Jake scanned through the notifications he’d gotten after the fight with the wolf, pausing as he read the last one in confusion.
You have levelled up to level 12.
Allocating Stat Points…
Stat Points Allocated.
He didn’t remember the tingling feeling of power from levelling up, though that may have been due to the adrenaline that had been flooding his body at the time. Inquisitive as to what might have changed, he quickly opened his Character Screen, looking over it.
Character Profile
Name
Jake Grey
Class
-
Level
12
Reputation
Unknown
Health Points
210
Mana Points
200
Stamina Points
270
Fate Points
9
Power
21 {+3}
Intellect
20
Agility
24 {+3}
Wit
22
Vitality
20 {+1}
Charisma
19
Skills (15/20)
Titles
Alchemy [5]
Armour [10]
Bows [10]
Butcher [1]
Cooking [2]
Crafting [6]
Dodge [10]
Gathering [6]
Hide [5]
Inspect [6]
Observe [3]
Skinning [1]
Sharp Eyes [9]
Small Blades [10]
Sprint [8]
Owner of the Dark Woods (Conditional)
Frontrunner
Giant Slayer V
Pioneer
It seemed like he’d gained a point each in Power, Vitality, Intellect and Wit, and two in Agility, increasing his Health, Stamina and Mana Points. If what Andy had explained to him about how the stat allocation system worked was true, then he’d probably gained the Intellect and Wit from using the traps, and the Power, Agility and Vitality from the fights and running away from the wolves. Shaking his head, he quickly called up his Quest Screen, reading over the updated Quest.
Quest: Purge the Corruption
Gaia, Primal of the Wilds, has tasked you with finding and slaying the Agents of Corruption that dwell within the Dark Woods.
Objectives:
Locate the Agents of Corruption 1/1
Slay the Agents of Corruption 6/7
Slay the Shadow Wolf Alpha 0/1
Rewards:
Class Change
Epic Equipment
Epic Weapon
Magic Skill
Jake sighed as he read over the screen, knowing full well that his only hope of completing the quest was to kill all the wolves, including the pregnant one back at the cave. The thought sickened him, making him wonder if there was another way, one where he could achieve the goal without having to slay the pregnant beast. Opening his inventory, he scanned over his items, his gaze falling on one of the two bottles he hadn’t attached to his belt.
Silverbark Bottle
A bottle shaped out of Silverbark wood to hold drinking water or potions.
5/5 Charges of Basic Potent Purifying Potion
Removes Negative Status Effects.
Increases potency of stored potions.
Quality: Epic
Soulbound
Did the Corrupted Status count as a Negative Status effect? If it did, could Jake use the potion to remove it? A spark of hope flashed into his mind, reading the potion’s description again just to be sure. It was a long shot, but if it had a chance of working, then maybe, just maybe, he could save the pregnant wolf. The only problem was if the wolf would let him, and if the Alpha itself would allow him to get close enough to even feed the potion to the pregnant wolf.
Shaking the thoughts from his head, Jake hurried towards the pit, quickly reaching it as he looked up at the still wolf hanging from the tree, and down at the two still bodies in the pit itself. It took him a moment to climb down, careful not to injure himself on the poisoned spikes as he looted the two bodies, before climbing out. He quickly scaled the tree, touching the final wolf’s side and looting its body before checking his inventory.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
He now had over two dozen Wolf Fangs and six Corrupted Wolf Pelts, not sure what exactly he could do with them. He pulled one of the fangs out of his inventory, inspecting it for a moment, noticing the small hole in the base and the razor-sharp point. Getting an idea, Jake jumped down from the tree, sitting on the ground as he pulled out his second bundle of arrows, comparing the width of the shafts to the hole in the back of the fang.
They were about the same size, with the hole in the fang being only slightly smaller. Carefully, he wedged the fang onto the arrow, watching as the description of the item shimmered and changed.
Fang Silverbark Arrow
And arrow made from the wood of a Silverbark Sapling and a beast’s fang.
Ability: [Bleed]
Quality: Common
Smiling, Jake quickly copied the process to the rest of the arrows in the bundle, ending up with twenty of them, which he quickly placed in his quiver, hoping that the poison at the bottom hadn’t dried out enough to not be able to coat them. Checking his inventory again, he pulled out the bottle containing the last charge of poison, going to pour it on his Ritual Dagger, before he paused, pulling out his Survival Knife instead. The iron blade had seen better days, the edges starting to blunt, and the flat sides scratched. If he was about to face the Alpha, then Jake would need every tool he had to be as powerful as it could be, so he poured the last charge of poison onto the metal blade, adding a bit to the inside of the sheath as well before sliding the Knife back into it.
Getting back to his feet, Jake walked towards the cave and the Alpha.
------
Howard Steele sat at his desk, going over the latest draft of the contract for one Jacob Arnold Hart, or Jake, as he had insisted on being called. It was all above board, with no noticeable or exploitable loopholes, though a few conditions had been added to it to counteract some of the benefits it would give. The largest was the right to use Jake’s character in advertisements for Grande New World, something that Howard wasn’t sure the man would accept.
Of course, if he rejected the current contract, they would be able to alter the terms to be more in their favour, but Howard really didn’t want to have to deal with the headache of doing that. So, he simply hoped that Jake would just accept what he was being offered and sign the document. The sooner they could get him under their employment, the easier it would be to curb his actions, though from what he’d heard so far, they hadn’t been too crazy as of late.
Howard tapped at his desk, summoning a holo-screen as he called the Technical Bay, waiting for a moment before it was picked up by the familiar face.
“Yes?” Abrahms asked, glancing at him as she worked, “What’s wrong now?”
“Nothing,” Howard said, “I just thought I should let you know that we’ve found our mystery player and should have him under control soon enough.”
“And how soon is ‘soon enough’?” the woman asked, “I don’t need another event like what they pulled at launch happening here, the servers are almost to capacity already, we may have to start the merges earlier than expected just to keep stability.”
“If all goes well, he should be handled by tonight,” Howard nodded, before blinking as he registered what the woman had just said, “Wait…what do you mean almost to capacity already?”
------
The Alpha sat stock still outside of the cave, eyes turned to the sky as it waited. The little voice in the back of its mind clamoured for blood and destruction, not so little anymore. It screamed and pulled at the Alpha’s will, demanding it to hunt, to kill, to destroy. But the wolf had held firm, even as its pack had descended into madness. It had killed most of its own family, to keep them from falling to the words of the voice, an act that only succeeded in making the voice louder with each death.
Then, several moons ago, it had caught an unfamiliar scent on the wind. It had sent several of its pack to investigate, despairing as they came back, their breath stinking of blood and claiming to have killed the invader. It had killed four more of its pack that night, fearing that they were too close to falling for the words of the voice. It was a while, but soon the scent of the invader returned, this time accompanied by another scent, one that sent the voice scrambling to the back of the Alpha’s mind, freeing it for all but a few days.
The Alpha felt when the first wolf died, its heart clenching in its chest as the voice grew loud once again, demanding it to go take revenge. It had been unable to stop the others from going out and searching, each dying one after the other, making the voice all the louder with each death. The only thing that had kept the Alpha sane up to this point was its mate, currently resting in the cave, barely a day away from giving birth. Usually this would be a thing of joy for the wolf, but now it only feared what would become if its children once they were born.
The sound of whistling caught the Alpha’s ear, its head snapping to the side, jaw clamping down around the wooden shaft as it shot towards its throat. A bitter smell dripped from the tip of the stick, making the Alpha snort. Tossing the object away, it looked directly at the hidden intruder, letting out a low growl. The intruder dropped down from its hiding place, making its way into the small clearing that surrounded the cave. It smelled of fresh blood and wood, of poison and the forest, and the barest hint of something else, something that scared the voice.
With the last of its will, the Alpha bowed its head to the man in front of it. He returned the gesture.
And the Alpha was gone.
------
Jake watched as the Alpha snatched the Fang Arrow from the air, snapping it in half with a quick bite before spitting it out. He swallowed nervously as the beast looked directly at him, as if challenging him to try again. Shaking his head, Jake jumped down from his hiding place among the branches of the tree, walking into the small clearing as the Alpha watched him. He started as the beast lowered its head to him, as if in a bow, Jake copying the action as they stared at each other for a moment, the shadows receding from the Alpha’s eyes for a moment, revealing an intelligent and majestic creature, before they clouded over, overcome by the darkness.
As if a starting gun had been fired, both combatants acted, Jake grabbing an arrow from his quiver and firing it at the Alpha, even as the wolf leapt to its feet and charged him. The Fang Arrow sank into its shoulder, the Alpha seemingly unphased as it continued its charge, on top of the man in a moment, Jake barely managing to dive to the side as it snapped its massive jaws at him. Jake drew and fired another arrow as he jumped to his feet, hitting the Alpha in the ribs, the wolf just turning slowly to glare at him with its black eyes.
Jake didn’t waste the pause, managing to fire two more arrows as he backed away, each finding its mark on the Alpha’s body, the massive wolf not even reacting as it stalked towards Jake. Just as before, the Alpha shot forwards in a burst of speed, Jake firing his arrows again and again, each hitting the beast, but doing no apparent damage. Scowling, the man reached for his quiver, his hand closing on empty air as he realised that he’d already fired his last arrow.
Swearing, Jake dove to the side, gasping as he avoided the snapping jaw, but not the swiping paw that struck him in the chest and threw him across the clearing, sending him rolling across the ground. Staggering to his feet, Jake coughed, the taste of blood in his mouth as the warning that he was below fifty percent health flashed in his eyes. Reaching down, he grabbed one of his Health Potion bottles, taking a drink even as the Alpha continued to walk slowly towards him. Reattaching the bottle to his belt, Jake grabbed his Dagger and Knife, drawing each as he watched the Alpha approach, the pair starting to slowly circle around each other, Jake taking a moment to us [Observe] on the beast.
Shadow Wolf Alpha
Beast World Boss
Level: ??
Corrupted
Nothing. No status effects, not even Poison from the numerous arrows Jake had fired into the Alpha. Now Jake stood in the open, facing down the eight-foot-tall beast, his only weapons in his hands as the monster calmly approached him. Gritting his teeth, Jake let out a shout, seemingly startling the Alpha as he charged forwards, slashing his Dagger at its face. The wolf easily jumped back to avoid the attack, Jake stumbling as the wolf dodged, the moment of unbalance costing him as the blow slammed into his side, throwing him across the clearing once again.
Coughing up blood, Jake groaned as he staggered to his feet, the warning of his health being below twenty-five percent flashing in his eyes as he watched the tail of the Alpha retract, the beast looking at him in contempt. Jake quickly took another gulp of Health Potion, feeling his cracked ribs heal in moments as his body was infused by the powerful vital energies, hooking the bottle back to his belt as he started to circle the clearing again.
He leapt to the side as the wolf lashed its tail at him again, barely avoiding the overhead blow as it slammed into the ground, leaving a deep indent in the soil. Glancing down at the damage, Jake let out a curse, knowing full well that he was probably dead if he let himself be hit by such an attack again. Looking back at the Alpha, Jake was surprised to see that it had stopped, watching him calmly, making the man grit his teeth in frustration.
It was toying with him. The Alpha obviously didn’t see him as a threat, so it was just forcing him to tire himself out and use up all his healing items before it would probably move in for the kill. Shaking his head, Jake calmed himself, knowing full well that getting angry now would do nothing to help in this fight. Slowly, he raised his Dagger, pointing it at the wolf in challenge, the Alpha seeming to chuckle as it bared its fangs, before charging forwards once again.
Jake stood his ground, waiting until the last moment to dodge to the side, grunting as the massive paw slammed into his side, even as he stabbed his Dagger down into it, slicing though fur and hide as he was thrown away. The Alpha looked down at the wound in interest as Jake scrambled back to his feet, already downing the last charge of potion from the first bottle, tossing it into his inventory as he shakily raised his weapons again. Jake blinked as the wound he'd just inflicted suddenly darkened, a black scab forming over it in moments as the wound stopped bleeding.
“What?” he groaned, “How is that fair?”
The Alpha just looked at him again, seemingly unimpressed with his performance as it stretched, apparently dismissing the human as it watched him disinterestedly, making Jake clench his teeth in frustration again. Readjusting his grip on his Knife and Dagger, Jake stepped towards the Alpha, the wolf not moving as he slowly approached, apparently wanting to see what he’d do next.
Jake roared as he charged towards the beast, the Alpha lazily lifting a paw to swat him away again, blinking as the man suddenly changed directions, running towards the cave as he readied his blades. It took a moment for the Alpha to realise his intentions, before the beast launched itself forwards, skidding to a stop between the man and the entrance to the cave, blinking as Jake just grinned at it. Leaping into the air, Jake managed to stamp down on the Alpha’s muzzle, landing on its back as he stabbed his Dagger into it, gripping on for dear life as the wolf began to buck and snarl, trying to throw him off. Jake gasped as the Alpha managed to twist its body around, almost throwing him from its back as he swung over its side, coming face to face with the beast, each staring directly into the other’s eyes.
Jake just grinned as he brought the Survival Knife down, its blade glistening with poison as it sank into the Alpha’s eye, making the wolf yelp in pain, thrashing around wildly as it pawed at the weapon. Jake gasped as he felt his Dagger slip, suddenly sliding out of the wolf, pure black blood following it as he was thrown to the floor once again, hopping to his feet as he downed another charge of Health Potion from his remaining bottle. Jake watched as the Alpha snarled and pawed at its face, using the opportunity to quickly look at its Status.
Shadow Wolf Alpha
Beast World Boss
Level: ??
Corrupted, Poisoned
“Yes!” Jake cheered, immediately regretting his outburst as the beast immediately refocused on him, black blood dripping from the wound on its face, “Oh. Shit.”