Chapter 6

It only took a couple of minutes for the scenery around to completely shift. The gravel road I had been following gradually tapered out and was now fully replaced by regular old grass.

Now standing in front of me was an imposing wall of greenery.

A wave of tall grass that went up past my head by a good metre completely blocked my view of the surrounding land, and even if I went back to higher ground on the hill, the view was blocked there. It seemed that there indeed was a purpose as to why we couldn’t make out any details from above.

Walking along the intimidating wall, it only came to an end when it reached the large and rapidly flowing river that separated the plains biome and the forest. Walking from one end of the large grass to the opposite could easily take upwards of an hour.

Walking straight into this death-trap seemed like a bad idea, if this exact scene played out in a horror movie than I’d be screaming at the protagonist to now walk into the scary looking grass. Who knows what’s in there after all.

Alas, it didn’t seem like I had much of a choice.

Trying to cut some of the fragile grass down worked. For about two seconds before it magically grew back to its full height.

It seemed that walking in blind was basically a foregone conclusion, but there was at least one preparation I could make.

Whipping out the papers that were neatly folded in my now disgustingly dirty pants, I had a brief overview of the items redeemable for points.

Flicking through the different papers, a variety of different items were shown. Mostly they consisted of different monster parts or flowers and herbs, but there was also an occasional random looking artefact or item worth a ridiculously high number of points.

As in worth thousands, netting just one of these bad boys could clear this floor in an instant. Naturally it was easy to assume that they wouldn’t be so easy to get my hands on.

Categorising the items by type, I ended up with a list of monsters from which I was able to even further filter down thanks to some aquatic creatures being wholly unable to live in this grass. Though knowing some of the monsters that might be swimming in that river was another terrifying thought.

From the papers several candidates were highlighted, but it was obvious that two in specific would be my main encounters.

Worth only a couple points each based on their level, the first item was a ‘Striped Mutts Tale’. Thinking about having to kill a dog left a bad taste in my mouth, but then my thoughts went to how African hunting dogs hunt their pray and my thoughts on the matter were instantly turned around.

The second item… Now this pissed me right off. The second item were called ‘Grass Spider Fangs’. The only problem here was that the item was estimated to range from a couple of inches long to half a metre.

What type of sick person makes spiders that big? Let me meet them, I just want to have a nice, civilized chat with said person.

Just the thought of running head on into a camouflaged spider that towered over me was enough to give me chills. Can we go back into the goblin cave yet?

Well, there was no use in putting it off for any longer.

Taking in a deep breath I pushed apart the grass in front of me and entered the natural labyrinth.

Walking in was like entering an entirely new world, the cool breeze that was previously making the scorching sun bearable was seemingly unable to pierce the grass, leaving the environment hot and dry.

I managed to take exactly five steps before hearing a sound off in the distance.

A rustling sound of grass rapidly being displaced alerted me to the new danger, and the danger was rapidly approaching.

Moving in frantic directions around where I was standing, I could hear something moving just out of eyesight. The tall grass around me was sparser once I entered the field, making vision much more manageable. Of course, I could still only see a good couple metres on any side, but it was much better than before.

The rustling continued to get closer as other sounds were added into the fray, the rhythmic tapping of feet on the ground indicated the creature was moving quickly, and it’s rapid panting gave its identity away.

Surely a spider wouldn’t make these noises… Right?

I was confident that the creature around me was one of the Striped Mutts, but now the question was how I deal with it.

The mutt was fast and was still rapidly pacing in the area in front of me, but it was consistently getting closer and closer.

Sounding like it was just a few metres out, the creatures’ movements completely stopped as if it had been a lie the whole time.

The panting and footsteps had now been replaced by the sound of grass rubbing together, for a second it felt like my mind had just been playing tricks on me.

It was until a shadow landed on my face that I thought this.

With luck as my only saviour, I turned my gaze up and came face to face with my furry opponent.

Considering it was primed to snap it’s robust jaw around my neck, I struggled to get a good look at its appearance. All I knew was that it had long, protruding fangs and two whole rows of them.

Without any time to spare I dived forward landing hard on my forearms. Recalling my last experience of getting stuck off my feet, I quickly pushed myself up and faced my sword towards my opponent.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Only, it was no longer there.

Was I really going crazy? It seemed like a real possibility in before a blurry figure launched itself at me from just barely within view.

Yet again given no time to react I whipped my sword out in a flurry.

The panicked strike somehow connected, feeling a solid thunk on the end of my sword.

Letting out a bitter sounding howl, the Mutt was now fully in view as it limped on its front leg, not willing to show its back to me for even a second.

The mutt closely resembled a Sabretooth tiger from my recollection, but I guess it was just a canine version of it?

Coming up to just below my hip, the mutt more closely resembled a feral wolf than anything. With sharp fangs lined up outside of it’s mouth, it was clear this creature was a natural predator. Thought it was curious how he wasn’t in some sort of pack, weren’t most canines usually in packs?

Regardless of my amateur thoughts on animal behaviour, the mutt was clearly ready to finish our fight as it slowly advanced.

Well, I wasn’t saintly enough to deny it.

You have Slain:

Striped Mutt (LVL 4)

EXP Earned

With its mobility crippled the monster stood no chance. Finishing it off I was rewarded with more EXP and a shallow fulfilment. Retrieving it’s tailed a new problem reared its head, I needed a way to carry my loot.

Noting that down for my return trip to Grizz, I decided on pushing forward for the time being. Going back empty handed this quickly would just be embarrassing after all.

Redirecting myself so that I was walking perpendicular to the entrance, I continued my slow journey now running on full alert mode.

Focusing on my hearing, so far it seemed that relying on my eyes alone would be a good way to die quickly.

Hearing a familiar sound of something rushing around in the distance, I let the unknown creature get closer as it followed the same pattern I had just seen.

Unlike before, this time I stomped on the ground a couple of times, clearly drawing the creature’s attention.

A silence once again took hold as my eyes were peeled to the skies. Seeing a creature burst upwards before heading straight down, I couldn’t help but feel like this was a bit of a flawed strategy for the Mutts.

With its presence known, I was simple able to keep out of reach of its jump and hold my sword out as the Mutt failed to defy gravity.

The creature fell directly onto my blade as the defenceless Mutt was bisected from snout to lower torso. In just two short encounters, this sword had easily managed to show its worth. Eclipsing my previous weapon in quality, comparing the two of them was like night and day.

Claiming the prized tail an extra notification surprised me, it seemed like I had finally hit the milestone of Level Five, and with that came a class.

It took me a casual thirty minutes to find my way out of the long grass. I totally didn’t get lost and walk in the wrong direction for a bit, I would never do something that dumb.

Able to breath easy without the grass threatening to suffocate me, I managed to sit myself down on a large rock before pulling up my Status.

You have Levelled Up!

Level 4 -> Level 5

All Stats +1

Class Selection Unlocked!

Seeing yet another stat increase was exciting enough, but unlocking a class was the cherry on top.

With a quick mental nod, I opened the class selection screen, the choices did not disappoint.

Class Selection (Tier 1)

Warrior

- Unlocks Strength Skill Tree

Stat Increases on Each Level:

- STR +3

- DEX +2

- Free points + 2

Rogue

- Unlocks Dexterity Skill Tree

Stat Increases on Each Level:

- DEX +3

- STR +1

- END +1

- Free points + 2

Guardian

- Unlocks Endurance Skill Tree

Stat Increases on Each Level:

- END +3

- VIG +1

- STR +1

- Free points + 2

Tank

- Unlocks Vigor Skill Tree

Stat Increases on Each Level:

- VIG +3

- STR +1

- END +1

- Free Points +2

Mage

- Unlocks Intelligence Skill Tree

Stat Increases on Each Level:

- INT +3

- WIS +2

- Free points +2

Sorcerer

- Unlocks Wisdom Skill Tree

Stat Increases on Each Level:

- WIS +3

- INT +1

- END +1

- Free points + 2

Well, wasn’t I just spoiled for choice. It would’ve been nice if some sort of legendary class was available, but beggars can’t be choosers, especially in the apocalypse.

It seemed that the main choice would be on what stat I want to focus myself around, and then picking the suitable class for that. Having a guaranteed three points every level up would be an insane boost.

Other than the differing stat allocations, it would finally be time to getting some skills by the looks of things. About damn time if you ask me.

Based on my experiences so far there were a couple of easy options to cross out, Mage, Sorcerer and Rogue did not fit my personality at all, and they also didn’t interest me. Leaving me with Warrior, Guardian and Tank, the choices seemed much more challenging now.

With my experiences so far, I would be happy to pick any one of these three options, but picking just one wasn’t so simple.

If I had more Strength against the Hobgoblin, I might’ve been able to take it on in a heal on clash, or if I had Endurance, I could whittle it down, but also if I had more Vigor, I could simply tank its attacks with ease.

Ah damn, that didn’t make it any easier at all.

Well with all other options gone, there was only one possible way to decide this.

And the winner was obvious, hell, it wasn’t even a challenge.

Picking my class, a light coalesced around me as if announcing my profession to the new world.

Looking at my new status, I was quite happy with the changes.

After all, what class sounded caller than a Guardian?

Status

Name: James Burns

Class: Guardian (Tier 1)

Level: 5

Strength: 10 (11)

Dexterity: 10 (11)

Vigor: 9

Endurance: 11 (12)

Intelligence: 8

Wisdom: 8

Free Points: 0

Skills (0/5):

Runes (0/1)

With class selection out of the way, it was time to look at the main perk that came with picking a class. Give me five minutes and I would be ready to skill all over those Mutts and show them whose boss around these parts.

Yeah no, those dreams were instantly crushed.

Opening my skill tree, a new menu appeared before me.

A long list of nodes appeared, unfortunately everything was completely greyed out and unviewable bar one singular node at the start of the tree.

Well, every journey starts with a single step, better to start somewhere than not at all, I guess.

Stoic Heart (Passive)

Still your heart in face of danger.

- Reduces the effect of mental statuses

Even for a starting skill it seemed a bit too barebones, or was that just me?

Although I could view the skill, there was no way to equip it. Apparently, I would also need to find out how to earn skill points. It seemed whoever oversaw skills was a real miser.

With the sun still beaming high in the sky and a completely new status to boast about, I decided to make a quick journey back to base camp and get some essentials from Grizz. Apart from a bag to store loot in, I was also in desperate need of some new clothing. The couple of remaining scraps that barely covered my important parts were evidence of that.