Daryl finished off the fifth Boroclops as he had learned the usual pattern that they fought in. Their movements slowly seemed more and more robotic and programmed. Easier to predict and watch for their next attack. Thankfully Cindy had never been sucked into the fight thank god. He really didn’t want to test her ability to dodge.
The haul of monster parts was plentiful. Daryl sighed as he bent over hands on his knees. His stamina was really low as Cindy clutched her head like she did when she was empty on mana. She looked up at her dad with a smile. Though they had to hunt through the forest for the last of their five boroclops to slay for the mission it wasn’t that hard to find monsters like them with their size. Still the fact that these were medium monsters baffled Daryl.
“So, we go back to town and turn in the elizard and boroclops quests?” He asked as he scooped up his daughter and put her on his shoulder
As she clutched the lobe of his ear for balance she spoke much softer now that she was so close to his face. “Yeah, we should get enough tennies for you to get some gear, I’ll get my new staff, and finally we can think about going to the next town over.”
“Have you been to the next town? What about the farm that you are paying to produce your goods?” Daryl grew worried at the flippant nature of his daughter. Throwing away resources would be a terrible waste.
“Oh, the people here explained that there is a special magical chest in every town that you can put things in and withdraw at other chests. They use them to move all their homes between places safely. That is why there are no bandits in this world.” Cindy idly kicked her feet as her headache subsided and became more bearable.
“Man, this Gaia place is crazy. Are you sure we can trust these people? What if they just go into the chest when we are gone and take everything. I don’t know if we should just trust everything they say.” Daryl felt skeptical at the revelation of these chests.
“Trust me Dad, this world is filled to the top with magic. I heard the next town is closer to the giant’s lands. Maybe we will be able to fight our first Large Type monster. They are nomadic beasts and drop so many materials. At least that is what I’ve heard.” Cindy leaned against her dad’s neck and closed her eyes contentedly.
Daryl nuzzled his head into his daughter as gently as he could. A fear of knocking her off to fall to a terrible injury flashed in his mind. “So is there anything else besides, small, medium, and large?”
Cindy tapped her chin in thought just like her mother used to do when deep in thought. “There is an elder beast, however it can’t die. At least no hunting party has ever succeeded. The villages talk about it in hushed voices all the time as a bedtime story for children.”
“How would you know the bedtime stories of this place? Have you stayed in a stranger’s home?” Daryl felt a surge of protectiveness filling him at the thought of his daughter exposed in such a way without someone watching over her. At least if she was in some Inn she would be able to lock a door for safety.
“I spent dinner with the farm lady. She had some children over to teach them about the monsters that surround the village and how best to handle them. Then afterwards she told the story of the Elder Beast.” Cindy turned and straddled her dad’s shoulder and looked out across the forest. “They were very nice, I don’t have the special skills that let me cook anything besides the three things the campfire can cook. Makes it boring to eat anything in this world.”
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“Well, what can we do while we are still in the forest? There has to be more in this world then hunting monsters and making armor. Maybe there is something we can do for fun or something when we have time to relax. I don’t want you working yourself into being stressed.” Daryl looked around for anything to do while they were in the forest.
Cindy was quiet for a few extra moments as she processed what her dad had said. “We… we could go bug hunting? Or gather herbs? There is a pond nearby where we can fish for things!” Cindy’s voice got higher and more excited every word as she began to vibrate with energy.
“That sounds wonderful to me, Badger. How do we go about it? I don’t have a net or anything.” Daryl patted his non-existent pockets and tried to remember how he just summoned a fire.
“Yeah! Let’s go get some supplies! We will need a fishing pole, net, and herb bag!” Cindy started to climb down her dad’s shirt in excitement and with a sudden energy she had been somewhat lacking after fighting the giant boars.
Daryl caught her before she fell and set her down as they exited the forest. She was sprinting with excitement towards the town. No monsters came near the path thankfully and Daryl had to make a minor jog that shook the ground with his tremendous weight.
“Ok Dad! Let’s turn in the quest and gear up first! Then we will get our gathering gear and have a day of fun!” Cindy was unstoppable as she sprinted to the quest board.
As they stopped at the board Cindy pulled out a glowing orb that had a sheaf of paper inside it that glowed and slowly rotated. She pressed it into the board and something popped up in Daryl’s vision.
Congratulations! You have completed your first quest!
Everyday Elizards!
Slay 20 Elizards outside on the plains of Trudoe.
Rewards: 50 Tennies, 4 Elizard hides, 4 Elizard teeth, 1 Elizard Head!
Bashing Boroclops!
Slay 5 Boroclops in the Trudoe Forest.
Rewards: 100 Tennies, 1 Mega Mushroom, 2 Trap tools, 4 Sleep bombs!
A stream of golden orbs flew from the board and channeled into Daryl and Cindy’s chests as the rewards flooded in. The two looked at each other with smiles as Daryl marveled at the sudden flood of wealth. A sense of excitement filled him as he celebrated with Cindy and went to the blacksmith for some gear.
Much to his surprise Daryl could make a set of boots, a weapon, and the Boroclops Chest piece.
You have new equipment!
Elizard Moccasins
May those lizards never shock you again!
Lightning Resistance Lvl 1: Grants a 10% resistance to lightning elemental attacks.
Bog Bash Knuckles
This fist weapon is perfect for melee fighters!
+15 damage, +20% Poison Status.
Once poison status hits 100% Target will lose 20% of their health over five seconds.
Boroclops Chest
Thanks to your helmet you have a stacking skill!
Boroclops Charge lvl2: Once activated this skill boosts you across a small distance for a single blow. This adds a +20 damage to your first attack in 5 seconds.
You are now fully geared!
Head: Boroclops Band
Torso: Boroclops Brigadere
Pants: Titanic Trousers
Feet: Elizard Moccasins
Weapon: Bog Bash Knuckles
Daryl thought about his gear. He had to unequip the Titanic Tunic he started off with in order to get Boroclops Charge lvl 2. But wouldn’t it be smarter to have Titanic Blow lvl 2? The times two bonus to the stamina he spent for the attack would make ending an ambush from a Boroclops end in a moment. Though he would be in stamina crash. Long term fighting? Or short term burst?
“Cindy, can I change gear mid combat?” Daryl asked innocently.
“Nope, you can only change equipment in towns. It would be so OP to change equipment in the middle of combat. I mean sure I have a cheat skill so I don’t need to worry about keeping equipment but I don’t think you have anything like that.
“Well, lets go get the bug hunting stuff. Then enjoy the rest of our day.” Daryl felt that his daughter and him had accomplished their first step today.
“LET’S GO!” Cindy shouted as she ran off.