Chapter 5.1: Foot... meet Axe
Foot had been looking for Ty for hours. He had checked in with Hog where he had last seen him. No Ty. He had then asked for him at the magistrate’s mansion where he had gone to deliver a message. No Ty. He had gone to Lord Meckell’s home, no Ty. Lord Sadim’s, no Ty. Lord Equival’s, no Ty. And so it went on for hours until he had had enough. He decided he would go visit Mila and wait for Ty to come to him.
‘He’s got to go home at some point right?’
It was almost dawn by the time Foot made his decision. Ty had been delivering his messages all through the night and Foot had always been just a little too late to catch up with him. He now made his way across the Fort using back alleys and corners; he knew the town like the back of his hand and used the quickest possible route.
A few streets away Foot caught the smell of Mila’s baking bread and followed it home. He spared one last glance at the sunrise that was drowning the Fort and walked into the bakery. Mila was a rotund woman of short stature and crisp black hair that she wore in a bun.
-“Well good morning young’un. You’re quite early – though Ty did say you would be coming by.” Mila greeted from behind the counter where she had been setting up racks of bread.
“Good morning Mila. Ty said that? I was actually looking for him. Do you know where I can find him?” Foot asked.
-“Sure. He’d be on the road by now. He’s probably half way to the capital already. Always been a free spirit that one. Could never stay in one place for long.”
“What? But he’s supposed to be giving me training.”
-“You a messenger now then too? Well I guess it does suit-ya. I don’t know what Ty said about training you but he told me to give you this before he left.” Mila handed foot an envelope. “Hope it helps you. Now are ya gon be buying bread or not? I love chattin’ with you – but its almost opening time and I still have things I need to do.”
“Not today Mila. Sorry for taking your time and thank you for this.” Foot said as he held up the envelope. “I’ll be going then.” He said, leaving the bakery.
Outside he opened the envelope – breaking the black seal that had been adorned by a crest of a boot with wings on it. The writing was almost illegible and the ink was smeared in some places. It seemed to have been written in a rush.
To Whom It May Concern.
That’s you boy.
I had to leave town on an errand. I am not sure when I will be back.
Could be a month or it could be three.
As my apprentice you are currently too weak to learn anything from me anyways.
Use this time to become stronger so you don’t embarrass your master.
Go see Brutus, I believe he needed some help. You will learn something.
‘Too weak?’
Foot opened his status window.
Character NameFootAlignmentNeutralLevel5ProfessionSecond Restless MessengerTitleThe SecondFame68Health600Mana100Strength13Agility51Vitality49Flexibility2Wisdom10Intellect10Luck2Leadership0Endurance23Attack2Defense1Magic ResistanceNone
Foot was actually kind of angry for being left behind. He didn’t have time to waste in this game. After waiting for four weeks to get out he was now experiencing other kinds of limitations. If he was going to ‘learn something’ from Brutus, he wanted to get it out of the way so that he could go hunt some monsters to level up.
----------
Foot had met Brutus on one of his previous errands so he knew where to find him. The man lived in a shack on the other side of the wall. Foot left Fort Feranisburg on the opposite side from where Hog’s post was. If you left the Fort and kept walking straight ahead from Hog’s side you would soon cross into Siradin territory. If you left from the gate through which Foot now passed you would only go deeper into Kallamore.
On this side of the Fort there was another, much smaller and much closer forest. It wasn’t a small forest, but comparing it to Siradin’s forest was futile. Puddle Meet Ocean.
Brutus’s shack was on the edge of said puddle. Foot walked up to it and knocked.
There was no answer.
He knocked again.
No answer.
By now the sun had already come up but it was still early morning. ‘Maybe he’s still asleep? No he wouldn’t be – he’s the kind of person that wakes up before the sun and goes to sleep after it. Hmm.’
As Foot stood in front of the door unsure of what to do he heard a sound in the far-off distance. Wack. Wack. Wack.
‘That’s gotta be Brutus, nobody else would be here so early in the morning.’
He followed the sound into the forest. It took him almost twenty minutes to reach the source of the sound. Foot found Brutus chopping down a tree. Not wanting to sneak up behind a man with an axe he waited for him to finish on the tree.
After a few more minutes the tree fell and Brutus turned around to look at Foot. He grunted and said, “Ty said you would be coming round. Said you’d be here earlier though. I waited for a good half hour after the sun rose for you to show up. And when you didn’t… well. I don’t have time to be waiting around for people.”
Foot’s familiarity with Brutus was quite low seeing as he had only had one quest involving the man – and he didn't seem one to be easily befriended. He was about to reply when Brutus continued.
-“Well. There’s no point in lolly-gagging now is there? I need you to cut down some trees for me. I was going to do it myself when you didn’t show. But now I can leave you to it. Here.”
Brutus handed him the axe and walked off in the direction of his shack.
You have received a New Quest.
Got Wood?
Brutus needs some wood for an unknown project. Chop down the 1000 marked trees.
Trees felled: 1/1000
Difficulty: Unknown
Days Left for Completion: 10
‘… ok?’
‘…’
‘I don’t remember accepting this.’
Foot didn't want to spend 10 days chopping wood when he needed to be getting stronger.
‘If I stay here like this I’m never going to get strong enough to be Emperor.’
He considered going after Brutus to refuse the quest but then quickly decided it made more sense for him to just complete the quest.
Brutus wasn't mean looking or anything. In fact Brutus just looked lonely. He was a big bulky guy with a beard. Brutus was short for words. If Foot had had the courage to confront him, Brutus would probably not have said anything. As it stood though, the nine-year old decided to chop wood instead.
‘That man is scary, even if he is an NPC.'
Foot strengthened the grip on the axe he still held and considered his quest.
‘I guess the 1/1000 means that Brutus’s tree already counts as the first one.’
Looking at the tree he saw a red X on it that he hadn’t seen before.
‘I guess that means that you can only see the marks when you accept the quest.’
He looked at the trees around him to find the next marked one. None of the ones he could see where marked so he moved deeper into the woods. He found the next tree about a minute later. Having never chopped anything before Foot wasn't sure how to go about it. He decided it would be better if he just tried it to see what would happen.
As soon as he used both hands to hold the axe in preparation for the first stroke he got a message.
Chopping Tutorial Activated.
He considered the axe.
‘It must be because of this.’
Shrugging he drew it back to take the first swing at the tree…
Your grip is wrong. Hands must be further apart.
Foot stumbled as he tried to reposition himself after the momentum of the axe carried him a little. The message had caught him a little by surprise. He held his hands a little further apart and drew back once more…
Your grip is wrong. Hands must be further apart.
Foot moved them further apart and tried again…
Your grip is wrong. Hands must be further apart.
Getting annoyed Foot shifted his hands so they were as far apart as they would go on the axe and tried again…
Your grip is wrong. Hands must be closer together.
‘…’
After six more tries Foot got his hands into the position that the axe wanted and successfully chopped at the tree when…
Your swing was too wide. You did not use enough force on impact. Your point of impact was too high.
His nine-year old patience was being severely pressed but Foot tried to make the changes that the tutorial asked for.
You used too much force on impact. Your point of impact was too high.
He made some adjustments…
You used too much force on impact.
‘At least I know where to hit it now.’
Foot continued to swing away at the tree. Sometimes he would get the swing just right and wouldn't get a notification, but after most chops he would get a message.
You used too much force on impact.
You used too much force on impact.
Your swing was too wide. You did not use enough force on impact. Your point of impact was too high.
You did not use enough force on impact.
You used too much force on impact.
That cannot be categorized as an attempt.
Your swing was too wide. You did not use enough force on impact. Your point of impact was too high.
You did not use enough force on impact.
You used too much force on impact.
After fifteen minutes of continuous messages, he still hadn’t made much progress. He was a third of the way through the tree and by this time really annoyed. No matter what he did the messages kept coming. ‘What kind of perfectionist asshole programmed you!??’
He tried turning the tutorial off but was instead rewarded with another message.
This tutorial cannot be terminated until the appropriate skills have been learned.
So Foot kept chopping and receiving messages after every couple of swings.
Wack.
You used too much force on impact
Wack. Wack. Wack.
You used too much force on impact.
Wack.
Your swing was unbalanced.
Wack. Wack.
You used too much force on impact.
Wack.
You did not use enough force on impact.
Wack.
You used too much force on impact.
Wack. Wack. Wack. Wack.
You used too much force on impact.
Eventually the tree fell and he gave a relieved sigh.
Trees felled: 2/1000
Foot was doubting he would be able to continue chopping another 998 trees whilst receiving messages after every chop. He was considering facing Brutus after all when his skill was activated.
Beast Awareness activated. You have detected a hostile fox.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
Immediately alert, Foot whirled about looking for the fox. He still remembered his previous fox encounter on the day before and was more than a little scared.
He heard the bushes stirring to his right and turned in time to see the fox jump out at him. Reflexively he held out the axe and the fox bit into its handle while he held onto the sides. Foot pushed the axe away from him with all the force he could muster. When the fox wouldn't let go of the axe he took a step back and lunged, throwing his body into the axe and then letting go of it.
The axe, and the fox with it, flew off of him. Foot looked for his dagger in his inventory but couldn't find it until he remembered he had dropped it the day before.
‘Stupid! Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Why didn't I get a new one? Now what am I supposed to do?’
Having nothing else at his disposal he decided to try the drop-kick he had learned in the Training Hall.
The fox let go of the axe and was already running towards him when Foot also moved towards it.
“Drop-kick.”
Both of Foot’s feet slammed into the fox’s head while it had been mid-jump. Foot quickly regained his feet and watched as the fox swerved on its legs.
You have stunned your opponent.
Not knowing how long the effect would last Foot viciously attacked the fox by kicking and trampling on it. The kicks were not very effective so after three minutes Foot still hadn’t defeated it when the stun wore off. He quickly did another drop-kick and stunned it again. Foot resumed his kicking spree knowing that he had to finish it off before the stun wore off once more.
‘Each drop-kick uses 50 mana – so I won’t be able to use it again. If only my mana recovery rate was higher!’
After another two minutes of vigorously stamping and kicking the animal, it finally died. By this point any spectator would have started to feel bad for the helpless fox – but all Foot cared about was killing the thing.
‘I have to learn how to kill this fox, otherwise I won’t get any stronger. I can’t just keep running away from every thing that comes at me. If there are other foxes in these woods and I run from every one I see – I’ll never finish this quest on time.’
Foot had been on the verge of achieving level 6 with his EXP. The kill brought him the EXP he needed to level up.
You have leveled up!
Beast Awareness [1] has risen by 23%.
Drop-kick[1] has risen by 36%.
Strength rises by 2. (+2 STR)
Skill: You have learned Iron Leg [Passive]. Increases your strength and attack power by 200% when using legs as weapon. Decreases damage attained to leg by 200%. Will experience a 10% improvement at each skill level.
Having 5 stat points to use, Foot considered where to invest them.
‘I guess I will use them towards INT. That way both my MP and mana recovery rate will incrase. At this point if I have to use it more than twice I will be toast.’
He was a little sad at seeing the stats not going towards his agility or strength but considered the possible fights he would have in the future and put all 5 stat points towards INT.
Satisfied with his investment, he turned back to his quest. He rummaged through the leaves on the ground trying to find the axe he discarded. Eventually he found it and set off to find another X-marked tree.
The frenzy of the fight had made Foot almost forget until…
Your grip is wrong. Hands must be further apart.
“Oh come on!” He screamed at the axe.
It didn't seem to listen.
Your point of impact was too high.
You used too much force on impact.
That cannot be categorized as an attempt.
Your swing was too wide. You did not use enough force on impact. Your point of impact was too high.
…
This went on through the felling of the next tree. Sometimes he would go up to ten or fifteen chops until he got a message. The longer intervals however only made the messages that much worse. After he finished chopping down that tree he was happy for the minute it would take him to find the next tree.
‘That’s a minute where I don't have to get another stupid message!’
Foot found the tree way too fast for his own liking and reluctantly prepared himself.
Wack.
Your swing was too wide.
Somehow, this proved to be Foot’s breaking point.
“Ahhhhh! I’ve had enough!!” he screamed as he lifted up the axe and brought it down on his knee with force. It did not break but he relished the slight pain it brought and repeated the process again and again and again. He vented all the frustration he had from getting the messages over and over and over again. He couldn't vent the frustrations into the tree because he would be notified with, ‘you used too much force on impact’. So Foot let out all of his aggressions onto the axe – which eventually gave way and snapped in half.
The tutorial has been terminated.
'...'
Foot hadn’t actually intended or expected to break the axe and was a little dazed.
Iron Leg[1] has risen by 11%.
Endurance rises by 1. (+1 STR)
The shock from breaking the axe wore off but he immediately got angry at it again.
‘How am I supposed to chop these damn trees without an axe now?’
Foot didn't even consider appealing to Brutus for a new axe.
‘Yeah right. I bet he’s going to be real happy when I tell him I broke his axe. No thanks.’
He thought he would have to go into the Fort to buy one from the vendors but he flinched at the thought. Foot had painstakingly saved as much money as he could in the last month and he didn't want to go spend it all for an axe he needed for a mediocre quest.
Staring at the tree that he had given only one chop he considered his options. He didn't have anything in his inventory he could use. Looking at the exposed wood beneath the cut he had given the tree he thought about his fight with the fox.
‘What if…?’
Deciding to give it a try, Foot drop-kicked the tree and looked at the results. The axe-cut had been enlarged slightly revealing more wood beneath the bark. There was a shallow foot sized impression.
‘It’s not much, and it will probably take longer than it did with the axe but I think it’s doable. Plus – this way I can improve my skills.’ He grinned at the prospect.
Foot proceeded to drop-kick the tree again. Though his MP had gone up by 25 with the 5 stat points he had assigned to INT, he still wasn't able to use the skill more than twice.
‘I better not do that again. If another fox sneaks up on me I need to have at least enough MP for one drop-kick.’
Instead of using the drop-kick Foot decided to just kick as hard as he could.
Iron Leg[1] has risen by 1%.
He smiled.
‘That’s what I thought.’
After that Foot packed the broken axe into his inventory and proceeded to fell the tree with his legs. When his MP would recover to over 100 he would use a drop-kick that was a lot more effective in chopping down the tree. He wouldn't use it twice though, conserving the use in case of an attack.
His skills in Iron Leg and Drop-Kick went up as he felled tree after tree.
Iron Leg[3] has risen by 1%.
Drop-Kick[2] has risen by 1%.
Sometimes foxes would attack him, but with the Iron Leg skill he was now easily able to defeat one after one stun from a Drop-Kick. After his thirtieth or so fox, he leveled up again using all of his stat points towards INT again. He was less reluctant to make an investment this time as he had noticed his STR and END go up as he was chopping wood and killing foxes. With the faster recovery rate he was able to use his Drop-Kick more often.
By the time Foot reached level 8, he was far deeper into the woods and the foxes were coming out more frequently. They had also gotten stronger the further he went into the forest. So far he had been able to keep up with their rise in strength as he was also rising in strength. He was never in danger of being caught off guard due to his Beast Awareness skill.
‘Didn't think I would be needing it this much when I got it.’
Beast Awareness[2] has risen by 3%.
He was constantly aware of the beasts that were hostile to him. The Beast Awareness level that he had gained allowed him to see beasts that were even further away. All in all he was quite pleased with the progress the last day had brought him. For it had indeed already been a day when he felled his next tree.
Trees felled: 67/1000
‘I better pick up the pace. Otherwise I won’t finish on time.’
Foot wasn't too worried though considering every level he gained on his Iron-Leg and Drop-Kick skills had improved his tree-felling time. This immediately changed when he encountered his first wolf though.
Having gotten used to the foxes he was completely taken off guard when facing the much bigger wolf. The wolf landed a hit on him taking over 100HPs in one hit. He had never taken on such a powerful attack before and hesitated, allowing the wolf to take another 200 of his HPs with a couple of blows. He had lost almost half of his HPs when he was finally able to get a drop-kick in.
He immediately proceeded to kick the beast but the stun didn't last long. Having gotten used to stunning the foxes for the two or three minutes he needed to finish him off he was again caught off guard. Luckily he had just recovered enough mana for a second drop-kick and was able to stun the wolf again.
Foot proceeded to kick it ferociously without pause, he knew that if the stun wore off he would be in deep trouble. Though his agility allowed him to escape a fox if it chose to chase after him he wasn't so sure this would be true for the wolf. This scared him shitless. If he died now he wouldn't be able to log in for 24 hours, the equivalent of four game days, meaning that he would only have five days to finish the quest when he logged back in. Driven by the fear of failure, Foot invested all he had into the blows he aimed at the wolf’s body. He was sure the wolf was almost dead when the stun wore off.
Having to deal with the wolf’s attacks while trying to land his own proved extremely difficult for Foot. He was only able to get in one of his attacks for every two or three of the wolf’s. He was getting increasingly worried as his HPs dropped below 20% and then 10%. Finally when his HPs was at 6% he was able to defeat the wolf with a well-aimed kick to its head. When it slumped down onto the ground he sagged in relief.
He was sitting next to the wolf recovering from his near death experience when that experience proved to be on-going.
Warning: Your health is below 10%. Without medical attention you will not be able to recover and you will die.
Foot checked his HP that was now at 4%. He hadn’t known that his HP would not recover on its own if it fell below 10%. He remembered the bandages he had received from Miranda for one of the deliveries he had made for her and immediately took them out. He began applying them to his wounds as fast as he could.
Skill has failed.
Foot had never learned the skill of bandaging and thus was not able to successfully apply first aid on the first try. He was at 2% HP when he remembered his other skill, one that he hadn’t had the need to use thus far.
“Life Delivery.”
The 6MP that he had left were converted into HP which returned his health to 5% HP. He continued to struggle with the bandaging but was unfortunately unable to learn the skill in time. He was helpless to do anything as he died.
All the nine-year old could say was, "Oh, f***."
You have died. You will be unable to log in for the span of 24 hours. A death penalty will be applied.
Chapter 5.2
----------
A/N: Thanks to StarKin for PRing for me and putting up with my bull.
------
For those of you who have been actually reading....
This is the chapter I used to learn about stats. Muahaha.
(It also means I will probably never be this detailed about them again. So bear with me. I'm learning.. You're reading.)
This also means - mistakes like Chapter 10 will henceforth never happen again... hopefully.
(in small voice: please point out any mistakes, suggestions, comments, MISTAKES!)
hope ya like it!! if not... (backstreet boy intonation) tell me why!!!