Colthorn inhaled slowly, focusing entirely on his target thirty feet ahead. He lifted his bow and gently pulled the string back to his cheek, aiming carefully so he wouldn’t mess this up. The breeze that was flowing through the forest wasn’t an issue as Colthorn adjusted accordingly. He exhaled softly, and let the bowstring slip out of his fingers. The arrow flew through the air and slammed right into the unsuspecting target. Several small chimes sounded in his mind as the Horned Rabbit collapsed to the ground, and 4 blue, semi-transparent boxes with glowing white text appeared in front of him.
You have killed a Horned Rabbit. +5.3 EXP.
Archery gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
Stealth gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
Hunting gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
“Yes!” Colthorn shouted, jumping up from the bush he was hiding behind. “Mom, did you see that!? I got him!”
His mother, Alagossa, chuckled as she stepped out from behind a tree, black hair tied back into a ponytail revealing her pointed elvish ears. She was dressed in a dark green shirt and black pants, her leather breast-plate and bracers looked worn but well taken care of, various pouches and a big hunting knife were belted onto her waist. A longbow was in her left hand and she carried his pack in her right hand. Her own pack, and her quiver, were strapped onto her back.
“I did see. You did great,” she said, tossing his pack at him. “Now, let’s go get it before something else does.”
“Oh, right,” Colthorn said as he put his arms through the straps of his backpack.
Coal was dressed very similar to his mother, with a green shirt and black pants, but he didn’t have any armor yet. Instead he wore a leather vest; he was very proud of his vest, it was made from the hide they had gotten from their very first hunt together 2 years ago. His boots were caked in dirt, but he didn’t care as he ran through the forest’s underbrush. Alagossa ran behind him, easily keeping up while she scanned the surrounding area for any danger.
The rabbit was still there, the white arrow fletchings were easily seen against the vibrant greens of the forest.
“Alright my little Coal, remember what to do?” Alagossa asked.
“Yep!” Colthorn exclaimed as he knelt beside it, unsheathing the knife at his waist. “Skin it, gut it, get the horn, then we can eat it for dinner!”
“Indeed,” she said, looking expectantly at him, “but aren’t you forgetting something?”
Colthorn paused, confused at what she meant. His eyes lit with realization.
“Oh right!”
He stood up and searched the sky to the West for the bright, light-green colored moon. He found it, about two hand-spans above the horizon, barely visible through the trees. Colthorn balled his hands into fists, pressed his knuckles together at chest height, and gave a slight bow to the moon.
“Thank you, Resia, for the successful hunt.”
As he straightened from the bow, he heard chimes and his eyes opened wide as he read the blue boxes that appeared.
Congratulations
You’ve gained the skill: Astronomy!
+50 EXP
Your Mother has taught you about the Moons and their rotations, and you have shown that you actually remember her teachings and possess a decent knowledge of the celestial bodies in the sky.
Passive Effect: helps you remember information about the Moons and other celestial bodies.
You gained 1 level. +1 INT, +2 Free Stats
Congratulations
You’ve gained the skill: Follower of the Sibling Moons!
+50 EXP
Your Mother has taught you her faith, and you have taken her teaching to heart.
Passive Effect: Helps you remember the doctrines and rituals of the Church of the Siblings
+0.15% WIL per skill level to any moon related skill
You gained 1 level. +1 INT, +2 Free Stats
"I got two skills and two levels!" Colthorn shouted with joy, pouncing onto his mother in a big hug. Alagossa laughed as she wrapped her arms around Colthorn and spun in a circle.
"That's great news Coal!" She exclaimed, setting him down and ruffling his curly brown hair. "Which skills did you get?"
"I got Astronomy and Follower of the Sibling Moons. It said I got them because you taught me, so uh, thanks mom," he said sheepishly.
"I'm not the one who gave you those skills, my little Coal. Giannis gave them to you because you proved yourself deserving of them," she said pointing at the small, dull yellow moon high in the Northwestern sky. "I'm so proud of you, Coal!"
This time she was the one to pounce-hug Colthorn, giving him a big squeeze and planting several kisses on the top of his head and face. She leaned back, a big smile on her face.
“Here, I’ll take care of the rabbit while you spend your points. Remember to keep your Willpower equal to at least half of your Intelligence, and Strength equal to at least of your wisdom, and...”
“Yeah, I know mom,” he interrupted, rolling his eyes, “and Constitution needs to be equal to half of Strength.”
“And what needs to be at least half of Constitution?”
“Alacrity, and Acuity needs to be half of Alacrity. Then Intelligence needs to be at least half of Acuity. A perfect balance requires a two to one ratio between each Stat,” he quoted.
“Good boy,” she said as she released him, “do that now then, and don’t be too focused on your status page. Try to be aware of your surroundings, don’t let anything sneak up on you.”
Colthorn nodded excitedly, already pulling up his Status.
[Status]
Skills
Quests
Library
Friends
Notices
Settings
General Info
Name: Colthorn Leokast
Class: [Child of Jornan/Alagossa Leokast (Sta)]
Race: Half-Human, Half-Elf
Level: 0th 67
Age: 7
Experience: 28.7/67
Health: 181.5/195
H. Regen: 3.75/day
Stamina: 75.9/120
S. Regen: 2.7/day
Mana: 490/490
M. Regen: 5.2/day
Stats
Strength: 16
Intelligence: 67
Constitution: 8
Will: 31
Alacrity: 38
Acuity: 37
Pending Stat Points: 4
Favored Skills:
Running 0th 50
Archery 0th 43
Hunting 0th 35
Botanize 0th 46
Knife Handling 0th 30
Stealth 0th 50
Skills:
Analyze 0th 43 Astronomy 0th 1 Basic Alchemy 0th 34 Cleaning 0th 35 Climbing 0th 37 Drawing 0th 31 Field Dressing 0th 30 Follower of the Sibling Moons 0th 1 Geologize 0th 21 Glanic Language 0th 13 Harvest Plant 0th 45 Jumping 0th 24 Standard Language 0th 19
Tracking 0th 36
Tumbling 0th 21
Let’s see here... looks like I’ll have to put my Free Stats into Willpower and Strength to keep everything in balance. He groaned. Why does Intelligence get a Stat point every level just because I’m Half-Elf! I just want to raise my Alacrity, and be fast like mom!
Colthorn looked over to Alagossa, who was busy Field Dressing the rabbit. Mom’s a full Elf though, so her Intelligence and Willpower are really high... so maybe it’s not too bad.
He assigned two points to Willpower, one point each to Strength and Constitution.
There, now everything’s balanced. I can’t wait until I get into the first tier! I’ll get a bunch more Stats, so then I can raise what I want! Dumb zeroth tier class, only giving one Free Stat.
He debated if he should remove one of his Favored Skills and replace it with one of the skills he just got, but the Follower skill only affected other moon related skills and the only moon related skill he had was Astronomy. And Astronomy doesn’t look like it’ll be useful... We’ll be home soon, so maybe I can shift some skills around. I can take out Botanize, ‘cause that’s only useful looking at plants, I’ll replace it with Analyze which is for looking at people. hunting can be replaced with Basic Alchemy, ‘cause dad will probably ask me to help him out with his potions. Knife Handling... let’s go with Drawing! I can finally color all the sketches I did from this trip! Running, Archery, and Stealth will need to stay because we’re not out of the woods yet and the little bit of extra EXP will be awesome.
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[Status]
Skills
Quests
Library
Friends
Notices
Settings
General Info
Name: Colthorn Leokast
Class: [Child of Jornan/Alagossa Leokast (Sta)]
Race: Half-Human, Half-Elf
Level: 0th 67
Age: 7
Experience: 28.7/67
Health: 181.5/210
H. Regen: 3.75/day
Stamina: 75.9/130
S. Regen: 2.75/day
Mana: 490/500
M. Regen: 5.2/day
Stats
Strength: 17
Intelligence: 67
Constitution: 9
Will: 33
Alacrity: 38
Acuity: 37
Pending Stat Points: 0
Favored Skills:
Running 0th 50
Archery 0th 43
Basic Alchemy 0th 34
Analyze 0th 43
Drawing 0th 31
Stealth 0th 50
Skills:
Astronomy 0th 1 Botanize 0th 46 Cleaning 0th 35 Climbing 0th 37 Field Dressing 0th 30 Follower of the Sibling Moons 0th 1 Geologize 0th 21 Glanic Language 0th 13 Harvest Plant 0th 45 Hunting 0th 35 Jumping 0th 24 Knife Handling 0th 30 Standard Language 0th 19
Tracking 0th 36
Tumbling 0th 21
Alright, got ten more Mana... I should really get some Mana skills to put it all to use. Maybe mom knows some good skills to get.
“Hey mom, do you know...” Colthorn trailed off. Both the rabbit and his mother were gone. “Mom?” He glanced around. Nothing but the trees.
Arms suddenly wrapped around him from behind, and Colthorn was lifted off his feet.
“Got you!” His mother laughed, “you weren’t paying attention like I told you to, little Coal. Always, always be aware of your surroundings. Now, you were going to ask me something?”
“Sorry mom, I got distracted thinking about how Elves and other races are made to put Stat Points into Stats they didn’t want...” Colthorn mumbled looking at the ground, but he brightened as he looked up at Alagossa. “But then I thought that it wasn’t so bad because I can be like you! And I was thinking that you might know some Mana Skills that I could learn. That’s what I was going to ask; if you could teach me some mana skills... can you?”
“Of course I can, little Coal. In fact, that’s what I was planning on teaching you next week! The next few days, however, are for you to train with Dad.”
“Ugh, do I have to? I don’t want a Potioneer Class, I want to be a Survivalist like you!”
“And I support you in your decision, but your father has plenty of good Skills to teach you, not just potion skills. And besides, dad loves you and wants to spend time with you as well. We’ve been hunting in the woods for 3 days now, don’t you think he misses you?”
“Oh, ok... I love him too, I just don’t really like learning Alchemy. It’s boring!... and the resistance training sucks.”
“I know how you feel, but keep practicing ok? It will help you a lot in the future, I promise. Now, let’s get back home and show dad what you got us for dinner!”
“Let’s go!”
Colthorn took off through the forest, his mom right behind, excited to show off his hunt.
<<<>>>
It was late in the afternoon when they finally reached the gates of Cresthaven. The city of Cresthaven wasn’t the biggest city in the Malroth Kingdom but it was famous for being the “City of Adventure''. To the East lay the Forest of Malroth, and the Green Ridge Mountains ran across the West and North, a Tier 2 and a Tier 3 area respectively, infested with Lairs and monsters. Cresthaven was only a half a day’s travel from both the forest and the mountains, several famous Lairs, and the Malrothian Dungeon, making the city a hotspot for Adventurers.
They entered through the East Gate, waving at the guards, Steve and Falidar, and made their way down Center Street towards the City Square. Center Street was broad enough for 6 wagons to pass side by side, paved with smooth gray cobblestone, and ran straight from the East Gate to the West Gate. The East Gate lead to the forest and the West Gate lead to the mountains.
Hundreds of people, of all races, were going about their business. Many merchants were hawking their wares, Bards were playing music on street corners, and Adventurers of all shapes and sizes were moving about. There was an Orc wearing a set of armor that looked to be a bunch of hand-sized steel plates lashed together, and a long thin blade was belted at his side. An Elven merchant, wearing a robe, a blue silken cord tied at the waist, and a white turban on her head. A Gnome Bard was sitting on top of a barrel playing a lute and telling stories to a small crowd that had gathered around him. There were plenty of Beast-Folk and Humans around as well. And despite the early evening, loud laughter and music were already heard from many of the taverns they walked past.
As they walked, Colthorn was busy Analyzing everyone he could see. He was only in the zeroth Tier, as was his Analyze Skill, and so the only thing Analyze told him was what type of Class the people had. Warrior, Mage, Healer, Rogue, and Merchant were the most common results that he got. He even saw a Farmer! Colthorn was surprised; they weren’t that common here considering that the City was surrounded by dangerous Lairs, Monsters, and Tier 2 areas. Most of the City's food was brought in from Caravan Merchants.
Analyze gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
The City Square wasn’t as crowded as the streets were, due to its wide open space. There weren’t any stalls, that’s what the Market Square was for, but there were adventurers coming and going from the Guild. The Adventurer’s Guild was a massive building on the north side of the square, the City Hall, also a massive building, was on the south side, and in the very center of the square was a fountain. The fountain was said to have been made by a Tier 5 Wizard of Water almost 300 years ago, and considering that the five columns of water were shooting thirty feet into the air without ceasing, Colthorn believed that rumor was true.
“Alright little Coal, you have 3 Horned Rabbit pelts and 2 White-tailed Pheasants. Where do we go to sell them?” Alagossa asked.
“Um, we can go to Gwen’s Tannery over there,” he answered, pointing down a road going Northeast. “And there’s a Fletcher on that road as well, was his name... Roldan? Anyways, we can sell the feathers there. The rabbit and pheasant meat at Johan’s place.”
“Lead the way, Coal!”
They’ve done this same trip multiple times now, so Colthorn knew exactly where to go. Gwen’s Tannery had been their go-to place to sell any furs and hides that they got from their hunts ever since Gwen opened for business nearly a year ago, and despite the chemical smell in the air, the tannery had a very welcoming atmosphere. The door swung open, rattling the wooden chimes on the other side. There were racks of all sorts of furs on the far side of the room, with a countertop blocking access. Potted plants were in the corners and windowsills. Behind the counter was a doorway leading to the back tanning area.
“Gimme a momen’!” Gwen’s rough voice called out from the back room. She had spoken in Standard Language, though thick with a Hannish accent, instead of the Glanic that both Colthorn and Alagossa were speaking. A few moments later, Gwen stepped out. The dwarf woman was wearing a leather apron over her long-sleeved shirt. Her thick sleeves, and her gloves, were stained with all colors of the rainbow. Gwen smiled as she saw them. “Ah, look who i’ is. Finally back from yer trip are ye’? Wha’ have ya brough’ me this time?”
“You’re in luck Gwen! Little Coal here managed to hunt some Horned Rabbits all by himself,” Alagossa said, ruffling Colthorn’s hair.
“Aye? The lad’s turnin’ to a fine hun’er lik’ ‘is mum! Let’s see the pel’s then, pu’ ‘em down here on the coun’er.”
Alagossa took off her backpack and undid the strap of the large flap. Her backpack was a Bag of Holding, and had more than enough space for all the creatures they’ve managed to hunt. She reached in, arm going in clear up to the shoulder, and pulled out the pelts.
“Here you go Coal,” his mom said, handing him the pelts. “You hunted these, now you get to sell them. Wring her dry!”
That made Gwen snort a chuckle.
“Wait, what!? But you’ve always done the selling!” Colthorn complained.
“Don’ be afraid lad, I won’ bi’e, I promise,” Gwen said, patting the counter, “pu’ ‘em down here, an’ we can talk some money.”
Colthorn gulped as he set the rabbit pelts down.
“One, two... three horned rabbi’ pel’s. Adda boy lad! Tha’s one more than las’ time. Hmm... I say 5 slivers each.”
Colthorn tried to think back to the last time they sold horned rabbit pelts, which was hard because it had always been his mother that did the selling. But didn’t mom sell them for ten silver each last time? So...
“These pelts are worth at least twenty silver each! Horned Rabbit pelts are soft and make for comfortable clothing. Twenty a piece.”
“Twen’y a piece? But look righ’ here” Gwen said, sticking a finger through the hole the arrow made with a grin, “ya done pu’ a hole through ‘em. Seven silvers.”
Colthorn blinked, open-mouthed at what she just said.
“Of... Of course there's a hole in it! I killed them with an arrow! And you have a Skill to fix that, don't you? Fifteen silver each.”
“Aye lad, ya do drive a hard bargain. Hmm... le’s call i’ eleven silvers each,” Gwen said, taking her glove off before sticking it out to close the deal.
“Deal!” Colthorn clasped her hand with his and shook it.
“Thir’y three silvers. Tha’s three silver plates an’ three silver chips, here ya go lad.” Gwen handed over the six coins. The silver plates were slightly larger than the silver chips, with a big “10” on one side, the face of Malroth’s king on the other side. Silver chips had a “1” on one side, with an image of a wolf’s head on the other. There was another silver coin called a round, which was worth fifty silver and had the Queen’s image. Of course, then there are the copper coins, gold coins, and the platinum coins, each with their own chips, plates, and rounds.
“Thanks!” Colthorn said, taking the coins before turning. “Ok mom, your turn.”
“Good job Coal!” Alagossa said as she took out the different skins and pelts from what she hunted. “Alright Gwen, I have two Red Elk hides, a Long-Tusked Boar’s skin, and a Green Fox pelt. I want a gold plate for it all!”
Colthorn tuned out of the conversation, already content about his dealings.
A great deal of heated debating later, they left the Tannery with heavier coin purses.
“Next stop, the fletcher!” Colthorn said, already dashing off. The True Flight Fletchery was only four buildings down the street.
The building was full of barrels of all sorts of arrows. Arrow with element attuned feathers; different woods and metals for the shafts; and the arrowheads made of bone, stone, metal, and even mana crystals. Different Skills sometimes required special arrows or the special arrows could even have had a Skill imbued in it, though those were more expensive.
Roldan was sitting in a chair behind a counter, slowly whittling at a shaft of wood, feline eyes looking closely at the wood after every cut. He didn’t look up as they entered, but his ears did swivel in their direction.
“Good evening,” Roldan said, in Glanic, “did you manage to get the Silver Hawk?”
“Of course I did! You should know by now that I’m actually somewhat good at my job.” Alagossa muttered, pulling the bundle of hawk feathers out of her bag.
Roldan set the arrow shaft and knife down, and pointed at the wall to their left.
“Go ahead and pick twenty arrows from the first two barrels.”
“Here, take a look at these feathers,” she said, placing the White-Tailed Pheasant feathers on the counter. “My son here hunted those.”
“Did he now?” Roldan’s sharp eyes turned to Colthorn, “and how would you like your payment this time? In arrows or coin?”
“Arrows!” Colthorn said excitedly, last time he chose to be paid with money but he’d spent it all on candy. This time he figured he should be a bit more responsible, afterall he was already almost Tier one. That’s the Tier almost everyone is. Except mom and Dad, they’re Tier two, they’re so cool!
“White-Tailed Pheasants hmm,” Roldan purred, “not that rare, but they are very good all the same. You may choose twenty arrows from the red barrel over there, or two arrows from the same barrel as your mother.”
“Can I pick ten arrows from the red barrel and one arrow from the barrel mom’s choosing from?”
“You may if that is what you wish.”
“I wish!” Colthorn shouted, jumping over to his mother.
The barrel of arrows she was looking at were made of a black wood and had white fletching, the tip was made of some sort of steel.
“Hey mom, he said I can have one of these arrows! Is there one my size?”
“You want one of these arrows? You don’t have any Skills that need these arrows.”
“But mom, you said you were going to teach me some Mana Skills! I’ll have the Skill needed soon, please mom?”
“Alright fine,” she sighed, “here, this one looks the right size.”
“Yes! Thanks mom,” he said, grabbing the arrow. He lifted it up to view it in the light from the window. The steel arrowhead seemed to almost sparkle in the light. It was beautiful. He carefully placed it into his quiver with the rest of his arrows, and went to grab arrows from the red barrel. These arrows were what he usually used so he quickly picked the best looking ones and stuffed them in his quiver. It was good to have a full quiver again!
“May Resia guide your hunt,” Roldan said as they were leaving.
“And yours as well,” they replied.
They weaved through the crowded streets and made their way towards The Good Meats, their last stop before they could go home. The butchery was two streets North of them, and was conveniently on the way home, which was in the Northwestern quarter of the city.
Johan was in the process of wiping down the counter when they came in. Racks of meat and sausages of all types were hung, prominently displayed, behind him. Two runes of cold, placed beneath the meat, ensured that the meat was well preserved. Colthorn couldn’t help but shiver upon entering.
“If it isn’t my two most favorite customers!” Johan said, in Standard. Colthorn never heard him speak anything but Standard, but he was sure Johan was from somewhere far away. “Got anything exciting for me?”
“Nothing too exciting but we do have a lot,” Alagossa replied, shifting the bag off her shoulders, she opened the bag wide to let Johan see all the skinned animals inside. “Want them here or should we take this to the back.”
“I would appreciate it if you would place it directly in my cold room. That would save me a great deal of work!”
Johan led them around the counter and through a door that led to a hallway. The hallway opened into a room at the end, but Johan stopped at a door in the middle. He pulled a ring of keys out and unlocked the thick wooden door. A wave of cold air washed over Colthorn, making him gasp. The room had dozens of thick chains hanging from steel beams in the ceiling, several runes of cold were engraved on the steel.
“Go ahead and place them here; the floor is clean.”
Once all the meat was out, except for one of the horned rabbits, and once Johan Appraised it all, they left the cold room to go back to the storefront.
“The best price I can give you is 24 gold, does that sound alright with you?” Johan asked, counting out the two gold plates and four gold chips.
“That sounds more than alright Johan, thanks for letting us dump our kills with you,” Alagossa said, accepting the offered coins. “May Veca protect you.”
“And may he protect you as well, I think you’ll need it more than me.”
They left, business was done, and it was finally time to go home.