Chapter 10: Tempting FATE

In a few hours, I had levelled up to 8 while Elly was at Level 9. The EXP gained from killing the rabbits at night was alright but too time-consuming. I had no problem killing the creatures, but without a proper weapon, fighting barehanded had limited me to concentrate on killing one rabbit at a time. Not only the rabbits were small in size and non-aggressive, but they were fast and agile too. Not too tough for me initially but they were not pack animals. Rabbits didn’t come in a group and even if they did, they would just scatter around the moment I approached them.

For Elly, rabbits were her worse nightmare. Not only did she missed a lot as she could not read the enemy’s movement; having to spend her Stamina and Mana needlessly, but because the rabbit was at higher level, every attack it did on Elly, her HP bar diminished faster than it could regenerate. Fighting at night time made it even worse.

If it was not for my timely intervention, Elly might die from those rabbits’ attack. Cute and cuddly as they were, but a formidable foe for her. If it were not for the occasional Blue Punios, perhaps both of us might not level up as fast. Blue Punios were just like any ordinary Punios, with higher HP, defence rating, more powerful attack and higher level to boot. However, unlike its cousin, Blue Punios were solidarity animals and did not appear more than a couple at once.

And the items loot we gathered was just alright. A few dozens of rabbit pelt, and dozen or more of rabbit meat and some jelly-like substance dropped from Blue Punio called jellopy. 

*****

It was on the verge of twilight when we finally stopped fighting and the night monsters started to disappear and replaced by day monsters. Rabbits were still there but instead of Blue Punio, a new monster was spawned called Tomato Head. At level 15, it was the highest level monster in the forest.

Luckily for us, it was non-aggressive and both of us did not need to engage it for now. We just let it roamed around freely as we took our break and regenerate our mana and stamina. So far, I had not injured myself in any way as I dodged all of the attacks. For Elly, however, her HP did replenish but very slowly. Resting by itself would not recover HP as much as I would like.

“Elly, do you understand how to fight now?”

I asked her as she was resting under the tree with me. She looked dejected after being nearly embarrassed by the rabbits.

“If you cannot read your enemy’s movement, you will just exhaust yourself. Like what you did.” She still did not respond to me. However, for her sake, I hoped she listened to what I had to say.

“Open your eyes and use all your senses and find a pattern within your enemy’s movement. Strike normally first and when you had them where you wanted, then only you cast your skill. Not before that, understand?!”

She just gave me a slight nod.

“Do not expand your Stamina and Mana needlessly. If you are out of stamina, your movement would be sluggish and your attacks would not be powerful. And without mana, you could not use any of your skills.”

Elly just whimpered. She knew how to fight, but training and fighting real monsters was a different ball game. The earlier Punio was nothing. Just created to let the players have the initial feel of how it was actually like to hit and kill a monster before they move on to tougher enemies. The challenge would then start beyond these areas. If she was not careful, she would be dead before she knew it. And when that happened, it would trouble me to no end. Some of her skills used both Stamina and Mana, and it would have exhausted her even more.

“So, I will not allow you to use your skills from now onwards. Until I tell you to do so, you are to fight with your normal attacks and study your enemies’ movements. Get that?!”

Elly nodded. But I wanted her cooperation, not just a slight head movement.

“You get that? I could always dismiss you and never to invite you again!” I just lied but I wanted a better response than the earlier. Feeling surprised with my sudden raise of voice, Elly cried a little. What a crybaby, I thought to myself. It seemed that I needed to show her how to do it after all.

Looking around, there was only rabbits and a lone Tomato Head. That left me with no choice then. I took Popo’s Iron Sword from Elly and equipped it myself. “Look, I’ll show you how.”

I walked towards my non-aggressive target and hit it straight away with a blow to the head. The Tomato Head’s HP bar fell down by 5%. Hmphh… Guessed the level difference did play a part too. But nonetheless, this monster could prove a good foe for me to show to Elly how to fight properly. The Tomato Head fell forward from the impact of my sword and once it stood up, immediately it engaged me in combat. A little taller than 2 feet, the monster swing it arms wildly and lunged at me.

“Can you see the monster’s pattern, Elly? It’s attacking me head on.”

She was looking intently at the way I was fighting. A level 8 player versus a monster than doubled his own level. Surely, it would prove fatal once I got hit by any of the attacks from the Tomato Head. But it was a risk that I needed to take to send the point across to Elly.

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“Learn to avoid as best as you can. Only shield yourself when it’s absolutely necessary!” I was avoiding all the attacks as I pointed out the monster’s pattern to her.

“Look, like the rabbits, it could only attack you in a straight line. Sidestepped it once it reaches mid-air. And once the monster finishes its attack, this is the best time to counter hit it back!” I immediately strike the back of the Tomato Head after I avoided another one of its attacks.

*Critical Hit! Counter!*

The system message flashed across me as I gave the hit. “Remember the window frame for delivering your hit. Most monsters would be vulnerable once the finished their attacks, especially if we can catch them mid-air!”

The HP dropped down by 10% further. A counter would always give more damage than a normal attack strike. And being a critical hit, the damaged multiplied. The Tomato Head was still reeling from my attacks when I gave it a couple more slashes.

“Critical Hit!”

“Critical Hit!”

The monster’s HP drop to 50%. And because of that, it was now in daze mode. It just stood wobbly but could not move nor take any actions. Those quick strikes that landed cleanly had managed to disrupt its attack and now, it was just another practice target for me.

“Once you have the monster where you wanted, now is the time to use your skill!”

As soon as I said that to Elly, I used the Mad Rush Skill that increased my damage output by a further 30% for a minute but would lower my defence rating by 50% for 30 seconds. Anyway, this was a good skill to use on a daze monster like this. I could kill this monster even before my skill ended.

I continued to slash relentlessly on the dazed Tomato Head. The HP dropped to 40%, then 20% once a critical hit landed and finally, with three more attacks, the Tomato Head died.

*Gain 100 EXP*

As it dropped to the ground, I unsheathed my sword and walked towards Elly. The monster was dead and I had proven my point.

“I might be a low-level character, Elly but I know how to fight. Level doesn’t mean a thing if you could read, move and strike your foe as how I did. All you need is time to study your enemies and then act accordingly.”

I looked at her as she sat down under the tree. She was in her usual quiet self but I could see a better expression on her face now. She was in awe. I extended my hand towards her and she grabbed it readily and I pulled her up.

“Ready for the next foe?”

“Yes!” She answered me enthusiastically. I returned her the sword and after that, we continued fighting only rabbits just for her sake. She might be an NPC but for me, she was as real as PCs and would be good in the long term if she could fight properly. I continued to instruct her how to fight as the day moved on to night time. If she failed to heed any of my instructions, I would punish her by wearing that Bunny costume Popo had made specifically for her. 

And this time around, Elly improved a lot, perhaps spurred by the fear of wearing that weird and skimpy outfit. She no longer abused her skills needlessly and instead struck the monsters with normal hits. Even the killing blow was done with a normal attack instead. It was great for me to see that she was learning well. A little patience could go a long way. At this time, her level had increased to 12 and I was at 10. She sure levelled up faster than I did.

During the day, there was quite a number of players fighting inside the forest but when the night time came, only a few were left. And that included the pair of us too. Under the full moon, we continued to slaughter those pitiful rabbits and any Blue Punios that might appear from time to time.

And because of the way we fought, our Stamina and Mana was maintained at an optimum level. We did not need much rest at all. We were clearing the forest path at night when suddenly, we heard a scream coming from the deeper parts of the woods.

*****

“ARGHH!”

The scream was short but was high-pitched and loud enough for us to hear it. It belonged to a girl and I was sure she was in danger of some sort. Was she on the way out of the forest when she was attacked? It was none of my business to head deeper inside the forest needlessly, but somehow, I felt uneasy. There was no sound of night critters and for me, that was a bad omen. If I did not check it out now, perhaps something untowardly might happen to Elly and me later. At least, we would know what was happening and we could be better prepared for it.

With my urging, both of us ran to the direction of the scream. We heard it just once, and that was enough for me to find out the place and the distance we needed. As we ran deeper into the woods, suddenly a message popped up on my screen.

WARNING!

You are entering a FATE that is too high for your level. It is recommended that you do not attempt this event.

A Field Active Time Event here? Should I turned back and run away? Or to proceed? What should I do? If I was alone, I could always attempt this FATE but with Elly, I was sure it would do more harm than good. Suddenly, my vision was interrupted by three people running away from something at a distance. And they looked extremely in need of help. One of them was carrying someone on his back, and the other one, was shooting arrows at something that was chasing them at a distance.

“Ghost? Do we go in and help them?”

“Hmm… we could. But it might put you in danger. Do you still want to go?” Elly nodded. She had made her mind up to help those people. I was not sure whether it was NPCs or PCs, but nonetheless, we needed to help them.

And we needed to make our haste since they were losing their ground fast. When it had come to this, let’s just continue without regret.

“Come, Elly. Let’s go!”

FATE: A Dire Need for Help!

Recommended Level: 25 – 35. Level Sync if above Level 40. A minimum Raid Party of12 players are extremely encouraged.

The night time in the forest has often posed a dangerous place for people to travel. Unwary travellers and adventurers are often caught off guard when the night time comes. Deeper in the forest, a pack of wild wolves has made its home recently and to make the matter worse, the packs will often come out at night to hunt. But only in full moon that the pack’s Alpha, a Dire Wolf will join in. And this situation has made the forest a more dangerous place than ever.

Objective: Kill the Dire Wolf and the whole pack. Please bring peace to the forest, once again.

Time Limit: 1:05:13 left.

Failed if you are killed or the time is over.

This was not an easy FATE at all. Not just the levels needed to complete, but it came with a time limit and a raid party requirement. Once we entered the FATE, I have no doubt that the pack of wolves would detect us immediately. Though we could always run away to safety, the wolves would always be faster than us.

Well, we would find out soon after all.