The journey out of Ethrell forest was quiet as night finally covered the land. As we walked out from the dark canopy that watched over us, we were greeted by a clear night sky with no moon and dotted with thousands of stars. Just beyond the tree line was a new Hearthlight, burning brighter than any of the stars in the night sky and beyond the Hearthlight was the dim, flickering lights of a small village.
“We made it. We actually made it. Thank you both.” Elfred smiled from ear to ear, his eyes watering. Meren stretched her arms and legs and then cracked her neck.
“I don’t know about you two, but I could use a good night sleep.” I watched as Meren activated her in-game overlay, and though I couldn’t see what she was doing, I knew she was trying to logoff. “Crap… Still can’t logoff.”
“Can we sleep in the game?” Elfred asked. “I’m getting really tired.”
“Same and I could go for a bite to eat.” I touched my stomach as I felt hunger pains begin to stir. What a strange game. I’m actually hungry. How long has it been in the real world since I logged in.
“Let’s make it to town and maybe there will be more players there, or even an admin. They have those in online games.” Meren stated it more like a question than an observation.
“Right. Let’s —” A notification popped up in my vision and I heard the sound of a bell chime. Both Meren and Elfred also reacted to something unheard to me and the three of us opened up our in-game overlays. I had a notification icon on my announcements. I pressed it opened and read.
Grim Jack’s Harvest Begins Shortly!
Attention all Relinquished! Starting at midnight tonight the first holiday event for Gods Felled Online will begin! Grim Jack’s Harvest will be our annual Halloween Event staring the Reaper of the Fields, Grim Jack! This event will last the next 72 hours and is your only chance to obtain special in-game cosmetics, mount skins and furniture.
With the arrival of our first holiday world boss spawning event, all of the towns and cities will receive a decorative makeover for the next 72 hours. Each of the town’s will also be host to a new Event Exclusive NPC named Victor Vanghoul. By speaking to Victor, you will receive a special quest to hunt down and slay Grim Jack before the Harvest ends. You will also exchange the special currencies known as Scarecorn Candies, dropped by Grim Jack and his minions, in exchange for the Event Exclusive prizes.
So Relinquished, make sure you head to the closest town, keep an eye out for the Harvest Hallows and ol’ Grim Jack himself as you never know when he will show up.
Good luck
“Does anyone know what time it is?” I asked as I closed my in-game overlay.
“I don’t have a timer on my display,” Meren answered and turned to Elfred. “What about you?”
“Same. Man, this game sure has a lot of glitches for launch day. I’m interested to see if we will get a notification on Day One patch.” Elfred replied.
“Let’s hurry into town. I’d hate to get stuck out here during the event.” I walked up to the Hearthlight and pressed [Rest]. That’s when I saw the [Level Up] option and realized I had enough Ichor to level up again. “I almost forgot to level up. Did you guy get enough for levels?”
“Wow, I totally forgot to do that,” Elfred frantically interacted with the Hearthlight and as he did, I saw small flickering lights dance around him then fade away. Meren came up next to the two of us and also started glowing. That light must be them leveling.
I pressed the [Level Up] options and was told I needed 400 Ichor to increase my next stat. This time I decided to increase my [Vigor]. I watched as my [HP] increased by a few points and felt a sense of pride come over me. The Hearthlight overlay said I needed to spend another 500 Ichor if I wanted to increase another stat. I still had 650 Ichor left and decided to drop another point into [Vigor] and watched as my [HP] bumped up another three points.
Name: Zerik “The Champion”
LVL: 5 (600 Ichor needed)
Ichor: 150
Stats
HP: 28
SP: 16
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MP: 5
Strength: 17
Dexterity: 12
Intelligence: 8
Vigor: 16
Endurance: 12
Arcana: 5
Great! I had made it to level 5. I didn’t know what max level in the game would be, but it was great seeing myself improve already. I wondered how much stronger I needed to get to one shot Koushinon. I’d love to be able to go back and challenge him again and show him who was boss. Another notification appeared on my screen.
[New Class Ability Unlock]
[Choose New Ability]
Another ability? That was great! Looks like hitting certain level thresholds unlocks new abilities for your class. I opened up the [Choose New Ability] and was presented with three options.
[Feral Spin]
[Cross Slash]
[Stomp]
I selected one after the other and read through their information.
[Feral Spin] (Cost: 10SP) Spin rapidly around with your weapons dealing 125% ATK damage to surrounding enemies.
[Cross Slash] (Cost: 6SP) Using [Dual Weapons], attacks in a cross slash to enemies directly in front of you dealing 110% ATK damage. 25% Chance to cause bleeding.
[Stomp] (Cost: 8SP) Slam the ground creating a shockwave of damage to surrounding enemies dealing 80% ATK damage and causing weaker enemies to fall prone.
I spent a few good minutes before I ended up selecting [Stomp]. I ultimately chose the ability because it sounded good, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it would be a very useful skill since getting surrounded by those spirits and having no breathing room, was not the most ideal situation. [Stomp] would give me the breathing room I needed in case I get surrounded again.
“You two ready yet?” Meren said, arms folded across her chest. I’m glad she was with us. She seemed so confident in everything that she did. Watching her start to stride away made me feel like I had taken too long on selecting my ability. Luckily, I had chosen mine before Elfred did, who was now mumbling to himself.
“Elfred, you coming?” I asked.
“Oh shoot. Yeah… umm. Crap I’ll pick this one.” With that Elfred ran up and stepped in line with me.
“Pick something good?” I asked.
“I hope so. You?” Elfred replied. He was wringing his hands together and I could tell he was second guessing his choice.
“I think so. An ability called [Stomp]. Sounded cool.”
“Yeah, yeah it does.”
Meren, Elfred and I finally arrived at the outer fortifications of the city. There was a tall, almost twenty-foot, wooden wall that surrounded the entire town. There was a murky river cut in front of the only gate, and a stone bridge that led across it. I could hear the singing or crickets and frogs in the night air. In the distance, somewhere far to my left, I could see lights dancing through the trees of a misty swamp. They were probably fireflies. Back in the real world, I remember as a kid my father and I would go firefly hunting. We would gather them into glass jars and rest them on the banister on our back porch. I loved watching them fly around, glowing in the light of the full moon. That was another life. A life far beyond the one I left behind before coming to Gods Felled Online.
“The gates closed.” Elfred said as we crossed the stone bridge.
“We can knock,” I replied.
“What if they’re asleep? Or what if the city is closed at night and no one is allowed inside once the gates close.” Elfred dabbed his sleeve on his sweaty forehead. It made me realize how sweaty I was as well. The air had grown thick and humid.
“Then we sneak in. After all that’s what this class was made for.” Meren answered. She stepped up to the gate and slammed her fists against it multiple times. After about a minute she went to knock again but I caught her arm as a ray of golden light began to glow between the cracks of the gate. A small wooden door swung open, no bigger than my head and an elderly man peered through it.
“Who be there?” The old man squinted with one of his eyes as he held up a lantern.
“We’re…” Elfred said but cut himself off as he twiddled his thumbs.
“We’re Relinquished. We’ve slain the Goddess of the Ethrell Forest and now seek refuge.” Meren spoke up, her voice inflection changing as she did. She was really getting into character. Made me wonder if she didn’t just play video games but tabletop role-playing games as well.
“Slain Elumbra did ya?” The old man pressed his lips and whistled air from his hairy nostrils. “Well guess ya ain’t dead so must be true. Not a lot of people come from the forest. At least alive. Welcome to Miretown.”
The heavy gate swung open with a load groan of metal on wood. We were greeted by the sight of our first town in Gods Felled Online. It wasn't bustling with hundreds of people, like I imagined most fantasy cities but there were a few other players walking around. Above their heads I could see their names and titles. The old man, who came around the gate to lead us in, also had a name above his head but it was slightly grayed out. He must be an NPC. Old Heran was his name.
There were a few torches lit in front of several, single story wooden buildings. A muddy, chocolate-brown road, cut through the center of town and to an old willow tree that grew out of a patch of ground surrounded by it’s on moat of swamp water. I could smell meat cooking in the air, and the sound of music coming from one of the nearby buildings which a few other players were hanging around.
As we entered into the city, Old Heran turned and shoved the gate closed. Once it landed into place he walked over to a nearby shack and pulled on a chain. A heavy wooden beam slowly lowered itself in front of the gate to which Old Heran placed it between two iron hooks. A notification appeared in the air before me.
[Miretown]
As we made our way through the city, we caught wind of several people talking about their fights with Koushinon and Elumbra. Another set of people were complaining about how real the pain felt and how they hated dying. I also caught wind of other players complaining about there being no logoff option. I was about to approach them and ask them about it when a bell rang in the distance, and a call went up by an NPC a good thirty yards from me.
“Two hours till midnight! Relinquished, Grim Jack is coming!”