had identified a section of wall that was lower than the rest. She quietly scrambled over the top. She made her way as quickly as she could back to the forest.
By now the evening had settled in and darkness was everywhere. Vina felt a little uneasy knowing that the shadows were supposedly a constant risk to her well-being. She did have her lantern on her hip, but it was currently turned off. She quickly returned to the site of where she killed the first Pilidar. She felt sick to her stomach as she cut off its ear, but quickly patted it down as well. It had a few Randar on its body which she also pocketed.
After taking the bounty, Vina had a quest marker floating in her vision. It was not far away from where Milly had been attacked. She quietly promised herself she would always check bounty boards going forward to ensure she didn’t wander into one of these dangerous areas unknowingly. Vina activated stealth and started toward the quest marker.
As she stealthed, she considered where to place her last attribute point. She was torn between placing it into dexterity to improve her chances to hit with her bow or into endurance so she could always escape if things went bad. Looking at her running skill, Vina decided to drop that final point into endurance. If she had better developed her running skill, she might have chosen differently, but it sat at a measly level two. Besides, between the stamina drain of her bow usage and active stealth skill, her stamina was barely able to hold even.
Despite the slower speed of stealthing, a campsite soon came into view. She paused for a moment when her stealth skill raised to level three. She hadn’t seen any Pilidar, so she felt it was time to use Observe. After a moment, a red outline showed up in her vision. “Okay. I killed one pilidar, this is a second one. There should be at least four more if the bounty is correct.” Vina thought to herself. The campsite was dark. There was no fire and Vina was a bit confused by that. Soon though her vision highlighted three bodies sleeping near each other on the ground. Despite the darkness, she could see quite well with the bright stars overhead. With the red highlights added in, Vina felt she could shoot anytime. However, she could not locate the sixth and final Pilidar.
Vina slowly circled the camp, hoping for the last pilidar to come into view. But she couldn’t locate it. “Maybe it’s out on a hunting mission?” she mused to herself.
She pulled the bow from her back and set her spear on the ground beside her. She pulled an arrow from backpack and strung up her first arrow. She sighted down at the only Pilidar that was awake. She took her time with this shot and let the arrow fly. The arrow flew true and hit the Pilidar just under the chin. It grabbed at the arrow and yanked it out. It tried to scream, but was unable to make any noise. It ran toward its fellows instead and Vina took aim again. This time she fired low and missed. She had never tried to shoot a running target before. It didn’t seem to matter. The Pilidar stumbled, fell, soon stopped moving.
Vina felt no guilt killing these creatures. If they were willing to do horrible things to children, she was more than willing to do horrible things to them. She eyed the three sleeping Pilidar. “Two down, four to go.” she thought to herself, “but how do I do all three of these at once?”. Vina considered for a while before stashing her bow and arrows back into her backpack. She picked up her spear. “I’ll have to get close to kill all three at the same time.” She thought to herself.
She was unsure what she would do if she had to fight two. If she shot an arrow and took one out, the other two might wake up and rush her. She supposed she could run, but that would give away the element of surprise. She decided it was imperative that she kill one with her first strike and if the other two wake, she had to throw a knife, killing another. That would leave just one for her to fight.
When Vina used her stealth skill to get close, she was surprised at how soundly the creatures slept. She waited a few minutes beside the sleeping Pilidar for her stamina to recharge. She wanted a full bar for this. The first pilidar was sleeping on its back and Vina brought the spear down hard and fast through its throat. She held it there pinned like an insect until it stopped struggling. Vina couldn’t believe the other two were still asleep.
Vina moved to the second one slowly. This one was sleeping on its side and she once again brought the spear down on its throat. This time, it flailed about wildly, kicking its feet in a frantic attempt to escape the spear in its throat. Its foot kicked a nearby tin cooking pot and its partner woke up with a start. The third pilidar hopped to its feet and screeched an alarm. Vina panicked at the sound and reacted without thought. She ripped the spear from the second pilidar and threw it at the third. The third pilidar did not move out of the way in time and soon had a spear sticking out of its stomach.
Feeling very stupid standing there without a weapon in her hands, Vina took an awkward step back. The third pilidar approached her, the spear still in it. Vina suddenly remembered the knives on her belt and quickly drew one. She threw the knife end over end and it stuck in the pilidar’s chest. The last pilidar slumped to its knees, the fight clearly leaving its body. Vina waited until it stopped moving and she received the kill notification.
Vina retrieved her spear and knife from the dead pilidar and started to review her notification windows. Before she could even start to read, something slammed into her back with an amazing amount of force.
You have been hit with 10 points of piercing damage. Armor absorbs 8 damage. You have suffered 2 points of piercing damage.
Vina whipped around and what she saw shocked her. Before her stood a slightly larger pilidar. On its face were not just the two normal eyes she expected, but four additional red eyes. Two were set at around the same level of the cheek bones and the other two were squarely on its forehead. All six eyes focused on her, and its body was squared up for a fight. Vina brought her spear about in front of her. It screeched some kind of language at her, but Vina could not understand. Before Vina could examine, it brought a wooden spear up and charged her.
She stepped back quickly, trying to get distance between herself and this strange pilidar. She was faster than it, but from the bulging muscles she could see, it clearly had a strength advantage. The pilidar stabbed forward, and Vina dodged to the side. Vina was considering running away when she realized something. Her spear was six feet long and the pilidar’s was only around four feet.
Vina grinned as she pressed her reach advantage. The pilidar tried to dodge around, but its agility was lacking compared to Vina’s. Soon she had poked a few holes into the creature. To her surprise it continued to fight as if uninjured. In fact, Vina noticed pockets of darkness covering the holes she had made and the bleeding had stopped in most of them. Vina furrowed her brow in consternation. Vina stabbed the creature a few more times, but she felt she wasn’t making any progress.
After stabbing the creature again, she recalled what Pawld had said. The six eyed were cultists of the shadow. Vina paused briefly as she reached down and tapped her lantern on. The red light lit up the surrounding area, briefly blinding her. As her eyes adjusted to the new light, the creature before her screeched in pain and collapsed to the ground. The shadows were now missing from the wounds she had inflicted and black blood began pouring out. Vina’s heart jumped when the creature's back split open and black specks flew into the night sky.
Vina stood there panting. “That was just like the spinerling!” she said. She used examine on the creature she just killed.
Creature: Six Eyed Pilidar (Dead) Rare This creature has been taken over by the shadow.
While she caught her breath, she looked at all of her pop up windows.
750 Experience awarded for the kill of a Pilidar x5 200 Experience award for the kill of Six Eyed Pilidar
Vina Level Up: You reached level 4 and have 5 more attribute points to allocate. You have gained 10 health and 5 stamina.
Skill Level Up: Archery has reached level 4. You are able to reload your bow 9% faster and bows do 15% more damage. Skill Level Up: Spears has reached level 5. You can now attack 12% faster with spears and spears will ignore 4% of armor You have gained one skill point. Skill Level Up: Stealth has reached level 5. While using stealth you are 12% quieter, 12% more difficult to spot, and inflict 34% more damage. You have gained one skill point. You have gained 290 experience from leveling skills.
She couldn’t believe her progress. She had gained a new level and two more skill points. She was also a third of the way to level five and much closer to getting a class. Vina decided to leave her skill points until later when she could really consider how to best apply them.
For now Vina stood up and began the grisly task of removing ears. She did not enjoy this part at all. However after the first cut and slight seepage of blood, Vina felt the runes on her lantern become excited. Vina smirked when she realized what they were communicating. She detached the lantern from her belt and set it beside the bloodied corpse. To Vina’s amazement, the lantern started pulling the blood toward it. The blood inched across the ground very slowly, so Vina moved the lantern closer. Vina watched with fascination and a weird feeling of delight as it began to absorb the blood. The runes on the lantern slowly came to life. When the corpse was empty, Vina brought the lantern to the next one.
By the time Vina was done, the lantern was about a third full with about fifteen gorgeous red runes dancing along its surface. Her heart danced along with them. The lantern had consumed so much blood, she had received a skill level up.
Skill Level Up: Blood Runes has reached level 4. Blood runes can be drawn 15% faster and take 15% less blood to activate or maintain You have gained 35 experience from leveling a skill.
Vina approached the Six Eyed shadow creature last. She chose to not drain this one. The runes on the lantern did not seem interested anyway. As Vina cut the ear free, she noticed a small red stone ring on its hand. Vina leaned down and examined it.
Fake Health Aspect of Trina Artifact This is a fake aspect of Trina. This is a bad copy of the Aspect of Health.
She bent down and removed the ring from the creature’s finger. She placed the ring into her pocket and would decide later what to do with it. Priya had been clear that bonding with an aspect could be dangerous. Would bonding with a fake aspect be even more hazardous?
Vina looked around and saw there was nothing else to be done. This violent and gruesome work played heavily on her heart, but Vina’s disgust with what these creatures would have done to Milly steeled her resolve. Vina left the bodies where they lay and walked back to town.
Once she arrived, she turned off her lantern and clambered over the wall again. Slowly, she stealthed her way back to Pawld’s shop. “See Trina? I’m returning these things.” she muttered to herself. Her heart jumped into her throat when she saw what was waiting for her. Standing in front of the shop was Pawld himself. His eyes locked onto her almost instantly.