“YES! I can finally leave the village and try out some fighting!” Zander says as he does some fist pumps. Pausing in the middle of one he mutters, “Although I had planned on having some spells to do with with,” and frowns slightly. With a shrug of his shoulders, “Oh well. At least I et to fight some. Lets see what I’ve gotten from the villagers that might help.” Digging through his sacks he start pulling stuff out and equipping it. “Wooden sword, Check. I can use this pot for a helm, Check. I have the leather boots I made, Check. My clothes have gotten kind of ratty from all the errands for the chief. I can use this sheet as a toga. If I use this twine, tie it as straps, rain barrel armor, check. Table cloth for a cloak, check.” After shuffling a little more through his sack, “I guess that’s all that’s going to help me. Lets go kill some rabbits.”
Jogging outside the village Zander sees a big clearing with lots of rabbits hopping around in it. “hehe just waiting there to be slaughtered.” Running up to one he swings from above.
You have sliced the rabbit for 1 point of damage.
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The Rabbit kicks you for 10 points of damage.
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You have sliced the rabbit for 1 point of damage.
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The Rabbit kicks you for 12 points of damage.
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You have sliced the rabbit for 1 point of damage.
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The Rabbit kicks you for 8 points of damage.
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You have sliced the rabbit for 1 point of damage.
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The Rabbit kicks you for 15 points of damage.
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You have sliced the rabbit for 1 point of damage.
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The Rabbit uses bunny kick. You take 25 points of damage.
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“Dang, these bunnies are really hard!” After getting down to 10% health the bunny still had over half its life left. “I’m not going to win. Lets run for it.” Turning around and starting to run,
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The Rabbit crits you for 23 points of damage.
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The Rabbit uses bunny kick. You take 30 points of damage.
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You have Died. You will not be able to log in for 24 hours.
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“What the crap?!? 24 hours! I didn’t know there was a penalty like this! Grrr..” Zander rages as everything fades to black.
At work the next day Caleb asks some of his coworkers, “Hey Joe, you play Royal Road right?”
“yeah.”
“How hard are bunnies?”
Laughing Joe says, “That’s a good one.” Seeing the look on Caleb’s face he stops laughing. “Wait, your serious? Bunnies are easy. They’re the mobs that newbies take on when they first leave town.”
“Dang, I was afraid you’d say that. I must have started out in a high level area then.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I fought some type of demon like bunny that kicked my butt. Do you know of anything that might help me fight them better?”
“Well I know you wanted to be a spell caster, what spells have you learned?”
“None. There was a mixup when I started and there’s no magic users in town to learn from. So I’m having to fight melee style. I have a wooden sword.”
“hmm. Have you picked up sword mastery then?”
“Not yet. Just have some random skills that don’t help with combat so far.”
“Ok. Go to the Training Hall. You can hit the scarecrow to gain more stats and the sword mastery skill. Plus you can befriend the instructor and he’ll help give you some advice.”
“Thanks, I’ll check that out when I can log in next. Good thing I don’t work tomorrow”
Logging in the next day Zander thinks, ‘hmm… even with the running around I did for the chief I don’t remember seeing a training hall. Guess I’ll have to ask someone.’ Stopping one of the people passing by he asks,
“Excuse me, Do you know where the training hall is?”
“Training hall? Don’t have no training hall. There’s a training area in the center of town to teach the youngins and let the guards do some practice.”
“Ok, I think that’s what I’m looking for. Thank you for your help.”
Walking to the center of town Zander enters a square. “Oh yeah. This is where the map of the town is, and there are the scarecrows.”
Seeing a wooden sword lying on the ground next to the scarecrow Zander walks over and picks it up. Standing in front of the dummy he readies himself to practice. Just as he starts to take a swing he jumps in surprise as someone yells behind him,
“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?!?”
Holding the sword sheepishly Zander says, “well… umm… uhh… I was just going to practice hitting this scarecrow.”
Plucking the sword out of Zander’s hands he commands, “I think not!”
Stunned Zander can’t help but ask, “But why not?!”
Poking Zander hard in the chest with a finger the man replies, “Because I remember you.” Poke “You said you didn’t need to learn the sword.” Poke “Nor anything else from me.” Poke “So not learning the sword it shall be!” poke “And none of my help it shall be!” poke “and if I see you here again I won’t be as nice. Now begone!” With this the man shoves Zander causing him to stumble and fall backwards.
Sitting on the ground Zander rubs his chest where he was poked and peers up at the man. Taking the wild red hair, scar across the eye, unkept beard, and worn dusty clothes he finally starts to recall this man. The instructor that offered to help him the first time he came here. Getting up and dusting himself off, Zander mutters to himself, “Great, now how am I suppose to learn sword mastery.”
Asking around Zander finds out the instructor’s name is Olaf. He carries a grudge until it dies of old age then stuffs it so he can carry it around with him. He’s he best Instructor and loves teaching and helping people. Which is a good thing since its his whole life now, because of the accident with his eye. While finding out this information Caleb checks back at the square to see if Olaf had left yet. Eventually, several hour after dark, Caleb comes back to an empty square. “Yes! Finally I can practice.” Picking up a practice sword he starts whacking the scarecrow. whack whack whack
“Who’s making that racket!”
Startled Zander looks off to the right just as Olaf rounds the corner.
“Why you little rat. Think you could practice while I wasn’t looking did you. Well I’ll show you!”
Olaf scoops up a practice sword as he rushes Zander. Zander stares at Olaf like a deer in head lights for too long. Just before Olaf get to him Zander turns to run and whack Zander get hit in the back and falls on his face.
“You lying, conniving, piece of trash.” Whack “Don’t need sword fighting huh?” whack “See if you don’t need sword fighting” Whack
You have gained a new stat.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Endurance: Increases stamina and reduces damage taken.
After awhile Olaf stops, sniffs, and walks away leaving Zander moaning on the ground. ‘Ouch, this VR stuff really hurts.’ Slowly uncurling and getting up, Zander moves different parts to see what’s sore and by how much. ‘At least he didn’t kill me and make me lose 24 hours of real time.’ After waiting several hours to make sure everyone’s asleep Zander goes back to hitting a scarecrow.
“Back for another beating I see.”
Hearing this Zander notices that he stayed to late, the sky was lightening. Turning to run a foot whips out and trips him.
“Lets see if this will teach you this time.”
The beating goes on for awhile, but again, not enough to kill him. Groaning he tries to stand up when it stops only to have it start again. Only by crawling out of the square is he allowed any respite. Since he trained during the night he heads to the herbalist to work during the day today. That night he goes back to hit scarecrows. Making sure everyone is asleep before starting. After awhile he finally receives he message
You have received a new skill: Sword Mastery.
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You have failed to learn the skill as all your skill slots are full.
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“What do you mean I can’t learn it?!?” Zander gives a loud scream of frustration before logging off. Searching through the forums after logging off he finds his problem. Only allowed 10 skills before gaining a class. “Great. Guess I have to get a class now.” Sigh “Maybe I can switch to a caster class when I reach a new city. It’ll be a pain in the butt, but what else can I do? I have no clue what class will help me though. Maybe the chief will know.”
Logging back in Zander pays a visit to the chief.
“Well now if it isn’t my favorite companion.”
“Hi chief. I was wondering, is there anything special about the bunnies around here?”
“No. Not to my knowledge. Has it been that time? You can actually leave town now?”
“Yes, I can leave now. But for some reason the bunnies are really hard, so I was wondering if you knew a good class for me to learn.”
“Hmm… That is strange. I suppose I could help find you a class fitting you. But lets finish up this quest for you first.”
Ding
You have completed the quest slave.
You have gained a level.
You have gained a level.
You have gained a level.
You have gained a level.
“Because you have done so many optional objectives in this quest you have earned a few other things. So much work should be rewarded,” The chief states as he hands Zander a piece of paper. “It’s the title to the plot of land next to mine. Also, you have impressed the townsfolk so much that we’ve decided that you should be the next chief.”
Deed to plot of land received.
You have gained the title Heir to the chief.
This allows you to purchase buildings with the treasury, and help direct in which direction to grow the town. It does not allow you to change taxes, fees, or change laws.
“Wow. You have been too kind.” Zander thanks the chief while bowing.
“So, you were asking about a class for you? Was there anything you were wanting to do?”
“Well I’d like to be a magic user, but there’s nobody here like that anymore. So I’m kind of wondering what would suit me best until I could find a class like that.”
“I see, I see. Well let me see your stats.”
“Show stats chieftain.”
“Hmm… What is this? I thought you were going to specialize to be a magic user?!?”
“What do you mean? I did. I put all my stats into wisdom and intelligence.”
Turning the panel towards Zander he says,” what about this looks like you specialized?”
Status WindowName:ZanderAlignment:NeuralLevel:15Class:NoneRace:HumanGender:MaleTitlesNoneFame:35-Health:700 /700Mana:520 / 520Stamina:150/ 150-Strength:60Agility:51Vitality:55Dexterity:25Intelligence:52Wisdom:52Endurance:15Charisma:18Leadership:0Luck:10-Attack:5Defense:8ResistancesNone
“Oh.. Well.. umm.. I just kind of gained Str, Dex, Agi, Chr, and Vit from all the errands you had me do, and I gained Wis, and Int from the Herbalist. Its not my fault that your errands had me gaining more stats. I really did put all my points into int and wis.”
Sigh “ok, lets see what your skills look like.”
“Show Skills Chieftain.”
“What the heck is with these skills?!?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean they’re all over the place!”
“Well I just sort of picked them up as I was helping people.”
“I can see that.” Sigh “With this setup Crazy Ivan would be as helpful as anybody else.” The Chief mutters.
“Who’s crazy Ivan?”
“Oh just someone who went around the bend after turning into an animal. Now what class should you do. Barbarian? No. Scout? No. Archer? Well… maybe.”
“Hmmm.. That sounds like magic. Maybe I should go visit him.”
“Nah, Ivan doesn’t like people. Won’t even open the door. Tamer? Could be. Warrior? No. Herbalist? Nah, I’m not sending you to the old bag for learning. You’ve dealt with her enough.”
“Well. I’ll try anyways. Thanks for the help.”
Zander heads off while the chief continues to mutter to himself.