Steel fell to his knees, exhausted.  His stamina was gone, and he hurt all over.  A notification told him he was fatigued

Fatigued-50% to all regens until food is ingested or sufficient time has passed.

"Well no $h!t." He said. He sighed to himself as he laid on the ground, "That's what I get for caring for other people, get my ass kicked and then saved by the bunny brigade."

He rolled his head over to look at the bunnies.  The regular rabbits had reappeared, they were hopping around the corpse eating grass.  The Hungry Bunnies were nibbling on the corpse itself, staining their fur red.  He shivered in the warm sun.

Gazing at the dead monster, Steel wondered what it was.  He hadn't had a chance to identify it before he had jumped in, and there had not been an opportunity to check it.  It was impossible now, the system only registered it as a dead body, he'd have to ask someone else later about it.

Pulling himself up, he crawled over to it to inspect it.  Steel wasn't quite sure the type of loot system the game had: whether loot dropped upon death or if he would have to harvest it himself.  Judging by the way the body was oozing, he guessed the latter.

"Frackin great." He muttered, "I have to skin the damn thing and I don't have anything on me.  He punched the body in frustration, causing a couple of bunnies to hiss at him.  He regarded the bunnies.

They were definitly eating the meat, but they seemed to be avoiding the skin,  They cut a hole in the skin, and chewed their way into the body.  It was pretty disgusting.

"But hey," He thought, "At least the hide will be fixable."

He still didn't have a knife for skinning though, and sure as heck didn't want to pry apart a corpse with his bare hands.  His prayers were answered when he noticed a throwing knife stuck in the body of the monster.  One of the players from before must have gotten a lucky shot in.  Or maybe that's what drew the beast's aggro to him.  He mentally shrugged to himself, it didn't matter to him.

While not ideal for the job, the knife at least allowed him to skin the thing.  He had watched some videos before on the cybernet about skinning, a job reserved for hunters and butchers.  One of the early classes he had taken during his second age group had made him dissect animals, so he was pretty confident he wouldn't fail the task.

First thing,started at just above the feet and cut........

(I don't believe in unnecessary graphic bloodiness, so I'll just leave out the instructions for now.  If I get this published, this will be added for trivia :p)

Steel wiped the sweat off his forehead, the task had taken him a lot longer due to his inexperience and poor tool selection.  Still, he was reasonably happy with the result.  He now had a full fur of the beast from head to tail, and some meat to cook later.  Not a lot of meat, because after he lifted the skin off the Hungry Bunnies seemed to go into a feeding frenzy and he had to high tail it out.

Once he reached a safe place, he decided to open up his notifications,since he hadn't checked after the monster was killed.  A series of blue boxes popped in front of him.

Quest CompleteYou have driven off the players that were killing the bunnies in the field.  Report back to the desk to inform them.  +250 exp.

Job Quest CompleteYou managed to kill one of the monsters that had invaded the grassland.  Your captain will want to hear about it's presence.  +350 exp for the unexpected killing of a much stronger opponent.

Level UpYou have leveled up to level 2.  Congratulations, you are the first person to level up without a class profession.  You have gained the title: Strong Neet.  You have gained 5 attribute points to place in your stats.

Skills AcquiredYou have gained the following skills:Shield Bash

Shield Cover

Charge

Skinning

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Shield BashFE19%You use your shield to bash into an opponent.  Causes blunt damage to opponents smaller or the same size as you.  Has a 16% chance of inflicting daze on an opponent.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Shield CoverEF75%You cover an ally with your shield and body.  Defense increases and you take all damage meant for the thing you are protecting.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:ChargeFF5%Using your strength and agility, you use your body as a force to slam into an opponent or move fast.  Increases daze chance if used with Shield bash.  Knocks down smaller opponents

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:SkinningEF51%You understand the art of skinning.  5% chance your attempts will be perfect, as long as you know what your doing.  50% chance of low quality fur due to inexperience.

Steel closed his eyes a moment for them to recover.  That was too much blue all at once!

Deep breaths now, in, out.

Steel was pleased at the results.  The players that had fled had been the poachers, hunting the poor bunnies off the grassland.  From seeing their experience, he guessed they would stay far from the grassland monster for a while.  Seeing the monster finish another quest was a surprise, but a welcome one.  Especially since it had helped him level up.

Speaking of, he had leveled up!  Steel was ecstatic, leveling up was a big deal.  He had 5 attribute points now, to put into what ever he wanted.  Attribute points could be added to stats or be used to upgrade skills.  Players would receive 5 attribute points up to level 10, then 1 or 2 depending on luck for the rest of the levels.  Players were expected to raise their stats through training and playing, so no more easy stat boosts after level 10.  

Steel was actually surprised he had leveled up so quickly, and that others had beaten him to it.  Still, he had only managed it by being the first to complete some quests and kill a monster in an improbable situation.  Steel suspected he could have cleared the quest just by seeing the monster and reporting it to his captain.

Eh, it worked out.  Still though, what was up with the title he had gained.  "Strong Neet"?  That was pretty insulting to a guy who was actually working.

"It's not my fault I can't find a job." He muttered, "They don't appeal to me and their stupid and oh my gosh I sound like a neet."  He resolved himself to never equip or inspect that particular title.

"First thing though," Steel said looking at his stats, "Need to decide what to do with these attribute points."

Steel pondered for a moment.  Upgrade stats or improve skill?  It wasn't like he had too many skills to upgrade, he only had 4 skills that could be upgraded.  Upgrading Shield bash, for instance, would increase daze chance, or charge could give a little trampling damage.  Instinct could not be upgraded, A rank skills and up were stuck as they were.  

In the end, Steel decided to put his points into stats for now.  Out of the 5, he put 2 into endurance and vitality, and 1 into strength.  He brought up his stat screen to inspect it:

Status WindowName:SteelAlignment:NeutralLevel:2Class:N/ARace:HumanGender:Male

TitlesThe Listener, Milna's Follower, Strong NeetFame:200Infamy:0Experience:1000/3000

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Health:170 / 170Health Regen:3/ SecMana:150 / 50Mana Regen:1/ SecStamina:80 / 80Stamina Regen:1.7/ Sec

Vitality:17 (12)Agility:15 (10)Intelligence:10Wisdom:10Strength:16 (11)Endurance:17 (12)Leadership:0 (10)Luck:6 (11)Charm:5Faith:0

Elemental ResistancesFire:0Water:0Wind:0Earth:10Light:0Darkness:0