01

Grinding

Day 6 Default 5

They had arrived to the Vampire village without any more attacks. There was only a giant, which they had avoided without much trouble. 

The village was only a few houses situated around a larger one, which seemed to be the town hall, smoke lightly billowed out of the chimney. There was a barren garden that looked absent of all life, except weeds. A couple of horses were tied to a post, chickens wandered, pigs and cows were kept in a fenced lot, and a dog had risen its head as they walked into the village. 

There wasn’t much else to say about it. It was a Vampire village, probably not more than ten Vampires keeping the balance in this part of the forest. Plus it was hard to see much through her limited view of the night while only having Focus as a way of seeing. 

KillPrinsX followed Else into the town hall. 

Inside was a large room, no fires, but an elderly Vampire sat at the end in a large wooden chair, the kind of chair that looked the least bit comfortable. 

Else bowed as she entered, KillPrinsX followed suit. 

“Oh, Widow Adria,” Else said, “I bring you a fellow player who wishes to join our ranks.”

“Thank you, Else. I was hoping you would be a bit faster, your target wasn’t that far away.”

“I agree, but the passage out of our lands were ridden with monsters. Plus, an Elf had joined me on the quest to find this same player.”

“You killed him of course?”

“No mistress,” Else said. “He was strong, but would have succumbed. My target had spoken her heart and the Elf had no choice but to fall on his knees and beg. I showed him mercy, this time. Then the sun-ridden day was closing in, and thought I couldn’t make it in time, yet I have succeeded in bringing her here.”

“Very well. You will be awarded as such.”

A sound of gold and a chime of XP sounded over Else as she was granted her reward. Her face didn’t show that she got what she had expected. 

“So, what’s her name?”

“KillPrinsX,” Else said. 

The lady cringed and said, “Yeah, we’re going to have to change that. And that hair, flame red? Just make it black. Please.”

“Will do,” Else said. 

“You know what to do with her,” Widow Adria said as she nodded. “Get her ready to meet her lord.”

Else turned around and brought KillPrinsX outside. 

“Your training starts now. 50 laps around the village. Now!”

She didn’t move immediately. She got a prompt. 

Bloodless

You have arrived at the village of the Vampires, beginning the path that leads one to a future of darkness, allergies to sunlight, skills that kill, abilities that only a few ever dream of. But following the guidance of your new mentor, you will become one of them. 

And her first order is Run!

“Running? I have to run?”

“Move!”

She didn’t ask anymore questions. In fact, running is a good way to grind Agility…

She started jogging at a good pace, making it up to the well worn path when Else came up behind her, “Run! That means fast!”

She ran. 

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The first few laps were very easy, considerably. But after that it had turned into a nightmare! Her Stamina ran out, leaving her trying to run, but hardly being able to walk, so she walked. 

Else came out and started yelling. “Run! You little weak piece of shit!”

That did the trick. She managed to run for another two seconds until her Stamina ran low. 

Then, Else started casting spells at her, causing blasts of energy to shock her from behind. If Stamina depletion wasn’t enough, now her health would run low. 

KillPrinsX just kept going, trying to get in another lap. Then she figured out the trick. Somehow, she was able to run, even while her Stamina was bottomed out. She didn’t know what she was doing exactly, but it worked! She would run and just keep going despite the blinking Stamina bar. But after a good few seconds of that she got a flashing prompt. 

You are nauseous. 

She ignored it and… she threw up.

Luckily Else was nearby to push her forwards, coming along with another blast behind her. “Run bitch!” 

Somehow, KillPrinsX managed to still keep going. Slowly gaining speed after having spewed whatever was in her stomach. 

She pushed and pushed herself. Then she got another prompt. 

By whatever luck, you have kept your Stamina bar too low for too long. You are going to faint!

She tried to ignore this one, but her vision had started to go black. She stopped quickly and took a breather. 

Else came up to have a word with her. “What are you doing?”

KillPrinsX was laying on the ground, heaving. “I… nearly… fainted.”

“Then eat the berries from the bushes! They’re all over the place here, growing like weeds.” She said it like it was obvious. 

“…Please.” KillPrinsX held out her hand, her eyes were closed and she was still heaving like a burnt out racehorse. 

“No, you can go get them yourself. They’re not hard to find.”

KillPrinsX got up and stumbled over to a bush with some berries on it. Her Stamina was so low that there was a timer on it that was counting down from 10 minutes! Stamina regeneration blocked. 

She found a bush and ate the berry. 

You have eaten Crimson Taurus Berry.

Stamina regeneration increased 100%. 

The timer jumped a few minutes less. She ate some more until the timer zeroed out. Then a few more, her status had gone back to normal and she was loading her Stamina back up, little by little. 

“Enough with the snack time! Let’s go!” 

Sizzle…bang! Another blast in the rear end. 

KillPrinsX reluctantly went back to the track and started running again. It actually wasn’t bad at all. She was running like she hadn’t just been about to faint. 

She kept going, but only slowed to grab a few berries from a bush, keeping a handful ready for when she needed it. 

1500 yards later, she was gasping for breath and came into the village to find out where Else had gone off to. 

You have run 8.5 miles. 

Attributes increased: 

Endurance: Movement: Legs increased by 9 points. 

Strength: Movement: Running increased by 9 points. 

Agility: Feet: Running increased by 9 points 

Else came out. “Did anything happen yet?”

She was back to heaving again. “I got… a good boost… to my Endurance… Strength…and Agility.”

Else looked pleased. “Ten more laps. Run!”

KillPrinsX just stood there, dumbfounded, until Else had come and moved her along. “Let’s go!”

3000 yards later. 

You have run 1.7 miles 

Attributes increased: 

Endurance: Movement increase by 2 points. 

Strength: Movement increase by 2 points. 

Agility: Running increase by 2 points 

You have reached the limit of the Sprinting skill. Sprinting has evolved into Bolt. 

You have learned the skill Bolt!

Bolt increase the speed at which a player can run by 1.5x for the same Stamina use. Now being able to run faster than before. Be careful not to run into any trees!

Costs:

5 SP

Gives:

+2 SP per rank

+ Agility: Feet: Running per rank 

For evolving this skill, you have gained 5 Skill Points to Agility: Running: Feet.

She had finally finished another ten laps. The Crimson Taurus Berries had run out from all of the bushes along the track, and the last few laps were another nightmare. 

But there was another prompt. 

The toggle skill Focus has been upgraded!

You now have permanent weak night vision, faster attacks, faster evasion. 

For evolving this skill, you have gained:

+5 Intelligence: Focus: Magical

+5 Intelligence: Focus: Physical

+5 Intelligence: Focus: Manual

+5 Intelligence: Focus: External

Well, that was unexpected. But it definitely helps with all the toggling, which she wasn’t doing. There was a tier 2 skill she could have used for another few MP, making her even more precise. But this was enough. She found that she could still toggle Focus, adding the boost to her already improved stats. 

KillPrinsX went into the village, looking for where Else might have gotten off to. 

Else came out of a house holding a glass of some dark red liquid with a straw coming out. Charlotte was following her. They both looked very relaxed. “And now?” Else asked. 

KillPrinsX tried to keep straight, her knees wobbled as she walked. Her vision was going around the edges. “I got Bolt.”

“That’s great! See, look what happens when you apply yourself, grinding those skills, and really train!” Else looked genuinely pleased. “Well, the sun is coming up. I best be off to sleep.” She turned and went back into the house she came out of. 

KillPrinsX was glad it was over. She too went to sleep… face first into the mud. And she was out cold.