Authors Note

Here's Chapter 6, leave comments, suggestions, tips and tricks below.

I've been getting back into drawing lately (though my skills aren't what I'd consider good at this point) and plan on drawing my characters from FREE when I start feeling more comfortable with my skill level. Don't know when it'll happen but at some point I'll have drawings of Calamity and Salvation linked. On that note if you want to display your own drawings of anything from my story let me know and I'll figure out how to do that (even if it's just a link or something). Now on to the chapter!

Arc 1 Freedom has its price

Chapter 6 The Grind

"YAY! We're finally free of that forest. I had my doubts mity but you sure pulled through in the end, even if you did manage to get us lost again."

"Who got us lost! We had to take a detour that just happened to take a long time because someone had to avoid killing bunnies."

"But they were so cute, it wouldn't be good for my heart to see you gut a bunny with your claws again, therefore it's still your fault."

"How was I supposed to know that this game would have that much detail when it comes to combat? All I wanted was to end the fight quickly by dealing as much damage as possible, or would you have rather me pummeled it to death instead? It's your fault for being weak towards cute things."

"Neither, and it might be virtual but it's still 99% realistic so it's basically the same as seeing it in real life. So it's your fault for being so heartless, I didn't make you immune to cuteness."

Walking out of the forest the same way we walked through it (arguing) we saw a dirt road a few yards passed the wood line. We decided to follow the road west for no particular reason and continued on our way. As we continued to walk the conversation switched from the previous argument to discussing a bit more about ourselves. No important things like real names or phone numbers where discussed but we did talk about our hobbies and likes/dislikes. Turns out we are both avid readers and prefer physical copies to digital ones and we also both hate running but love biking. After an hour of walking we decide to take a break for a quick lunch as it's passed noon. Since I'm the only one with food I split some of my rations with Salvation and we take turns drinking from one of the canteens of water I had.

"Hey mity."

"Yes sal?"

"Think we're going the right way?"

"I don't think there is a 'right' way as either direction likely leads to some sort of town, village or city but as for if this is the quickest way or not I have no idea."

"Hm, well I hope we get there soon, much as I like your 'food' I'd prefer to get my own sooner rather than later. Maybe even get some beer or something while I'm at it."

"Yeah? With what money? I doubt that the few copper we've gained so far is enough to get you brown water let alone beer."

"Then we can just go hunting in the towns surrounding area, that way I don't have to worry about you getting us lost."

"...."

"Well that's enough break time for me, let's go mity! You can't sit around mopping forever."

"...."

Standing back up we resume our walk down the road. We continue to walk for another hour before seeing the outline of a city in the distance. About medium in size the only specific buildings we could see over the walls were a clock tower, the keep and what looked like a cathedral. Excited by the prospect of finally reaching our destination we pick up the pace as we continue along the path. As we get closer to the walls we see what we assume to be a large number of players running about in the surrounding field fighting against what appeared to be the army of a Disney princess.

"See, I told you I'd get you to the nearest town/city sal. We might have had a few difficulties along the way but you have to expect those when you're on an adventure."

"What adventure? Getting lost in the woods because you have a bad sense of direction isn't an adventure. It's slightly funny and very time consuming but an adventure it is not. Still it had its highlights so thanks for the help mity."

"You're welcome, and who has a bad sense of direction!?"

"Hahaha."

"*sigh* Whatever, so what's your plan? You going to go explore the city or hunt some monsters for money first? Do you want to keep partying or go our separate ways?"

"Hmm, for now I want to go explore the city first. As for the party, sorry mity but I want to go solo for awhile to get used to the game. You won't hate me right?"

"Huh? Of course not we're still friends and we'll have other opportunities to party together later on as well. Well have fun exploring the city, I'm going to hunt for awhile and test out a few things."

"Ok then, see you around mity!"

"See ya sal."

"Oh and could pretty please think of a different nickname?"

"To quote an old animated movie 'the physical appearance of the please makes no difference'. Sorry but I can't do that sal is sal after all."

"Nooo, you're so mean."

"Despicable."

"Did you just?"

"Bye sal!"

"*sigh* Whatever, have fun mity."

Salvation leaves the party and starts walking towards the gate of the city. Watching her walk away for a bit I smile slightly.

Such an interesting person, shame she didn't want to party together some more but what can you do? Hopefully she'll want to party together later. Now let's see how well this my skill works in combat shall we?

Walking off the road into the field I search for a suitable target, finding a nice level 1 bunny to practice against I activate my skill Imagination is Magic. Imagining a large icicle in my hands I open my eye once I feel the sensation of it resting in my palm. Satisfied I walk towards the bunny and enter its aggro range and my resource bars appear in the corner of my eyes. I briefly note that my mana had all been used, which was the plan as I had wanted to make an icicle as big as possible. Focusing on the now charging bunny, which despite my argument with Salvation I did think was cute, I heft the icicle and chuck it like a javelin towards the angry rabbit. Surprisingly I had pretty good aim as it hit it square in the face also thanks to the strength behind the throw the icicle was impaled into the ground. Checking the damage I see the flashing number 50 next to the bunny's now visible status screen.

So half it's health for using all my mana huh? Judging from my brief observations of those mage like characters I saw fighting the damage is likely comparable to mage spells of similar output. I can't be certain but since two fireballs some of those mages cast that were about the same size as the one I created before were able to kill bunnies I think it's correct. I think the only downside to my skill is the amount of concentration required to create a useable 'spell' still I think I might have a way to fix that but that's more of a long term goal. For now let's just focus on leveling up and getting some money.

Finishing my thoughts I turn my attention back to the struggling bunny which was frantically trying to free itself from the icicle impaled into the ground. Walking up to it I quickly stab it a couple of times with my claws to finish it off. Collecting the few pieces of copper on the ground I start searching for a new enemy. I find a wild dog that was level 2 but the fight was anticlimactic as its attack patterns for the same as those wolves I had killed before. I continue hunting in the surrounding area using my magic whenever I had full mana, I kept myself from using fireballs as I was in a part of the field with thicker grass. After killing 4 more wild dogs and another bunny I got to level three. As I was mainly killing things with my physical attacks I dumped half my points into strength and the remaining points into vitality again.

After another couple of levels pumping up strength and vit I'll switch to working on int and wisdom, killing things with my bare hands is fun but the possibilities my magic has is quite interesting. I think I'll power level for awhile then go into the city to explore a bit, I think I'll steal sal's idea and get myself a bear and some decent food if I can afford it.

I resume farming mobs in the surrounding area for a while longer before changing locations as nothing strong than a wild dog appeared in the area I was in. During my trip with Salvation I managed to become almost completely used to my new body and no longer walked awkwardly nor ran like a velociraptor.

Which reminds me, I should try working with my tail a bit more. If I can master it, it'll prove quite useful in a fight.

During my next fight against the common enemy in the area, a level 3 skunk, I tried working my tail into my fighting. Most of my attempts failed and caused me to take some damage here and there but I managed to successfully whip and 'stab' it with my tail once each. Due to my training the fight took longer than usual and I ended it with about half hp. During my quick break to gain back my health I practiced the motions of attacking with my tail some more. When my health was full I fought another skunk this time having a few more successes and ending the fight with only 80 damage taken. Practicing while regaining my health once again I had an interesting thought. Deciding to try it my next fight I got up and looked for my next target.

Finding yet another skunk this time, before I got into its aggro range, I decided to use my magic. Instead of creating an icicle in my hand however I tried imagining a ice cone surrounding the tip of my tail. Opening my eyes and looking at my tail I see a slightly smaller version of the cone I imagined enveloping the tip of my tail. Pleased with my success I enter the skunks aggro range and proceed to fight it. This time when I stab it with my tail it actually gets penetrated. Where as before it only dealt about 30 damage thanks to the ice cone it now did 50 damage. Another plus was that when I withdrew my tail the ice was still one it.

Seems like another idea paid off huh. Still I doubt doing this for my hands would actually improve my damage thanks to my claws but it certainly works for my tail and it opens up other possibilities when I gain more mana.

Continuing the fight I finish off the skunk after another few stabs of my tail and stabs with my claws. Not all the attacks with my tail hit but the degree of control and accuracy is improving. I continue on my killing spree and when I reach level 4 I moved on from skunks to level 5 badgers (there was no sight of any level 4 monsters). Unfortunately for me this was not a pleasant transition. Where as the previous monsters I had fought had simple patterns, launch an attack and retreat if you take a hit afterwards, the badgers were much more aggressive. No matter how badly I damaged them they just continued to attack me, if it wasn't for a fluke where I dazed it when I hit it with my tail I would have died.

Guess it's true what they say, honey badgers really don't give a fuck. At least it got me a nice level up, one more and I think I'll head into the city.

Learning from my last fight, this time when I battled I skunk I started it by impaling it with an icicle much like what I did to the first bunny and a few of my other kills. Like the bunny it was stuck and I used the opportunity to get some nasty hits in, nearly gouging out an eyeball and turning a leg into shredded meat past. Unfortunately unlike the bunny it was able to free itself after a couple of seconds catching me off guard. Before I managed to bat it away it took out 1/3 of my health and left my short an eye(luckily from what I've seen things like that count as status ailments and return a couple of minutes after the fight, although limbs require a spell to recover). It hurt like fucking hell, 25% pain or not, and it made me quite mad causing me to launch myself at the unfortunate badger like a mad dog. Luckily thanks to my previous barrage of hits it was close to dying and after a few my attacks from my claws and tail it died, leaving me with half health and an ugly face for a couple of minutes.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Well it might be a good thing that sal decided to party with me, I doubt she would like to see my face like this. Hell I'm glad that I can't see my own face right now. Oh well now I know what to expect a similar situation shouldn't happen again.

After recovering I continue to fight badgers taking care to back off before they broke free of the icicle. After awhile I level up, this time I dump all my points into wisdom to get more mana regen. I decide to look through my skill screen while after I'm done.

Status WindowName:CalamityAlignment:???Level:1Class:Wandering DragonRace:DraconianGender:FemaleTitles??Fame:0Infamy:0-Health:250 / 250Health Regen:0.3%/ SecMana:5 / 100Mana Regen:0.3%/ SecStamina:100 / 100Stamina Regen:0.2% / Sec-Strength:25Agility:10Vitality:25Intelligence:10Wisdom:20Endurance:10Luck:6-Attack:25Defense:10

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:ConcentrationBeginner20%When focusing wholly on a task you are able to complete it 11% faster but are unable to notice changes in your surroundings.Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Imagination is MagicBeginner254%Imagination is a wonderful thing, some would even say it's magical. A creative mind can be the difference between victory and defeat.Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Martial CombatBeginner273%Skill at using your body for combat. 11% increase in damage when using your body to fight.Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Night VisionBeginner315%Do to the unique physiology of your character you are able to see clearly in the dark as long as there is enough ambient light.Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:PerseveranceBeginner20%When trying to solve a difficult or lengthy problem you are more likely to find a solution.

Seems like my skill have level up a bit that's nice, although only Concentration and Martial Combat clearly show any benefit from leveling them.

Looking at the time I notice that it's now almost 4 pm.

Looks like I've been hunting awhile, barely even notice the time going by. Let's see I have 6 silver and 52 copper at the moment, probably enough for some cheap beer and food. Time to go into the city, maybe I should ask someone what the name is.

*Authors Note: Standard exchange rate, 100 copper to 1 silver, 100 silver to 1 gold, 100 gold to 1 platinum.*

Shrugging I head towards the nearby gate and enter into town. Although there was a tax required to enter the city it was only 50 copper so I didn't complain as even though this was a lot to me it was actually a small amount if you look at things objectively. It appears as though the road coming in from the gate acts as a sort of main street as there was a huge number of shops and stalls along the path, which made sense. Stopping at a nearby stall selling some sort of skewered meat I purchase a small stick for 50 copper and ask the merchant for directions to a cheap tavern.

"A new adventure huh? The place you want to go to is The Muddy Mug and it's just further down this road. You shouldn't miss it, it has a sign of a brown mug hanging out from it."

"Thanks"

"No problem, make sure you come back again with more money, the bigger skewers have better quality meat."

"I might do that, see you around."

Continuing down the main avenue I quietly munch on the skewer.

It's surprisingly good for a mysterious meat that I likely don't want to know where it came from. Hm? Is this the tavern?

Stopping outside what I think is The Muddy Mug I quickly look it over.

About what you'd expect from a cheaply priced tavern I guess, a bit run down and dirty but doesn't appear to want to fall over at any second. Oh well I'm craving a drink and this is probably the cheapest place to get one.

Shrugging to myself (which seems to have become a habit of mine) I push open the door and am greeted by a familiar voice.

"and there we were faced with a group of wild wolves when without even waiting for me s she hunched over and started running like a velociraptor, she had her arms tucked up and everything."

Following the ending of what must have been a fairly humorous story (for them) the tavern starting cracking up with laughter. A few people look a bit confused but they were probably NPCS and not players. The story was not however amusing to me and noticing a familiar person standing in the middle of the tavern my expression cramped up and turned ugly.

"Oh? If it isn't Sal! Didn't expect you to be here!" I say with an evil smile forming on my lips.

"EEEP! o..o.oh if it isn't mity...what are you doing here."

"Nothing special, just wanted to get a beer or two. But if luck would have it I was able to hear quite the funny story as I came in and I just knew that it couldn't be anyone other than you. I mean who else could tell such a funny story?"

"Y..y..you heard that?"

"Oh just the ending, but I would love to here it from the beginning if you wouldn't mind Sal."

Some random player asks me "Who is sal?"

"He is of course, sal is a friend in real life. He's absolutely massive in real life and works as a bouncer so we call him Big Sal. I don't know how many points he had to spend to make his character like that but I am impressed to his dedication. You see we made a bet before we started the game that he couldn't manage to make his character look so much like a girl that even NPCs would be fooled. He obviously won."

"Who are you calling a guy!?"

"No need to be embarrassed Sal, it's quite impressive really."

"Is that why his name is Salvation, because the name sal is in it?" (random guy #2).

"You guessed it, not the most original guy when it comes to names but he can tell a good story so we love him anyways."

*Sobbing slightly* "Mity! You're so mean."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Your second cheapest beer please."

"Waaahh! Don't ignore me."

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter of FREE. Any feedback, tips, tricks, suggestions and cheat codes are welcome. Leave anything of that nature in a comment and I will read and respond to it (message me if you're not comfortable doing so for whatever reason). Maybe I should rename the story to The Adventures of Sal and Mity.

Thanks for reading,

Ren Waya