When I died, I respawned in the middle of the Artisan Center after what seemed to be five minutes.
That was my first death in Ereidien... The wolf bite hurt a lot, and it didn't help that my death was a slow one. I was crying in agony on the inside, but something kept me from screaming out loud. In the final moments of my death, I was still alive, but could do nothing as I lied there and was forced to accept my incoming fate. I'm sure that if the pain output hadn't been set to only 50%, it would have been way worse. It makes me a bit grateful for that, but I shudder at the thought of dying from the wolf bite at 100% pain output.
After dying in Ereidien, you respawn to the closest town/checkpoint and receive a debuff penalty. The debuff penalty halves all of your stats for the next hour.
I clearly haven't met the conditions to complete the quest that Alice has given me. While I could challenge the quest again, there's also the option of giving up on a quest.
The intelligent part of my mind is telling me to go back to Alice and give up on this quest for the sake of my pure soul, which had been mentally tortured. I'm also fearful of dying another slow death from the wolf, which is something that may have been ingrained into my mind forever.
The other part of my mind, which contains pride, has even more of a reason to complete this quest now. Although the wolf has installed fear into me, my pride overshadows it. My goal which had started with being 'Finishing the quest for Alice!', has somehow transformed into something more along the lines of, 'Beat up that damned wolf and restore my dignity!'.
I'm an emotions over thought type of person, so I won't be letting this kind of thing slide!
Let's see... after failing, the best thing to do is review, review, review!
The problem which started all of this was my bad listening skills, so from now on I should start listening to what people have to say.
Second of all, it wasn't a very good idea of mine to abandon all reasoning and chase the rabbit. Alternatively, I could have been patient and targeted another rabbit, or try to capture the same one again while being a bit quieter.
Third, I don't have any experience on skinning animals, so the blood which squirted out of the rabbit attracted the wolf. I should go back to the Silverhall Library sometime and look up how to properly skin animals.
My reaction time is really bad, too. I'm not sure how to improve on that, so I guess this trait of mine is either going to stay that way or get better with experience.
I distracted myself and ran into a tree... I don't even know how that happened! Gosh, my sense of humor is so advanced that I can even make myself laugh. It just doesn't know how to measure the solemnity of such situations.
I was scared in the fight with the wolf. Can't say I blame myself on that aspect; it's not everyday I see a wolf. I'll get used to fighting as time goes on.
I also have low stats. I'm a low level, so it is understandable. If I had higher stats I could have ran away faster, or attacked the wolf faster than it could bite me. It also would've been helpful if I didn't die in one hit or if I had higher health or something to replenish my health. I could level up some more before defeating the wolf, but the main reason I'm even doing this is to obtain rabbit skin. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to level up a couple times, but I'm not willing to experiment on something that might take me a few days just to make Alice wait even longer.
Now that I've gotten a gist of the situation, let's take a look at myself.
"Show Status"
Status WindowNameArikaClassN/ALevel2RaceFeline BeastmanHealth150(75)Mana250(125)Strength10(5)Agility15(8)Wisdom10(5)Intelligence13(7)Stamina50(25)Vitality5(3)Dexterity10(5)Elemental AffinityWater: -50%
Fire: -10%
Earth: 10%
Wind: 10%-You have 5 undistributed stat points.
-You are cursed with the death penalty, which will reduce your stats by 50% for an hour.
When I leveled up, my hp and mp went up by 50 each, so I guess every level is a +50hp/mp increase and a 5 stat increase. I'm not sure where to put my stat points now so I'll figure that out later.
The only thing I have in my inventory is the water canteen and stacks of bread I've had since day one, which seemed to have diminished to only 4 bread left after using them constantly to replenish my stamina so many times. I didn't think about using them in the fight against the wolf, but it probably wouldn't have helped me much anyway since they don't recover health. I've also accumulated 200 copper from all of the jobs Alice has given me.
I'm not necessarily sure if health pots will be enough for me to defeat the wolf, though. The wolf is 8 levels above me, and one bite from the wolf was enough to kill me, so will it really help if I just keep drinking health pots? Drinking health pots takes a lot of time away from battle too, which isn't really a good strategy. It is something to keep in mind, though.
As I was walking around aimlessly, thinking up a solution on how to go about this problem, my nose picked up a nauseating smell that seemed to get stronger and stronger with each step I took. It wasn't a disgusting odor like the sewer or manure, but more of an alcoholic smell, like medicine.
Usually wherever I go, the Artisan Center seems to be pretty crowded, but this place was quite empty, which I'm guessing is probably because of whatever the hell I am smelling.
Curiosity took over me, and I went towards the foul smell. What I found was a shop with a wooden exterior that looked old and creaky. There was a signboard in front of the shop that had the letters 'H rb s nd pot ns' painted on it, except the red paint was faded into a dull red. I'm assuming that some of the letters had faded out where there were random spacing's, and the owner was too lazy or busy to replace it... or they were just really, really bad at spelling.
Putting the horrible text language aside, I can deduce that the shop's name is, 'Herbs and Potions'. Herbs and potions... herbs and potions... now where have I heard this name before? I can sense it on the tip of my tongue but the feeling is not quite there yet...
Welp, only one way to find out!
I opened the door, which might I mention, was fragile and made a very dangerous sound which seemed like it would break off any second, and walked into the shop. When I went into the shop, I found myself bombarded with the alcoholic smell and instinctively covered my nose. The scent seemed to be exponentially times worse than when I was standing just outside the door...
The smell is way too strong! It's great that it's not feces or anything, but it doesn't change the fact that the odor is hard to handle...
While I was trying to get used to the smell, or more accurately numb my senses, I used my other senses to find myself pleasantly surprised to see how organized the shop was. Despite the place looking so old, it was quite well-kept. When I took a closer look and inspected the shop, I couldn't find a speck of dust. You could tell how much care the owner puts into the shop, as if they want to preserve the store for as long as possible. It wasn't hotel fancy material, but it definitely had that homely feel to it.
I found wooden shelves stacked with various flasks filled with liquids of different colors. Behind the counter you could see many types of plants and other materials also.
I didn't see anybody who looked like the owner, or anyone for that matter, in the vicinity. While I didn't see anyone, my cat ears picked up the sound of footsteps, so I could tell that someone, probably the owner, was inside the store. I didn't have a reason to call him yet, so I decided to look around by myself.
There were three shelves.
All of the shelves contained liquid-filled flasks, which I am used to seeing because of my love for science. One shelf contained blue and red flasks, another had yellow and green ones, and the last one had a variety of different colors.
I first went to the shelf with the red and blue flasks. In front of each flask was a name tag and a price for that respective flask, which were what you call 'potions'. The red ones were the health pots and the blue ones were the mana pots. Some of the prices were cheap enough that I was able to buy them with the little amount of currency I have now, but some were way over my price range. I saw the names small health pot, small mana pot, medium health pot, and etc. The small health pots were priced at 20 copper a piece, while the small mana pots were priced at 30 copper a piece. As the benefits of each pot got better, so did the price. The large pots were five times the price of the small pots.
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I went to the second shelf which was filled with yellow and green flasks. These were a bit more expensive than the health/mana pots. I saw various buff and debuff pots. The yellow ones were buff pots and the green ones were the debuff pots. Speed buff, strength buff, agility debuff, and etc. The prices varied for each pot depending on how effective each one was, but even the cheaper ones were still expensive for my standards.
Then we have the third shelf. Unlike the other shelves which contained similar colored pots, these were a bit... mixed. There were a myriad of colors. Some pots looked mysterious, and some looked a bit dangerous. They were also of various prices, ranging from very cheap to very expensive. On this shelf I found transformation pots, poisons, and even just random pots that didn't even do anything, they just smelled bad!
As I was looking around the owner came out from the hallway behind the counter and had a surprised look on his face.
"Oh! I didn't notice I had a customer. I'm terribly sorry." I turned my head to see an old man. I recognize that long, white beard! Now I remember! This was the guy I met when I first logged into the game! He helped me with the directions to the Silverhall Library. I knew I've heard of this place before!
"You don't have to be sorry, I was just looking around anyway. Thank you for the last time that you helped me with directions, Philip."
"Oh, you mean we've met before? Wait, just give me a second... I think I remember you! Yes... yes... you're just in the corner of my mind... If I'm correct, your name is Trisha! Am I right?"
"Umm... no its-"
"Hm?! I didn't mean Trisha, I meant Patricia... yes Patricia."
"Well, that's not my name either..."
"Oh I got it now! Hahaha! Did you think I would forget that cute furry lady I met not too long ago?!? Your name is A... Ar.... Arisa!"
"That's wrong, but it's very close! Try again!"
"Hmmm!?! It's very close?!? Then it's Alifa, isn't it?! Alifa?!?!"
"No! C'mon old man, search that wrinkled brain of yours, it must be in there somewhere! You got this!"
"Gugugugu...." I saw him stroking his beard as he was thinking. He was thinking very hard, so hard that his face turned beet red and you could see the steam coming out of his ears. He was racking that brain of his, trying to think of what my name could be.
"Arika! It's Arika!" As he exclaimed that, he looked at me expectantly, like he'd won the lottery.
Just like the time my little brother started going to kindergarten, I had that warm feeling in my heart of watching over someone. You watch them go through obstacles, fall over at times, and get right back up. Then you have that moment you've all been waiting for, when the person you've been looking after has achieved something wonderful. I smiled widely and started tearing up, giving him a slight nod and a big thumbs up.
In victory celebration style, he ran out from behind the counter and jumped into my arms so I could carry him in princess style, which I tried to receive, but failed to because of my low strength. We both fell down and I lost 10 health points as a result, but we still carried the smiles on our faces and rejoiced.
"YOU'RE RIGHT! I knew you could do it old man! I believed in you!"
"HAHAHA! Sometimes, it scares me how smart I am! Not even old age can stop me!"
"Nihahahahahaha!"
"Hahahahahahaha!"
And just like that, we laughed for 15 minutes straight as we held each others hands and jumped in circles as if we were playing Ring-around-the-Rosy. For the whole 15 minutes, I felt like I'd been bathed in the sunlight and saw roses in the background.
"AHEM. So, are you a customer of mine today? It's your first time inside my shop, so would you like me to give you a tour of my store? Or maybe you're looking for something in particular?"
"I'm not looking for anything in particular,but I do have something that's troubling me..."
"Oh? And what would that be?"
"I want to defea- I mean, I want to complete a quest I received which is obtaining rabbit skin. I can obtain rabbit skin in the forest, but the wolves there are too strong for me, so I need a way to defeat them."
"You need a way to defeat them? If you just need to get rabbit skin then would protecting yourself not be enough? Wouldn't it work if you just try to be a bit stealthier?"
"Ahem- *cough cough cough*. So for that reason, I think it'd be good to buy myself some of your buff pots, but those might be a little too expensive for me."
"Hmm? Also, if you wanted rabbit skin, couldn't you just go to the local market and obtain some for yourself?"
What? Why didn't I think of that option before? I don't remember Alice mentioning it so I guess I was just preoccupied with how I should go about skinning the rabbit myself, not just obtaining the rabbit skin. Well, now that I have a different reason to do the quest, I must feed him more excuses!
"NO! It won't work unless I do it myself! Don't you understand, the feeling of accomplishing something yourself for the first time? That surge of happiness you get when you feel as if you've advanced one step further in life?"
"Hmm... are you talking about something like when I just remembered your name?"
"YES! That's exactly the feeling that I was talking about! Of course, I could always just go to the local market and buy my own rabbit skin like other normal people, but I prefer to live life the hard way, instead of digging the easy way out! This is my philosophy!"
"Ohhhhh! I understand now! You truly are a wise kitty, miss Alifa-"
"Arika."
"-Miss Arika. You truly do not disappoint! You came to the right place! I have just the things you need. I would love to give my potions to you for free, but please understand that I do not receive enough customers. That is no reason to fret, though! Because of the wonderful speech and wisdom you have given me today, as well as it being your first time here, I'm willing to give you an amazing discount of 50% off!"
"Thank you! You're a life saver!"
"Then how about some health pots? If you want to defeat the wolf I suggest you buy at least 15 of them. It's always better to have a surplus than not enough at all."
"I'd be grateful for the health pots, but the wolf killed me in one hit. Will they really be helpful to me?"
"Killed you in one hit? If it killed you in one hit then why are you here right now?"
"Oh... that's an Otherworlder trait. We're able to come back to life after we die."
"An Otherworlder trait! Very interesting... Well, that problem can be fixed with this health buff pot!" He walks over to shelf filled with yellow and green flasks and picks a yellow pot which had the name 'Health Buff Pot', and places it in my hands.
"This has the effect of expanding your health by 100 points and has a +5 health per second effect. If you have this, then you should be able to survive from at least one attack from the wolf. Then, buying regular health pots will be no problem." I have a feeling that all he wants to do is make some money off of me, but he's doing me more good than bad, so who am I to complain?
"That sounds like a great idea, Philip."
"Hahaha! You flatter me! You'll have to pay 10 copper a piece for the regular health pots, but just for you, I'll make the health buff a gift!"
"Ohhhh! Thank you! I'm very grateful!" Now I won't go flat broke!
"No problem, dear! Oh, and just a tip, if you want to defeat the wolf, don't be too ambitious and go in there right away with your buff and pots! It would be beneficial to think up some extra strategies or set up a few traps also."
"Sounds good! Traps are almost like pranks, and I'm very experienced in that area! Well, it looks like I'll be going now! Thank you, Philip!"
"You're welcome." I took out 150 copper from my inventory and handed it to Philip, while he handed me 15 health pots.
"Oh... that reminds me! 'Send friend request to Philip'"
"Hmm? Haha! I accept."
Philip has accepted your friend request! You and Philip are now friends.
He gave me a smile, and I smiled back at him in return.
"When you're done, tell me how it went! Also, please continue to be a recurring customer, I love talking with my friends!"
"Okay. It looks like I'll be seeing you very soon, Philip."
"I'll be expecting you, Arika."
I walked towards the door to leave, but as I turned the door knob, the creaky door fell off it's hinges and fell apart completely.
"Sorry.... I'll pay you back for the door once I get rich?"
"...."
***********
On a completely irrelevant side note, writing is fun! Sometimes the ideas just flow out of you, and sometimes you have to strain your brain just to think of something good! But I can't believe how long it takes just to write something. Just these short ~3000 words took me about 3 hours to type up and 3 hours to edit it. Deep respect to the authors on this site, or any site really, who update consistently with long chapters! (Especially the author of LNW, that guy is a god, seriously.)