Weed didn’t waste any time; quickly checking his inventory window and ensuring he had enough food for the journey, Weed set off. He bought a map from the library which would pinpoint his current location and marked an ‘X’ where he expected the stone to be. It wasn’t a special map, the most basic of the basic, which had a rough outline of the Air Kingdom. The more special and better maps had detailed outlines of monster lairs and dungeons. Premium maps would also have 3D viewing capabilities however as their name suggested, they were premium and cost a lot of RL money.
As he stepped out of the Eastern Gates, he noticed the usual hunting parties returning and merchant stalls being packed away. There weren’t many dungeons on the eastern side or at least none were discovered so far. Furthermore, nobody was interested in hunting small critters whose loot was not worth more than a few coppers. Considering these factors, if one were to see a player heading east alone, they would think the player is a complete ‘noob newbie’ or maybe a solo adventurer. In an era, where VR gaming is at its peak of popularity, it was unlikely that the player would be a “noob”. Hence, suspicious movements or anything out of the ordinary would definitely attract unwanted attention. Being as discreet as possible, Weed slipped past the other players and sped along due east in the direction of the moonstone.
The journey till the Northern Mountain Range pass was the same as always. Nothing more than a few rabbits and raccoons blocking his path. He didn’t mind killing them along the way as they were valuable EXPs in his eyes. At level FF/10, Weed took no more than a single sword slash to kill the smaller monsters. He would avoid the pack of wolves wherever possible as they were still too strong for him, he remembered reading about how a wind player at FF/15 tried taking on an entire pack; the consequences were instant death. A lone wolf would be placed at level FF/7, but in a pack the story changes completely. A player level 15 player could maybe take on 2 wolves at the same time; a pack consists of over 30 wolves. Even though the wolves are at a lower level, their sheer numbers would overwhelm the hunter. Add to that their elemental affinity, wolves would be deemed as scary for beginners.
Weed crossed his usual hunting grounds and headed straight towards the lake. There was very little understanding of vegetation in RREV, so Weed didn’t bother cultivating any plants for now. He did try tasting some but there were no visible effects; they also tasted very bitter, so he decided it was best to leave the tasting for a later time. Weed had expected that he would come across at least a wolf or two, but the journey was plainly very dull. It explained why players avoided hunting east. By night fall, Weed had covered a third of the distance, given his high stamina and agility, Weed could now easily run for half a day without pause. Given his sleeping skills, Weed would also recover stamina faster thus saving him on recovery time. Even sleeplessness was useful, as it meant that he would tire slowly if he played the game for long hours; which he did as he was in summer holidays. Meals to satisfy hunger were simple rye bread; they tasted awful but were excellent to satiate hunger.
As morning dawned, Weed checked his map, he was still at the very least 2 days away from the lake.
‘Satisfactory Progress.’ He thought to himself.
The terrain became slightly more rugged as he headed towards the lake. This meant Weed was consuming more stamina for the same distance. It was bothersome but something Weed had already accounted for when he studied the topography in the Lavias library. Most beginner players might not have considered this and would have only accounted for the journey distance. But Lee Jun had experience in other games where he learnt planning was crucial for quests which involved a long distance journey.
Weed continued running for the second day straight, his passive stats were increasing slowly but stats such as STAM and DEF were level linked, he was a bit bothered that he could do nothing as yet to increase them but his quest was his top priority. Weed grumbled and cursed his luck that he didn’t have time to build his character; this would affect his game play in the long run. Then almost as if to pacify his anger, a window flashed in front of him.
TRRRING!
TRRRING!
- You have gained additional stats! –- You have gained running stat! –Running will now consume less stamina than before. You can now faster and longer! Your speed and stamina consumption will depend on your level of mastery of this skill. You may not allocate Skill points to this skill.
Weed smiled in delight. This was just the stat he needed. He felt his body become lighter as he sped up; thanks to the stat. There are skills for nearly everything in RREV. However to benefit from these skills one has to first unlock it. Some skills like sleeping and sleeplessness are the easiest to gain, some skills like running need to be unlocked after considerable amount of running and there are skills which can only be taught to players or received through as quest rewards. The running skill was common for beginners and mostly confined to players who could not use their elemental affinities for mobility. Unlike higher level wind players who would just fly to their destination.
“MOONSTONE HERE I COME!” Weed shouted as he sped away.
Thanks to the running stat, Weed was able to reach the lake before nightfall of the second day itself! The return journey now would not take more than a day, the impossible to accomplish quest started appearing easier. Weed hunted till night fell; only at night would the moonstone reveal itself. Although the area that Weed would have to search was more, Weed was confident that he would find it quicker in the night. He had experience in digging before and even gained a stat skill for it. It was one of the many completely useless skills in battle but useful for this quest.
As night descended, Weed waited by the lake and stared at the mountains surrounding the lake; ‘somewhere here the moonstone fell….’ he thought to himself. He scanned slowly from left to right, hoping to see a shimmering light like that of the moon; nothing. With no moonstone visible in plain sight, Weed decided to look around the lake first. There always existed the possibility that the moonstone was buried under the ground however Weed decided to go for the quick wins. Scanning the lake would be faster than digging up the mountains. After walking for awhile he came across a recess of the lake going a little bit into the forest, looking carefully he noticed a faint white glow in the middle of the recess.
‘Bingo!’
The glimmer got bigger and bigger till it grew to the size of the recess; the entire recess of the lake was now glowing white and silver.
‘The moonstone fell into the lake!’ Rather than diving into the lake, Weed took his time to observe. With the glowing white spreading further and further even beginning to go into the lake, it became harder to see where exactly did the moonstone lay in the lake. As he walked around the edge of the recess, Weed saw a small fox drinking the lake water. Not missing his chance he rushed to attack the unsuspecting fox. However, before Weed was close enough, a red translucent tentacle shot out of the lake at the fox like a frogs tongue and wrapped itself around the fox. The fox resisted and bit the massive tentacle which coiled around it but to no avail. Weed was left paralyzed by what unfolded, not only was the moonstone in the lake but it was guarded by a monstrous sea creature. Slowly the fox dragged into the lake and all that was left of it were air bubbles.
Weed paid attention to where the bubbles last plopped up; it was the most likely place for the monsters mouth to be. His gut instinct told him that it was highly likely that the monster was very near the moonstone. He broke a long thin branch of a tree and walked towards the edge of the lake. With one hand, Weed held out the branch away from himself and began creating ripples in the lake. In his other hand he held his sword, ready to attack.
‘Come on..come on’ he muttered under his breath.
A giant tentacle shot towards the branch and Weed instantaneously swung his sword at it. Before the monster could jerk back its tentacle, its monstrous tentacle had already been cut in two. The attached arm jerked back in pain while the cut portion flip flopped like a fish out of water. Bubbles began breaking out at the surface of the lake, Weed cautiously stepped back behind a tree. A dark shadow began appearing on the surface of the lake and it slowly made its way towards Weed. Weed took a few more step backs, judging the distance of the main body and the edge of the lake, the tentacle was easily 25 meters in length. Slowly, one, three then four…..a total of seven tentacles came out.
Weed stood still, he had planned to bring out the main body as well, but it seemed the monster had enough confidence in finding Weed with just its tentacles.
TRRRINGG!!
- You have unlocked a hidden quest! –
Kill Hydra Tentalus; this neutral affinity creature has been terrifying the local elemental monster and dwarven population. It has made the Great Silver Lake its home ever since the great roaring river lfingr changed course. No one knows where it came from or how it got here.
Rank: D
Reward: Monsters in this region will always drop ‘common or above’ grade loot. You will be mentioned in dwarven folklore.
Quest limit: Kill Hydra before the night ends otherwise it will heal up again.
Quest Requirement: None.
Unaware of the enemy’s presence, the tentacles blindly searched the ground for the enemy. Gritting his teeth and brandishing his sword, Weed jumped towards the tentacles. His sword cut deep into the tentacle however it was not enough to completely slice the tentacle in two; as Weed attack a thicker portion of the tentacle. With its enemy located the other tentacles lunged themselves towards Weed. Using his high agility, Weed dodged the attacks and withdrew away from the monsters range. It would have been easier for him to attack the monster if he had learnt the archer or a mage profession. Long distance attacked were weak but provided safety in distance. Weed mentally noted to himself that he should learn these skills or professions when he gets back to Lavias. Once the monster lost Weed’s position, Weed attacked from a different side and damaged another of it’s tentacle. There were still five more tentacles left. Weed carefully dodged the attacks and hid again. The monster was easier than fighting wolves because its eyes were still under the lake and its attacking range was limited to the lakes borders. Weed still employed excess caution as he was almost certain that a direct hit would mean instant death. He invested the remaining 31 points he had equally into AGI and DEF (1 point left unused).
Weed slowly moved away from the forest cover and reached the tentacles from the opposite direction of his last attack. ‘Always attack the enemy from where he least expects it.’ He dove in to attack a third time and maimed another tentacle. The monster howled in pain as it pulled back all its tentacles. Weed stepped back and hid in the shadows of the forest. A jelly like body began to emerge from the waters. The monster decided that the enemy was not to be taken lightly and it was time to get serious. Hydra Tentalus’ tentacles were translucent and each was of different color, the color in each tentacle were flowing and changing constantly. As its main body rose out of the water, Weed could see the lake’s silver white glow began disappearing. Instead the white and silver shine moved outside off the lake; the moonstone was located inside the monsters main body. The semi transparent monster’s body was lit up like a Christmas tree.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Weed was tempted to attack the main body however he noticed the trap. The tentacles were hidden beneath the water, just waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting prey. If Weed reappeared in front of the monster, he would be torn apart instantly. If he hid too long the monster would escape. He needed a distraction to slip close enough to the monster and attack it.
“Alak?” he muttered
“Yes Weed-nim?”
“Can you use Fairy Burst?”
Alak suddenly popped-up before Weed eyes and burst into a huge flash of light.
-You have been blinded-
“Are you okay?” Alak asked innocently.
“No, I am not you damn useless leech! What the heck was that for?”
“I used my Fairy Burst”.
“I asked whether you could use it! Not to actually use it on me!” Cursed Weed as he stumbled and waited for his sight to return. Weeds vision soon returned and he noticed at least 25 points of his stamina had been consumed.
“Don’t use it till I say now! Got it?” Weed asked with his eyes closed just in case the fairy flashed again. "Now be useful for once and use your Fairy Burst on that monster. I will pluck your wings out if you don’t listen to me and trust me that will be one of the nicer things I have planned out for you.”
Fairy self defense mechanism came in handy in those kind of surprise attack. It was something Weed came across while reading about fairies. He had dismissed it as a useless ability initially but now he could clearly imagine its potential. Fairy burst, was similar to a flash bomb, it blinded the enemy temporarily. Though completely harmless as the blindness was temporary, adding a surprise attack in between would make it lethal combination.
Alak was more scared by the idea of getting her wing plucked out than blinding the jelly hydra monster. Between Weed’s request and fighting Weed, Weed’s request seemed easier to comply with. The fairy went into invisible mode and flew straight in front of Hydra’s eyes. The Hydra had too low intelligence and too bad an eyesight above water, to notice the subtle distortion created by the fairy’s invisibility. It continued rampaging its tentacles everywhere as it desperately tried to look for Weed.
“NOW!” Weed shouted with his eyes shut.
He began counting in his mind. ‘1’
A bright light flashed in front of Hydra, blinding it. The monster howled and its tentacles rose out of the water smashing the ground blindly and recklessly. Opening his eyes Weed charged at the monster. He had no time to spare. Firstly, he needed to reduce the threat and began hacking away at the tentacles. The monster howled in pain, its limbs were slowly being cut up one by one and it couldn’t stop the pain.
‘19’
Dodging the humongous tentacles which were blindly crashing around, Weed continue to attack those within his range. ‘28’
Weed backed off as he noticed the monster squinting its eyes and staring at Weed’s directions.
‘29’
The monster regained its vision and spotted Weed. All its tentacles scrambled towards Weed. Weed ran back into the forest. The tentacles chased him but Weed used the trees to restrict the tentacles movement and hacked at each tentacles that came close enough. He was finally out of its reach. After catching his breath, Weed told Alak to use Fairy Burst on the monster again.
He then ran back out and attacked the blinded monster. Since Weed’s level was low and the blindness only lasted for 29 seconds, Weed had to repeat the attack cycle endlessly. Weed also noticed that using Fairy Burst decreased a good part of his stamina at each use. This also meant Weed had to rest when his stamina was too low. This was not going to be an easy battle which would end with one or two attacks. Weed did not have the advantage of distance attacks or party related damage. He had to solely rely on his abilities and the little damage he could deal to each tentacle at this current level. Although Weed avoided most tentacles with ease, a tentacle came almost out of nowhere to his right leaving Weed no time to avoid it, he blocked with his sword.
TRRRRINGG!
Your sword broke. Its durability fell to 0.
Weed lamented that his expensive sword broke. He also took a huge hit from the impact, his life bar was almost nonexistent now. It decreased in one go from 250HP to 90HP. He did not cry out of pain felt from the damage of the blow but the tinge of despair for his expensive sword breaking. He took out his wooden sword ‘this battle is not over ugly’. Weed readied himself again, repeating the attack pattern, he now struck the Hydra monster's last tentacle with his basic wooden sword. He struck it again and again till the wooden sword broke with a loud “snap”. Though he was unable to cut the last tentacle up, it had swollen up to twice its original size and the monster was unable to freely move it. Weed picked up a branch laying in the forest and charged again, sadly that did no damage and broke instantly at the first contact with the monster. Weed did not stop there, using his bare fists, he continue to pummel the monster, each punch landed a measly 5HP damage. 5HP damage was not a lot but Weed thought otherwise, he didn't expect his punches to land any damage! It was his sheer luck that the monster had super low defenses. Only on attacking the main body did the damage message finally appear.
- You have dealt 5 damage to Hydra Tentalus -
This was the first message of damage that appeared for the main body. Cutting away the monsters tentacles did no damage to the monster; they were like minions of the boss or mini bosses one had to take care of before the final boss. Initially, it appeared that Weed’s attacks were doing no damage to the main body. However over time the wounds became visible and the monster began bleeding yellow blood profusely all over. Weed continued punching with joy with the realization that his small attacks began leaving marks. Weed hadn't unlocked punching skills or learnt martial arts as a profession thus his damage was limited to 5HP per punch. That did not deter Weed, it only made him happier. He disliked squishy monsters in general; the hydra's jelly like body qualified as squishy and there was nothing better than to punch squishy monsters....After an hour of punching the Hydra in each eye and then moving around to punching it all over the body, Weed received a message.
- Unlocked Fists of Fury Skill –
You have gained a new stat! Damage increases by 5% with each successive punch for 5 continuous punches. Punches will now deliver an additional 1% more damage.
Weed smiled, his fists were colored in red and yellow, the name Fists of Fury aptly applied to his fists. He began punching away at the monster again, just as a boxer would practice against a punching bag. He began aiming for the same spot; hoping to increase successive damage dealt and up the critical hit factor. This however did not work perfectly all the time for Weed; at times he did hit it at the exact same spot thereby doubling his damage and at times he didn't. If it were the original Weed, he would have been able to hit at the same spot every time but the copy cat Weed couldn't replicate the masteros martial arts prodigy. The monster started shaking violently; Weed sensed its end was near and then with a huge roar that shook Weed to the ground the monster dissipated into grey smoke and disappeared.
TRRRINGG!!!
The sound of salvation welcomed Weed like the best music he had ever heard. He was drenched in sweat. It took considerable effort dodging and attacks and still trying to deal damage. His near perfect, complete control over his own body made it almost a fair fight, however it was not something everyone could do.
- Hidden Quest Completed: Kill Hydra Tentalus –
You have successfully killed Hydra Tentalus. Your deeds have been recorded in dwarven history. Monsters now acknowledge your strength.
- You have leveled up! -
- You have leveled up! -
- You have leveled up! -
- You have leveled up! -
- You have leveled up! -
- You have leveled up! -
Bonus Reward: For accepting and completing a quest above your Class/Level.
- Bonus Skill Points – You gained 25 bonus SP.
- Fame - +150
Weed could only smile away like an idiot; the bonus reward was well worth the effort. The moonstone fell from the fading monsters head, straight into the lake. Rather than lighting up the place as it did when stuck inside the monster, it now shone lightly at the bottom of the recess. Weed dived into the lake and retrieved the moonstone. The stone was no bigger than Weeds palm and was oddly spherical in nature. Weed thought of it as a big golf ball…others might have thought of it as a mini moon.
TRRRRINGG!
You have found a shining white stone. Take it to an identification shop to learn more about it.
Weed stashed the stone in his bag and headed back to Lavias at top speed.
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Authors Note:
1. Edited by Knaivvs.
2. I would like to thank Alakokaine for co-authoring this chapter and adding to the fight scene. :)
3. I am really sorry for the 3rd edit to this chapter, however based on suggestions I decided to incorporate a little more depth to the action scene.
4. http%3a%2f%2fi.imgur.com%2fW7CkwN9.jpg [http://i.imgur.com/W7CkwN9.jpg]
W marks Weed's current position.
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Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?YesNo
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