The moon was high in the sky as Jake put the finishing touches on the item in his hands. He’d spent a good five hours working the wood, having dismissed the notification asking if he wanted to learn [Woodworking]. He’d also been offered the [Tailoring] Skill after he’d cut a length off his coil of rope and spent a couple of hours unravelling and rewinding it into thinner pieces. Now he was almost ready to complete his creation, picking up a specially made piece of twine, one that was thicker than the rest, and tying the end in a loop. He hooked it over the one arm of the item, before bending the wood, tying the other end off.
Jake watched as the item shuddered slightly in his hands, the rough spots where he’d carve a bit too deeply or not taken quite enough off smoothing out, the string losing the loose threads along its length. Finally, the object seemed to finish its transformation, a small screen appearing above it as Jake looked proudly at his creation.
Unknown Wood Bow
A bow made from the wood of an unknown sapling.
Quality: Common
Jake nodded as he stood up, stretching out his back with a satisfied groan and placing the bow in his inventory. That was one thing taken care of, but he was far from done for the night. His bow might be complete, but he still needed arrows. Unfortunately, he was out of usable wood, as only the bottom third of the strange silver barked sapling he had found had been thick enough to work properly, the rest proving too fragile. This meant that he had to brave the woods again to search for more of the strange saplings, or at least something similar to use to make his arrows. Swallowing nervously, Jake looked in the direction he’d headed when the wolves had attacked him.
“Not going that way again,” he muttered to himself as he turned away, walking towards the opposite end of the clearing, pausing before he stepped over the invisible boundary that marked the edge of the Safe Zone.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward.
------
“Hey, wanna join our party?”
Amelia grimaced at the shout, pretending not to hear it even though she was the only person in the immediate area. Instead, she fired a blast of wind from her wand, stunning the flying hornet-like monster just long enough for her to dart forward and drive her sword through its abdomen, killing it.
“Yoohoo, pretty lady?” the call made her visibly tense as she quickly looted the insectoid, the owner of the voice getting closer as she started to walk away, “Hey now, don’t be so cold!”
“Go away,” she growled as she turned to face the party of four, the leader simply giving a smile as he sauntered towards her.
“My, I thought you were a Wind Mage, but that’s some spicy fire!” he laughed as he drew close enough to reach for her hand, “I like it!”
“Leave me alone,” Amelia barked, spinning on her heel to avoid the touch as she started stalking deeper into the forested area, scanning for her next target.
“Oh, come now,” the man laughed again, the three women behind him snickering as they barely hid their disdain for her, “It’s far safer to hunt in groups, especially this deep in the woods. We wouldn’t want anything bad happening to such a pretty young flower as yourself. I’ve heard death in this game can be quite…nasty.”
“Is that a threat?” Amelia barked out a laugh as she stopped, glancing back at the man over her shoulder, making him swallow at the pure hatred in her gaze.
“No,” he said hurriedly, running a hand over his slicked back hair and trying to get the flow of the conversation back under control, “Just an observation. So how about it? Join our party? For safety?”
“No,” Amelia replied flatly, glancing to the side as the screen only she could see vanished, “I’ve already reported you for harassment, so unless you want to end up worse than that Soldier Bee, leave me alone.”
The man blinked slightly as she turned away, before a slight frown crossed his face.
“Fine, if that’s the way you want to be, then so be it,” he sighed, shrugging his shoulders, “It’s not like I was going to invite you to join the first Guild in the game or anything.”
“What?” Amelia blinked, turning to look more closely at the man and his three followers, the small screen appearing above their heads indicating that they were in a Guild, “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
“Nope,” the man grinned, opening his arms wide, “So, what do you say? Join our party and I might be able to get you in on GNW history!”
“You didn’t even bother checking me, did you?” Amelia laughed softly, drawing a confused look from the man, “Do you even have the [Inspect] Skill?”
“What?” he blinked, looking back at one of the women behind him, her face having turned pale as she stared at Amelia in horror, “What’s she talking about, Pearl?”
“Arthur…she’s…she…” the woman stammered, “She’s the Guild Master!”
“What?” Arthur blinked, turning back to look at the now smiling Amelia in terror, “Oh, uhm…I-.”
“Am blacklisted from the Golden Sun Guild,” Amelia finished for him, genuine satisfaction in her voice, “As are your lackies. Congratulations on making history as the first people to be blacklisted by a Guild, though.”
“Wait!” Arthur shouted as Amelia turned away, walking back into the woods, “Can’t we talk about this?”
“No,” Amelia chimed as she spotted another Soldier Bee, preparing her spell.
Behind her, she heard the sounds of three people logging off, probably the women preparing to delete their characters and start again, as the man had collapsed to his knees in defeat.
It made her genuinely smile.
------
Jake placed his foot gently on the loamy soil, feeling the soft mulch gingerly in case there was a hidden stick or branch that may alert anything around him to his presence. Peering into the gloom, he tried his hardest to spot any signs of movements in the shadows, before finally deciding it was safe to continue. He sighed as he lowered his body weight onto the leg, pressing himself up against a tree in an attempt to hide.
He'd been at this for over an hour, slowly making his way through the eerily silent woods as he snuck along, only pausing to pick a mushroom, or cut down one of the silver barked saplings as quietly as possible. Surprisingly, he’d managed to find quite a few of the small trees this time around, as well as a multitude of the mushrooms, wondering if it had something to do with the part of the forest that he was in.
Another benefit of the last hour of staring at shadows for so long was that that his [Sharp Eyes] Skill had levelled up twice. It didn’t make much of a difference, only expanding the small circle he could see more clearly in by another metre, but at least he was increasing something. He hopped over a small patch of dry looking underbrush, landing on a raised root of a large tree and pressing himself against the trunk.
Learned Skill: [Hide]
Jake almost fell over when the notification appeared in front of him, clamping his hand over his mouth to prevent himself from crying out in surprise. He stared at the screen in confusion, recognising the Skill as one he’d been offered shortly after he’d started his sneaky movements, but was unsure how exactly he’d just earned it. Did it mean that there was something nearby to be hidden from? Was it the wolves? Was he about to die deep in the woods with little hope of recovering his body again?
Jake’s cascading thoughts were interrupted by a soft snort, making him press himself against the tree even harder as he strained to listen. Another snort made him flinch, risking peeking around the edge of the tree to try and find the source. He had to move over the roots for a bit before he spotted it, his eyes going wide.
A massive stag was lying on its side, panting heavily as it rested beneath a large tree. The beast was larger than anything he’d ever seen, even the lead wolf of the pack that had killed him, probably over twice Jake’s own height at the shoulder, its antlers splitting into twenty points each. Its fur was a dark grey, a softly glowing pattern of swirls covering it as it slowly raised its head, looking straight at Jake’s hiding place.
Jake swallowed a shout as he looked at the stag’s face, the left side covered in thick cuts and gashes, each dripping blood and black ichor, its eye completely missing. Nervously, he let his eyes dart to the small screen that had appeared above the creature.
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Guardian Stag
Spirit Beast
Level: ??
Bleeding, Crippled, Lesser Corruption
Jake paused as he saw the words beneath the creature’s level, again wondering exactly what they meant. Were they indicators of its health? Maybe something to do with a debuff, like when he’d been Exhausted. He was interrupted from his thoughts as the stag snorted again, shaking its head in his direction, still staring right at him, making it clear that it knew he was there. It seemed there was no point in hiding anymore.
Stepping out from behind the tree, Jake walked slowly towards the stag as it watched him closely, finally just laying its head back down on the bloody ground with a sigh. Jake swallowed as he approached, finding himself kneeling a short distance from the animal.
“Is there…is there something I can do?” he said, not entirely sure why he’d asked, the stag just huffing at him, “Right, of course. You can’t exactly understand me, can you?”
The stag lifted its head again, looking right at Jake as it nodded its head, making him stare back in shock.
“Wait, you can understand me?” he asked, the stag nodding again, though this time it was accompanied by an annoyed snort, “Wait, does that mean that those wolves could understand me as well?”
The stag suddenly seemed to get agitated at the mention of wolves, Jake watching as it looked around hurriedly.
“They aren’t here right now,” he said quickly, trying to calm the beast, “They killed me earlier today. Or yesterday, I suppose. Did they do this to you as well?”
The stag nodded, laying its head back down with a pained groan, Jake flinching at the sound.
“Are you sure there’s nothing I can do?” he asked again, the stag just snorting, closing its eye as its body spasmed slightly, “What’s wrong?”
Jake looked back at the small box above the creature, eyes going wide as he read its status.
Guardian Stag
Spirit Beast
Level: ??
Bleeding, Crippled, Minor Corruption
“Is it getting worse?” Jake asked, looking at the stag as it opened its eye again, noticing the dark swirls in its pupil, just like the wolves had had, “It is, isn’t it?”
The stag just snorted again, seeming to accept its fate.
“No, you can’t do that,” Jake said, shuffling closer on his knees, “You have to keep fighting! I know it must be hard but-!”
He was cut off by the look in the stag’s eye, complete defeat as it gave its head a small shake.
“But you…you don’t want to become like those wolves, do you?” Jake asked frantically, not sure what he would do if there was a murderous four-meter-tall stag running around the forest as well, “There must be something that we can do!”
The stag just grunted, shaking its head again as it shivered, Jake worried that the corruption status had gotten worse again. When he saw that it had, he started to panic slightly.
“Dammit,” he cursed, “If this was the Bio-Dome we’d have no choice but to euthanize you, but it’s not like I can do that here.”
The stag glanced at him, a glimmer of hope in its eyes as Jake looked sadly down at it.
“I mean, I do have a knife, but…” Jake trailed off, suddenly sitting upright in realisation, “I have a knife! It won’t be as painless as an injection, but it should help you pass before this corruption thing takes you over.”
The stag gave a small nod, a look of relief washing through its large eye as Jake took out his Survival Knife, quickly checking the edge to make sure it was still sharp. It was, but it was starting to blunt slightly, making Jake cringe. Looking the stag in the eye, he brought the blade to its neck, dragging it across the thick hide in the way he’d been taught. Jake blinked as the blade slid through the skin of the stag almost too easily, blood draining out so quickly that Jake had to jump to his feet to avoid soaking his pants.
“What?” he asked, looking between the knife and the stag, wondering if the beast had something to do with the slightly dull blade cutting so easily.
The stag remained silent as it let the blood pour from its neck, a look of peace and acceptance in its eye as the life slowly faded from its gaze. Jake didn’t know why, but he bowed his head to the body, offering it a silent prayer before turning away.
A blast of hot air into his face made the man stumble back, landing on his rear as he looked up at the massive form that now stood over him, the familiar figure looming as its eyes burned with green light. Swallowing as scream, Jake scrambled back as the beast stepped towards him, almost slipping on the puddle of blood beneath the body. The stag just snorted at him, the sound almost like a laugh as it watched his antics.
“What’s going on?” Jake asked, looking between the body and the new stag, realising that it was partially see-through, though it was hard to tell in the gloom of the forest, “Are you a ghost?”
The stag ghost snorted dismissively, shaking its head as it trotted up beside him, lifting one of its legs and placing its hoof against its own corpse. Jake watched as it repeated the action several times, seemingly getting more annoyed with each repetition.
“Wait, do you want me to touch the body?” he asked, the stag snorting loudly as it seemed to roll its eyes, “Okay?”
Reaching down, Jake placed a hand on the slowly cooling body, blinking as a screen appeared in front of him.
Loot [Guardian Stag]?
Y/N?
“Loot?” Jake said, the ghost stag just nodding, “Yes?”
Jake watched as the body of the stag suddenly shimmered, breaking apart into thousands of motes of light that floated up into the air. Hundreds of the motes suddenly surged together, forming three larger glowing balls, before each floated to the ground, popping as they hit the floor. Jake stared at the three items in confusion, inspecting each in turn. The first was a simple satchel bag made of grey leather, the same sort of pattern that had been on the stag stitched into the material.
Guardian Stag Hide Bag
50 Slot Bag
Quality: Epic
Soulbound
“A bag?” Jake mumbled, reaching out to it, pausing just as he was about to touch it. A sharp snort from the ghost stag startled him, making his fingers brush against it.
Equip [Guardian Stag Hide Bag]?
This will bind the item to you.
Y/N?
“Oh,” Jake blinked, looking at the ghost stag, “May I?”
The ghost stag just snorted, nodding its head in annoyance.
“Okay,” Jake muttered, “Yes.”
The bag shimmered as the screen vanished, suddenly appearing hanging on Jake’s shoulder. Amazingly, it felt as though it weighed nothing and didn’t slide around like most satchel bags did, instead staying firmly in place. After testing the bag, Jake opened his inventory, marvelling at the increase in size, sixty slots now available to him, though a number were already filled with the items that had been in his Survivalist’s Pack.
“They moved over?” Jake hummed, before shrugging, looking at the next item.
It was a massive stag skull, twenty pointed antlers rising up from it as it seemed to exude a hidden power. Jake wasn’t entirely sure how he knew it gave off an aura of some kind, just that he felt it. Shaking his head, he turned to the final item, a roll of what looked like bark tied shut with a length of dried grass. He blinked as a small screen appeared above it, reading the description.
Scroll of the Wilds
Quest Item.
Read to start a potential Quest chain.
“What does ‘Quest chain’ mean?” Jake asked, gingerly picking up the scroll and looking it over more closely, “And why is it a ‘potential’ one?”
The ghostly stag just snorted as usual, nudging Jake’s shoulder as he made to put the scroll away.
“Huh? What, do you want me to read this now?” he asked, the stag nodding enthusiastically, Jake letting out a quiet sigh, “Okay, I guess?”
Jake tugged the simple knot holding the scroll undone, watching as the roll of bark unfurled itself in his hand, floating up as it was enveloped in a soft green light, a swirling symbol burning in the centre of the page.
“I thank you for sparing my pet from its suffering,” a soft voice said into Jake’s ear, making him jump as he looked around for its source, “I am also grateful you saw fit not to pillage the body immediately after.”
“Uhm…you’re welcome?” Jake replied, still nervously looking around, glaring at the stag for a moment as it looked like it was laughing at him, “What’s going on? Who are you?”
“You shall have your answers soon enough,” the voice said cryptically, getting softer as it spoke, “Follow my pet to the shrine in the north of the woods. There we shall speak more freely.”
“Wait!” Jake shouted as the voice faded to a whisper, “What do you mean speak more freely? Hello? Hello?!”
“See you soon,” the voice seemed to giggle as it vanished, the scroll dissolving into soft green light.
“Dammit,” Jake grunted as he looked around, “Now what? Do I just do what the voice said, or-.”
He was cut off as the screen appeared in front of him, making him frown.
Quest: Path of the Wilds
You have encountered a strange entity that has entreated you to meet it at the Shrine of the Wilds in the northern part of the Dark Woods.
Objectives:
Follow the Guardian Stag Spirit (Optional) 0/1
Find the Shrine of the Wilds 0/1
Rewards:
Unknown
“Shrine of the Wilds?” Jake asked, looking at the stag as it simply turned and started to walk away, “Hey! Wait!”
------
Andy sighed quietly as the short, heavily scarred old man in front of him continued talking.
It hadn’t taken him long to find a suitable Class Trainer, only needing to ask one of the guards where he could find a good place to learn a defensive Class. The man had given him a strange look, before advising that he just start as a Fighter, but Andy had been insistent. The man had finally relented and pointed him in the direction of a small house at the edge of the town. Andy had entered after knocking, looking around the dimly lit space in confusion before the owner had charged him with a shield, knocking him right back out the door.
“What the hells do you think you’re doing, brat?” the man had shouted, “You knock, then barge in on your own? You’re either the Keep’s shittiest thief, or just plain rude!”
Andy had had to spend several minutes apologising to the man, before explaining that he thought this was the home of a Class Trainer, which had immediately got the old man’s attention. He’d then invited Andy in, making him sit on the floor in front of a large chair in which he’d seated himself. He’d then proceeded to tell a long winded and convoluted story about a variety of things his grandchildren had done, quickly starting to bore Andy. However, Andy didn’t leave, as while he hadn’t been sure what to make of the whole situation, he had listened closely all the same, just in case this was some hidden Quest.
“And that was how my seventh grandson broke his mother’s favourite cooking pot,” the old man finally said after several hours of talking, standing up from the chair and looking at Andy in mild surprise, “Huh, you’re still here? All you Traveller folk usually bugger off less than an hour into the story. Impressive.”
“Other Traveller folk?” Andy asked, looking at the man in confusion, “What do you mean?”
“I mean you people,” the old man repeated as he waved dismissively at Andy, “Us natives call you lot Travellers, didn’t you know?”
“Uhm…no, sorry,” Andy said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
“Well, that hardly matters,” the old man growled, walking through the small front room and into the kitchen, looking back at Andy in annoyance, “Oi, you coming or what? Can’t expect you to learn on an empty stomach, I still have a little stew going in the pot, so you can have that. Then it’s onto training.”
“Oh,” Andy blinked, quickly hurrying after the man as he grinned, “Yes sir!”