Jake looked around the shrine as he entered the clearing, brushing some dirt off one of the stone benches as he passed. It was designed like a large circle that took up the entire clearing, with the raised platform and altar in the centre. Several rows of stone benches surrounded the platform in a circle, each separated into eight rows, each row pointing in a cardinal direction. Jake supposed that the construction was supposed to do with harnessing natural powers or something, as he’d heard Andy talking about that sort of thing before.
“Gaia? I’ve brought the mushrooms,” he called out as he approached the altar, looking at the statue with the stag skull still hanging from its neck, “Where are you?”
When no reply came, Jake just muttered to himself as he walked up to the altar, taking the four piles of mushrooms out and placing them on the surface, noticing something as he did so. The dagger from before was still sitting on the altar in exactly the same place that he had left it, Jake vaguely remembering that the first Quest was supposed to have rewarded him with a weapon.
Picking it up, he blinked as a screen appeared just like when he’d touched his new bag, shrugging as he accepted it. A moment later, the dagger burst into light, shooting down to his hip and reappearing inside a simple leather sheath, a pattern of vines and leaves stitched into the material. Nodding to himself, he turned back to the altar, staring at the single item that stood in the centre.
“What?” he asked, looking at the mortar and pestle.
Mortar and Pestle of the Wilds
A mortar and pestle used for alchemy.
Increases potency of crafted potions.
Quality: Epic
Soulbound
Jake stared at the screen for a moment, a second appearing telling him that his [Inspect] Skill had levelled up, before letting out a sigh and picking it up, accepting the notification that appeared and putting the item in his inventory. Looking around the clearing again, he shook his head and started to leave, a soft giggle making him pause.
“Gaia?” he asked, turning to look at the statue standing behind him, the eyes of the skull once again blazing with green light.
“Of course,” the Primal said, “I am glad you managed to survive that last trial. Here is your next one.”
Quest: Wood!
Gaia, Primal of the Wilds, wants you to find wood.
Objectives
Collect Wood: 154%
Rewards:
Unknown
“What?” Jake blinked, “Why is the objective a percentage now?”
“Because you need to bring me a certain volume of wood,” Gaia explained, “And it seems like you have already completed this task.”
“Seems like it,” Jake grumbled as he pulled the saplings from his inventory, dumping the pile on the altar again, “Now what?”
“Watch,” Gaia smiled, waving her hand over the altar.
Jake blinked as the pile of wood suddenly sank into the stone, vanishing in a few short moments, before five small circles began to glow on the altar’s surface. They rippled like water, a wooden bottle rising from each, Jake inspecting them as the glow faded.
Silverbark Bottle
A bottle shaped out of Silverbark wood to hold drinking water or potions.
0/5 Charges
Increases potency of stored potions.
Quality: Epic
Soulbound
“Silverbark?” Jake asked, jumping as a small stream of screens appeared in front of him.
You have identified Silverbark Sapling.
You have identified Silverbark Wood Bow.
Skill [Inspect] has levelled up.
“Oh, okay,” he sighed as he dismissed the screens, picking up the bottles and noticing that they each had a hook to attach them to a belt, “Thank you.”
“You are most welcome,” Gaia laughed, “And I am glad to see that you retrieved your reward from the previous Quest. Now, I believe it is time for you to start your next Quest.”
“So soon?” Jake asked jokingly, even though he had mostly expected this.
“Of course,” Gaia chuckled as the screen appeared in front of Jake.
“Wait…” he said slowly, “Are you serious?”
------
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Andy sighed as he sat on the fountain in the middle of the main square. It was mid-afternoon, and he was trying to figure out what to do.
He ignored the shouts of the other Players as best he could, most looking for groups or trying to hawk the few meagre items they’d managed to craft or find. Andy had actually tried to buy some potions from a Player who’d promised that they healed more than the standard potions sold by the NPCs, only to discover that they barely restored a few hit points more.
He’d demanded his money back, but the guy had just claimed that he hadn’t been lying and that the sale was final. Now Andy was down to the last few coins he’d managed to earn doing quests for the townsfolk, and two healing potions that had cost him ten times the price of the ones in the shops.
“Wonder how Jake’s getting on,” he muttered to himself as he pulled up the Social screen, “Probably not getting scammed.”
“What are you moping about, friend?” the jovial voice said beside him, startling Andy as he closed the menu screen, looking over at the short figure standing beside him as he continued to speak, “Break up with your girl?”
“Ha, I wish,” Andy snorted, looking over the other man. He was maybe a foot shorter than Andy and was much skinnier with darkly tanned skin. he was also decked out in a full set of leather armour with a pair of daggers at his hips, making him look every part the Rogue he probably was, “Nah, just got scammed.”
“Ooh, that sucks,” the other guy said as he made to pat Andy on the back, the Defender stepping to the side and making him miss, “Hey, what gives?”
“You’re trying to practice your [Pickpocket] Skill on me,” Andy chuckled, “You think I can’t spot a Rogue when I see one? Where’d you get all that gear, anyway?”
“Huh, fine,” the man replied, holding up his hands in defeat, “Guilty as charged. Name’s Shadow Walker, nice to meet you.”
“Goldrun Strongarm,” Andy replied, “You going to answer my question or not?”
“Depends,” Shadow grinned, “You prepared to do some mat farming?”
“Sure?” Andy shrugged, “I don’t get what that has to do with armour.”
“Just follow me,” Shadow called as he started to stride off, “I’ll introduce you to my crafter.”
------
Skill [Sprint] has levelled up.
Jake waved the notification away, shoving another Stamino Mushroom in his mouth as he did so. Biting down and swallowing, he felt the now familiar rush of energy flow through him a moment later, replenishing his stamina and pushing back any fatigue he may have felt. He’d been running at full speed for over two hours, weaving between trees and patches of undergrowth as he stuffed one of the green-capped mushrooms into his mouth every thirty seconds or so. He only slowed to grab more of the numerous fungi that littered the east side of the forest, rebuilding his stock of the items.
Snatching up another of the green caps, he immediately shoved it into his mouth, quickly dismissing a notification that his [Gathering] Skill had levelled up again. He darted around another tree, hopping easily from root to root as he went, before landing on the loamy forest floor and shooting forwards. All the running was honestly getting a little boring. So, he opened his Character Page, selecting various things until he found a way to see more information on his Skills.
He selected the latest Skill to have levelled up, [Gathering], as a test.
[Gathering]
Level 4
+4% chance to harvest a higher quality item.
Jake read the description over, shrugging as he didn’t really understand it. Next, he checked [Sprint].
[Sprint]
Level 5
+50% movement speed for 4 Stamina/second.
This made more sense, as it was simply an increase in speed in exchange for his Stamina. Jake wasn’t sure if the exchange was improved due to the level, vaguely remembering Andy saying that that sort of thing happened with higher level Skills, but it hardly mattered. He could currently sprint for almost full minute before completely running out of Stamina, not that he let that happen with his constant consumption of Stamino Mushrooms, keeping his Stamina topped up.
Jake quickly checked his map, making sure he was still heading in the right direction as he raced through the trees, before veering off to grab another of the green fungi sprouting from a rotting log. He was currently on the hunt for a particular location, one given to him by his latest Quest, and the sun was close to setting, so he didn’t have that much time to find it. Shaking his head, he checked the Quest screen again.
Quest: Top of the World
Gaia, Primal of the Wilds, wants you to find and climb to the top of the tallest tree in the Dark Woods.
Objectives:
Find the East Oak 0/1
Progress: 0%
Rewards:
Unknown
“She didn’t even bother to tell me the direction to start going,” he muttered to himself, reading over the Quest text again.
The only clue that he had was that the tree itself was called the “East Oak”, hopefully meaning it was located in the east portion of the woods. Of course, he could be totally wrong, and it could just be a name, but he hoped he wasn’t. Jake had tried to climb a tree earlier to get a better view of the surrounding, hoping to be able to spot the supposed tallest tree in the woods towering above the rest, but had found it near impossible to breach the thick foliage of the tops of the trees. Eventually giving up, he had simply decided to comb the east portion of the forest until he found it.
Putting another mushroom in his mouth, Jake raced on into the building darkness. Darting around a tree, he jumped over a small bush and skidded as he hit the hard dirt on the other side, staring in amazement at the sight in front of him. A massive tree, the largest he’d ever seen, towered over him, its canopy covering the entirety of the clearing in which it stood. Stunned by the sight, he approached slowly, staring at the thick trunk in awe. Drawing near, he reached out and touched the tree, its bark rough and worn beneath his fingers.
“You are gorgeous,” he breathed, looking up into the dark branches, wondering how he was supposed to climb this tree when the lowest was at least twenty metres in the air. Shaking his head, he simply drew his Ritual Dagger and Survival Knife, stabbing them both into the bark.
Jake blinked as both knives simply bounced off the tree, the Survival Knife barely leaving a mark as the Ritual Dagger seemed to reject the action of harming the tree itself. Looking at the two blades, Jake simply sighed, putting the Survival Knife back in his inventory and the Dagger back into its sheath. Looking up, he pursed his lips, trying to figure out what to do next.
“I’ll need rope,” he muttered, turning to head back into the woods, opening his inventory to grab his Survival Knife again.
He stopped at the edge of the clearing, blinking a few times before opening his inventory again, going over the items he had with him, before slapping his forehead and pulling out the coil of rope and marching stiffly back towards the tree.