I wake up in my bed in the Oakstump Inn with a loud scream. My eyes dart around the room in fear looking for the demon from my nightmare. I instinctively reach for my dagger and it equips automatically from my inventory. There’s no one else in my room. Just as my heart rate begins to fall to a normal rhythm there comes a knock on my bedroom door. I stand quickly dagger still in hand and swing the door open.
The poor girl on the other side looks up at me with an angry expression.
“What are you scre…” she begins before she notices the dagger in my hand. She takes a step back from where I was standing with tears in her eyes.
“Please don’t hurt me, sir,” she says terrified.
Her scared tone pulls back to my senses slightly and I look down at my dagger and then back to the girl. I quickly stow the dagger in my inventory wanting to alleviate some of the poor girl's fear. I then kneel down and look her in her eyes as I try to soften my expression. The girl looked at me still cowering under my gaze. Dang, I really scared her good. I may have to find a different place to sleep from now on.
“I’m sorry, I just had a night terror,” I told her in the softest voice I could muster currently.
I heard her take a deep breath, most likely to calm her own nerves before she responded.
“A..alright sir, but you need to keep it quiet for the other guests. If you’re going to continue to have night terrors then you may need to find lodging elsewhere or visit the alchemist for a potion,” she said shakily while trying to sound confident.
I gave her a nod before I stood back up and offered her my hand. She took it and I helped her to stand back up. She dusted off her dress before giving me a slight nod and walking back down the hall to the stairs.
I went back into my room and sat on my bed for a few moments. I tried to remember the nightmare that had shaken me so deeply that I had awoken screaming. As I tried to remember the events of the dream I started to get a headache. It was like that first night all over again. The only thing I could remember from my dream was two black orbs with golden slits down them and a smile that sent shivers down my spine. Were those orbs the eyes of that smile? I couldn’t remember at all. My head was fuzzy and sore. I decided to check the time to see if I could go work this anxiety off at Roan’s forge.
“It is currently 3:36 a.m.”
That is not what I wanted to hear. It would be a few hours yet before I could work at the forge without upsetting the townsfolk.
I got dressed while I thought of what I could do for the time being. I couldn’t stay here and think about it. I couldn’t go work at the forge. I could go into the forest and explore a bit. If I remember correctly there’s an abandoned iron mine in the forest somewhere. Back when I was still working out of Oakford I remember other players mentioning it as a good spot to farm monsters early on. I wonder if there’s still some iron to mine there. I don’t have a pickaxe yet but It might be worth checking out.
Now that I had decided what to do with my morning I finished dressing and walked out the door to my room, locking it behind me. I hurry down the stairs and then approach the girl behind the counter. She nearly flinches when she saw me approaching before she steadied herself. I slide the key across the counter to her. She takes it in her hand and puts it under the counter.
“Sir, you don’t need to check out if you can get something for your night terrors.”
“I know, but unless I can come up with more coin today I can’t afford to stay another night”
She gives me a slight nod before giving me a soft smile.
“Well, I hope you the best of luck in your day's endeavors so that you might have a roof over your head and a hot meal in your stomach tonight”
I chuckle slightly at this before I walk out and give her a wave as I leave. I walk down the path leading out of town and into the forest. I don’t see anyone else on the streets as I walk. It reminds me of my childhood when I used to live in a small quiet town before I moved to a city. The shops in my hometown were all closed up no later than nine at night. As a kid that annoyed me because I would try to go to pick up snacks for a late-night gaming session and everything would already be closed. As an adult, I began to miss that though. The city I lived in now was never quiet. Sure it had its advantages, like twenty-four-hour shops, but as I got older I began to miss the quiet of the small town.
As I make my way to the edge of the forest I make sure that my mini map is toggled on so I can get a better idea of where I’m going. I remember them saying that the mine was somewhere toward the northwestern part of the forest but I don’t remember exactly where. I check to make sure that my dagger is firmly secured to my waist on its belt. Next, I slip my hammer between my belt and my pants, it’s not the greatest way to have it out, but I would rather have it easily accessible if I needed it. If I was going to be doing much exploring I would need to make a war hammer soon enough.
I entered the forest and let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. That dream, whatever It was had my nerves on end. The last time I was in this forest I had almost died twice. I should respawn if this is the game but something keeps eating away at the back of my mind. Even if I would respawn, the pain I felt was too real. I decided it would be best If I explored quietly, not wanting to draw the attention of any mobs for the time being.
I may not be the best at stealth since I’ve only played a blacksmith but I knew the basics. I walked slowly and kept track of what was all around me. I took deliberate, careful steps, making sure I avoided any of those pesky little twigs on the ground that would alert creatures to my presence. I checked my minimap constantly to make sure I was heading northeast, toward where I thought the mine should be.
As I was making my way through the forest I stumbled across a small clearing. When I looked into it I saw five wolves sitting down eating something. I slowly backed away as I looked at my map. I needed to go around this clearing without alerting these wolves. Now would be the time while they were feeding. I quickly made my way around the clearing, keeping an eye on the wolves the whole time.
I stopped moving and held my breath when I saw a sixth wolf enter the clearing. This one was massive. I’ve heard about mobs getting large before, they usually were field bosses, and this one looked every bit the part. I just didn’t think that large meant his large. Most games had boss wolves be the size of horses, this one looked like it ate horses. Its head was just barely under the forest's canopy. If I had to make a guess it looked like it was about twenty-five feet tall at its highest point. I had no idea something could get that large in the starting zones. This looked more like what I would expect from a world boss than a field boss.
That massive wolf lay down when it entered the clearing. I waited until I saw its massive eyes close before I decided to let out my held breath and begin to move again. When I let out my held breath I noticed its ears flick around slightly and one of its eyes half open. When I saw that I stopped in my tracks and held my breath again. It seemed to grunt slightly and closed its massive eye once more. I dared not let out my breath as I quickly moved away from that clearing.
Once I was clear of that massive wolf I sat down next to a tree and let out my long-held breath. That was one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen. I sat there for a few minutes trying to get my heart rate back down to a normal rhythm. Once I felt that I had finally calmed down enough I slowly stood to make my way further into the forest.
I should be getting close to the spot where the mine was meant to be. The terrain had shifted for the last few minutes from soft forest soil to something more rocky. I seemed to be on the right track at the very least. I came up to a small rocky hill and looked at my map. This might be it!
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I carefully made my way around the hill until I found it. There was a small cave in the hill, it had wooden posts supporting the opening. This was it, this was the abandoned mine. I took a moment to marvel at the entrance. It was overgrown with lush vines and plants like the forest had attempted to retake it. Yet the wooden beams were still there supporting the entrance of the mine like a testament to human's defiance of nature.
I took a moment to try and recall what kind of mobs I should be on the lookout for. I could remember slimes, there should be metal slimes that enjoy eating the metal of the mine. There was something else as well though, I just couldn’t remember it. I wish I had done more exploring the first time I played EO. I had just been so engrossed in the blacksmithing class that I spent all my time practicing and learning everything I could about the class.
I did hope that I would run into some metal slimes, depending on what type of metal slime it was you could make some very interesting gear from them. I was about to enter the mine when a thought occurred to me. It was going to be dark in the mine. I let out a soft sigh before I began looking for a stick. I quickly found out that the old saying was true, even if it wasn’t meant to be literal. It was in fact darkest before dawn, there was no moonlight and the starts seemed to have dimmed.
It took me a few minutes of fumbling around in the dark, but I managed to find five decently sized-sticks that might make good torches. Now I just had to go about making them. I didn’t have any oil or cloth to make a more traditional torch, but while I was searching for the sticks I did manage to find something else that might work.
When I was searching for the sticks I placed my hand on a tree and it felt sticky. I hoped it was what I thought it was. I went back to that tree and felt my way around until I found the spot that was sticky. I pulled out my dagger and scraped off some of the sticky substance. I placed it on the ground before I pulled out my flint and rock. I stuck them above that substance a few times. On the third strike I managed to get a spark to land on the substance and it lit.
I smiled brightly as I looked down at the small fire, I was right. That sticky substance wasn’t just tree sap that had leaked out. It was resin. I felt around the base of the tree and found what I was searching for, pine needles. I had managed to find some pine trees, with pine resin leaking out.
I made some cuts to the tree that I had initially found the resin on and waited a few seconds as the precious liquid leaked out. I then brought up the sticks I was planning on using as torches and slowly rolled their tips in that leaking resin. Next, I applied some pine needles to the resin before repeating the process a few more times. I kept applying layer after layer until finally, I got the prompt I had been waiting for.
“You have successfully crafted the item ‘Crude Pine Torch’. ”
“You gain 2 EXP for crafting the item ‘Crude Pine Torch’. ”
“EXP needed until next level up 490.”
I do this for the next four torches as well netting myself another eight exp. It’s not much but it will help in the long run. Now that I have all the torches I wanted to make finished I light up the first one and return the others to my inventory. I take a step into the mine torch and dagger in hand, ready to take on what may come.
As I walked down the entryway of the mine I noticed that were a few pickaxes with only a little rust on their heads. I looked over each one until I found the one that I thought was in the best shape still. When I found one with minimal rust and no obvious damage to the handle I inspected it.
“Damaged ‘Iron Pickaxe’.”
“This ‘Iron Pickaxe’ was mass produced for work in mines.”
“This ‘Iron Pickaxe’ is damaged and nearly broken.”
“Attack 5-10”
“Durability 10 out of a maximum of 50.”
That’s better than I had expected honestly. I quickly put all seven of the pickaxes I had found into my inventory before I continued down the mine shaft. I looked around the corridor moving my torch from wall to wall hoping to find some iron. I knew that this close to the surface it was highly unlikely but I wanted to be thorough. I even activated ‘Sense Metal’ for good measure. It was draining my mana keeping it active continuously but I should get a few minutes before I had to turn it off and let it recharge.
Like I had thought I found no traces of iron along the way down the shaft. I did, however, manage to find a few more abandoned pickaxes and added those to my inventory. At the very least I could use them as scrap metal and make something to sell. That would allow me to have a few more nights at the inn which sounded better than camping out in the forest.
As I continued down the shaft I found a few side shafts leading off in various directions. I chose to stay in the main shaft for now. I didn’t wanna get lost wandering down the various side paths the mine would surely have. I only wanted to see how deep they had mined the main shaft before abandoning the mine.
I can see the end of the main shaft now before me and I look at my map. It seems that the mine goes down about three hundred feet before the end. That’s a pretty decent depth. I don’t remember the reason in the lore why they abandoned it, maybe it simply ran out of ore. I turn around to start heading back feeling satisfied with what I found when I hear something from one of the side corridors.
It doesn’t sound like a slime, what could it be? I crouch down and put out my torch as I press myself up against the wall of the mine. I turn my head to try and hear the sound better. It sounds like claws tapping against the stone floor of the cave. It sounds like there are two or three of whatever these creatures are. I can hear them making guttural hissing and clicking sounds back and forth. It was almost as if they were talking to one another.
What would have claws, and could talk like that to one another? I sat there in the dark trying to rack my brain to remember what else would be in this mine. Then one of the creatures emerged from the side path in front of me, and I remembered what else was in this mine. It was Kobolds. This mine housed Kobolds.
I held my breath and stood as still as I possibly could. I could not get caught by these creatures. In most games, Kobolds are considered low-level mobs that anyone could defeat. That was mostly true for EO as well, with one major exception. They were the descendants of dragons, and as such had a thick nearly impenetrable scaled hide. You had to use either magic or blunt attacks to defeat them.
You also needed a good tank to keep their attention and block their damage. They had sharp razor-like claws that they would slice out with. They also knew how to use weapons, and if they teamed up would form their own form of a party. The worst thing though, was that every so often you could run into one that knew how to use magic.
The mage kobolds were one of the scariest mobs you could fight early on if you didn’t have a properly equipped team of combat classes. The magic that they used was dragon magic, and it could come in any elemental form that there was. The only way to tell if it was a mage, and what element it would use is if you could see their backs. All mage Kobolds had small wings on their backs. The color of the webbing on their wings is what signified what element they would use.
Though, almost no one ever got to see their wings before combat started. They were always neatly tucked behind their torso out of view, until they started casting. Then their wings would be on full display glowing with elemental power.
I watched the one that just walked passed me move down a different corridor and noticed red wings on its back. That was a fire dragon kobold mage. I needed to make sure I didn’t get caught by it no matter what. When I felt that it had moved far enough away I slowly started to make my way back up the main corridor of the mine.
I made it about one hundred feet from the entrance before I heard another sound from a side passageway. I could hear a group of three or more kobolds making their way toward me. I needed to be careful. Kobolds had excellent dark vision and could see perfectly well in the gloom that made up this cave, while I could barely see a few feet in front of me without my torch lit.
I hear them stop and it sounds like they got into an argument. Now is my chance! I quickly dash forward hoping that they don’t see me. When I get passed the corridor I heard them down I still hear them arguing, but it seems like I got passed them safely.
I quickly make my way back up the last hundred feet of the mine. I can see daylight peaking in through the entrance. I hurriedly scramble those last few feet to the exit and make my escape.
When I manage to get outside I let out a sigh of relief, I should be safe from kobolds now. They’re mostly nocturnal and enjoy dark places, like mines. I then look up and see something I really wish I hadn’t. There, just at the tree line of the mine, was a kobold party. They had probably gone out for the night to hunt for food for the kobold clan that called this mine home. The worst part, they had already seen me. There was no way I could win this fight. So, I did what anyone would do if they were about to get their asses handed to them in a game. I opened up my menu and went to the log-out screen.
I hadn’t tried to log out yet in hopes that the guy that put me in this full immersion pod was trying to get me to help. I didn’t wanna come out of VR while someone was trying to dig a bullet out of me. I was hoping that the time dilation of VR had allowed enough time now for me to be in the clear.
I went to the screen that would contain the log-out button, but it wasn’t there. That’s strange, why isn’t it there? Even if this was a medical pod that they use for surgeries and long-term patients there would be a log-out button. Heck, even if this was a black market full immersion pod, like I first thought, there would be a log-out button. In both of those cases, the button simply wouldn’t work or would give me an error message.
But there wasn’t even a log-out button at all. I had never heard of that before. That would mean one thing. I didn’t have time to think about that at the moment though. If I couldn’t log out I was left with only one option.
I ran. I ran off into the forest at full speed. I poured all my stamina into running away. I could not beat a party of fully armed kobolds at my current level or with my current equipment. I could hear them shouting behind me as they started to chase after me. I heard an arrow thunk into a tree just beside where my head was. My lungs burned, and my legs ached, but I couldn’t stop running.
I was looking at my minimap as I ran making sure I was heading directly back to town. I couldn’t hear the kobolds behind me anymore so I hid behind a tree to try and catch my breath for a moment. My stamina was only a quarter full when I heard the Kobolds again.
I needed to buy time. I looked at my map quickly and then noticed something. I was near the clearing where I had seen those wolves in. I ran for that clearing, making sure to make as much noise as possible as I did so.
I could hear the Kobolds start to chase after me again. As I closed in on that clearing I could see some wolves sleeping, including that giant one. I ran into the clearing and shouted trying to draw the wolves' attention. It worked. Their ears perked up and a few stood up as they started to growl at me.
A few seconds after I entered, the kobolds unknowingly followed. When they saw the wolves, they did what any normal person might do. They screamed and began to turn to run away.
I quickly ran back into the tree line before the wolves could get to me. I may not be faster than a wolf but I was much faster than a Kobold. I was hoping that the wolves would take the easier, and more numerous prey.
I didn’t look back as I heard the wolves howl and begin to run. A few moments later I heard the screams of Kobolds and the whimpers of wolves. At least those kobolds weren’t going down without a fight.
Then I heard something that shook me down to my very bones. The loudest and deepest howl I had ever heard in my life. It could only be that giant wolf I saw in the clearing. I ran faster than I had before. I could not be caught. I needed to get to town, and quick.
“You have gained skill: ‘Sprint’.”
“You have gained skill: ‘Second Wind’.”