My return to the forest is uh… I dunno, what would you call it? Not particularly dispirited, not quite enthusiastic either. I mean, I know I resolved myself to take the experience penalty and be the carry for something three times my level. But actually acting on that is a bit different from saying I’ll act on it.

Halved exp gain… hurts. Like, alot. Youcher oucher yeeeeEEEEEEOUUUUUCH! Even in this low level area, it’s still pretty grating. Like, I’d be level three by now if not for this passive. I’m sure Jasper is real pleased getting “+1 exp!” every few minutes, sitting doing nothing… Oh, what’s that? Yeah you heard me right. Yes, every few MINUTES.

There are very few monsters around, for some reason. Probably something to do with the bunch of players that I keep running into. I don’t really have the gall to just stab anybody who shows up in order to clear the hunting grounds, and that could also go rather poorly for me if I happen to attack any larger groups. Not like I have the specs to deal with something like that right now. Maybe the skills, but it’s not like I’m that great…

So, yeah… I don’t really pay them any attention, and just kind of dip whenever the opportunity arises, but I imagine that the total spawns are hurting because of the likely thousands of players currently hunting in this forest. None of them bear any mentioning beyond a simple statement of their existence, but that existence is rather annoying. On that note, I might actually cut down the amount of time I’m willing to wait for Jasper, since staying ahead of the crowd is going to be imperative if I want to get to a higher level in any reasonable amount of time.

I’m not trying to speed through the game or anything, that’s not what I’m playing for. Buuuuuuuuuut… I really don’t want to be constantly mobbed by thousands and thousands of other people. Not even switching servers will save me from that fate. And that’s a fate I really wanna, y’know, avoid.

Like, jeeze dude-oh, shit!

I bobbed towards the ground as a little shrubling went flying overhead. Ambushes like this have happened to me a few times already, but none have actually almost gotten me. I must’ve been a little too lost in thought. Well, it’s a simple enough kill. Once it leaps, it’s vulnerable and takes a few seconds to actually right itself again. So, with a shrill cry, the Shrubling is split in two-73!-and promptly vanishes, leaving nothing behind. As far as I know, shrublings barely have any drops. Just a few rarer herbs that don’t pop up often. And this one dropped nothing at all.

+1 exp

Anyways, man, how long have I been playing now? It’s been awhile since I’ve eaten, so I should probably log off for a second to get dinner… Lemme just check the time…

9:59 PM, on the in game clock. As far as I’m aware, it matches up to my time zone in real life, so… Yeah, that’s a good time to get off and get some food. I’ll be back in like twenty or so min-

“SCRIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAA”

…Alright, nevermind, the hell was that?

Warning! Field boss: Bushling, has spawned in your location!

Warning! Field boss: Bushling, has become enraged due to the amount of shrublings killed!

Warning! Field boss: Bushling, has gained the Nature Essence modifier due to its rage!

I… wha? A field boss? I mean, nothing unheard of, but in the starter area? I mean, I know there was an npc talking about it, but isn’t that a little bit… Well, I won’t complain, that sounds like free experience! But, to players newer to the whole genre… won’t this kind of, just stomp them? And why is it getting “enraged” because of shrublings dying? Is this… is this a newbie trap? Wow. This game’s been pretty spotless so far, didn’t think they’d add in something like that.

Like, come on. Obvious tutorial npc, easy to get pretty much any class, like, it took me two or so hours to get mine. Tons of easy quests to complete, baby difficulty mobs… I was kind of starting to profile this as a noob friendly game, I mean like, come on, it’s gone the WHOLE nine yards so far.

Buuuuuut maybe I need to add some uh, sharpie to that profile or whatever. Add on “the friendliness is a lie!” in hasty squiggly lines. Or, maybe, just maybe, this “field boss” Is also a cake walk like all the other enemies here are. It’s called a “Bushling”, so I assume it’s just kind of… a stronger shrubling. That makes sense, right?

Regardless of my suspicions, there’s only one real way to figure it out. Field boss, here I come!

So, my hunch is that it’s obviously going to be where the loud ass scream was coming from. Cause like, a-durrrrrr, right? A boss spawns and a huge audio cue plays way off to the right, this isn’t really a theory that needs to be proven.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Instead of doing just that, I began making my way there the instant I came to a decision, at a full sprint. And, for the first time since I started playing… Drumroll please-ratatatatatata! I noticed, well, NOTICEABLE stamina drain! Just out of curiosity I took a look at the number after having sped past a group of five or so who were also heading towards the boss, and sure enough I was at 94/106. I don’t feel winded at all, so clearly nothing major is coming of it, but I hope it’s not too much longer to the boss. I’ve already been running for five or so minutes, so…

Oh, put a pin in that thought! What in the hell is that!?

Leaping into the air, I latch onto a low hanging branch and use it to propel myself even further upwards, somersaulting to the next and well above a roiling wave of green energy that passed over the ground I’d been running upon a few moments earlier. Carrying that momentum forwards, I continue to swing from branch to branch, staying well above the surging waves of energy that covered the underbrush beneath me, showing up one after the other. Again, and again.

Ah, so, field bosses aren’t playing around in this game, huh?

Aiming for what looked to be a particularly sturdy branch, (I wasn’t actually sure if these things could break or not, but I wasn’t looking to chance it at the moment) I swung forward one last time before firmly latching onto it, swinging all the way up and over once in order to kill my momentum, coming to a gradual halt, and finally swinging myself up on top of it.

Right there, was a “Bushling”, with a brrrrrrright red name.

To be frank, yeah? The boss is just about what I expected. Looks like… a really big shrubling. Like, a walking cabbage, but about ten times bigger? It’s kind of goofy, or that’s what I’d say if it wasn’t blasting that nasty looking aoe attack with every other step it took… I’m not sure if that’s the modifier it got or something? But either way I’m pretty sure that’s wiping out anybody who manages to get anywhere nearby it. I was swinging for a good thirty seconds at the least before getting within eyeshot of the thing, so… if that deals a lot of damage I can’t imagine anybody less technically inclined making it anywhere near the thing.

That kind of throws a wrench into my plans… as good as I’d like to think I am, I dunno about soloing a buffed boss at uh, level two? I’d been hoping for a bunch of players to soak up aggro and let me get free hits in, then get out of dodge for credit, but if nobody besides actually good players can get close…

Oh, speaking of those good players, I think… yeah! It doesn’t look like they’ve spotted me yet, but it seems as if there’s somebody else hanging out up here on the branches with me. They’ve even got a bow! Alright… I can work with that, totally I can work with that. If they call in a few friends of their own, then we can uh… throw something together, for a strategy. I’m confident in my ability to avoid hits and maintain aggro while they and others pepper it. It might be more difficult, but less people should mean more rewards and… what the hell is he doing?

No, no… don’t-don’t shoot the boss all on your own, you dolt! OHhhhHHhh my…

“SCCCCRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!”

“Wh, OH F-”

The branch he was hanging out on was, utterly, obliterated by a massive laser beam blast of magic, and this time it’s blue. That’s just… that’s just real jolly. Smart enough to avoid the giant waves of aoe death, but not smart enough to realize that, perhaps maybe, just by the most tiny of possibilities, the enemy producing those waves might not be realistically soloable? Or that it might have other forms of ranged attack?

I mean, I’d love to try it myself… but I’m basically classless, I’d get reduced rewards even if I DID manage to do it, and I’m not sure what the death penalty looks like for this game, and I’m uh… not exactly inclined to figure it out? So, for now I guess I’m going to have to skidaddle and give up on the boss rewards. It’s fine. Who knows, maybe if it’s still here by tomorrow I’ll take Onesy up on his offer of assistance? They’re somewhat competent, I’m sure they could follow orders well enough.

With a small stretch, I stand up and-

crck

…

My heart skipped a beat at the unexpected noise. Apparently, the branch I’d chosen wasn’t quite so sturdy, somehow. I dunno. I did a loopydeloop on the damn thing and it didn’t budge, but I stood up funny and it creaked? ...Hate it here. Despite the massive area coverage, the Bushling and its attacks are actually rather quiet, so with this ever so unexpected noise…

I stare deadpan down at the Bushling, its blank face staring back up at me, before it twists into a scowl.

“Ah, you’re killing me here-”