“Goddamn it! We’ll all be Level 15 if we get this kill! Please!” Danny’s eyes flashed in desperation. The massive ogre outside the town hall of Moran began to summon more and more of his goblin minions.
“Oh…shit!” Carlos reeled as several spears descended into his chest. The Goblin minions were merciless in their assault on the mage.
“CARLOS!” Quinton ran towards him, funneling healing spell after healing spell. It was too late. The spears, without being removed, drained Carlos’ health faster than it could be regained. Carlos collapsed onto the ground, his player profile going from green to yellow to red to dead.
Quinton began to weep, not even seeing the two goblins behind him with curved blades.
“Quinton! MOVE!” Shocker dove into one of the goblins, his fangs tearing the throat of one out. Lincoln fired an arrow barrage, killing the other.
Danny turned to see Craig and Liam dealing considerable damage on the Ogre Elite. The boss profile was yellow, indicating mid-level health. They could still do this.
Danny sent a [Holy Slash] into the creature, sending the Ogre reeling. He sliced one of the goblins approaching him, grinning wide as the big green words appeared to inform him that he had reached Level 13. He cut into another goblin, sending it sprawling.
The glee was short lived when the Ogre swung his mighty mace directly into Craig. The knight flew into a nearby wall where his profile turned red.
Quinton hastily went to heal the wounded knight, before a goblin with a crude bow fired a splintered bolt of wood and steel into Craig’s chest. The Knight was dead.
Danny blinked, stunned by his friend’s demise. Carlos was always more of an outsider in the group, but Craig had gotten very close to Danny. The Ogre’s mace slamming into him brought him back to reality, albeit after a 15 foot flight into a wall.
Lincoln fired several arrows, killing a Goblin or two as the Ogre spawned three more.
Quinton was drained. He went to chug an endurance potion before being hit by a Goblin’s spear. Quinton tried to heal himself, and he was almost successful. However, a second spear joined the first and Quinton dropped to his knees. The 16 year old boy from Eastland met his fate just 30 miles north-east of where he was born and raised.
Danny scrambled forward, joining Liam in dealing damage. The Ogre finally turned red, roaring as its health decreased. The two slashed out as Lincoln tried to pick off the goblins.
Liam gave a faint smile as Danny realized the barbarian’s profile was also red. A single strike from the Ogre and Liam slammed into a wall which forced out his last breath.
Danny stared at the beast with tears streaming down his face. “What…what…happened?!”
Lincoln ran forward, grabbing Danny and pulling him back. “We need to run. NOW!”
-------------------------------
` The conversation with Graham was weirder than I expected. We both had had completely different experiences over the last three months. From his perspective, he hadn’t seen another player since his hometown collapsed and he was forced to run away. From my perspective, I hadn’t seen the friendly NPCs that apparently existed. We both were equally confused.
“Did you really think you were the last person left alive? What about the leaderboards?”
“What leaderboards?”
“The…the fucking menu that says leaderboards…its right under statistics.”
He blinked as he searched the information panel and saw the tab. As he opened it, he seemed bewildered. “I hadn’t seen this before. I’ve just been on the relationship tab.”
“The…the what?”
“It’s under Reputation.”
I was frustrated as I looked over my own menu, not seeing the tab. “What are you talking about?”
“The…it’s right there! Under Achievements.”
I couldn’t see it. It reminded me of that whole, ‘how do you know your red is the same as another person’s red’, question. “I don’t see it man.”
“Maybe…maybe you have to unlock it somehow?”
I inspected his gear. Despite the sheriff outfit, he had what seemed like random gear just as everyone else. “How is your gear customized?”
“What do you mean?”
“You have gear, but it looks just like normal clothes.”
“Oh! Jeppy.”
“The fuck is a Jeppy?”
“He’s…a tailor?”
I blinked. I had seen several skills, including tailoring. Farming and construction were some of the most common. Butchering, cooking, mining, fishing, bartering, and a variety of other minor skills existed. I didn’t use them often, if at all, but I had seen others with them. Tailoring could be used to fix holes in outfits. “I thought you said you hadn’t met other players?”
“I haven’t.”
“Then who the hell is Jeppy?”
“He’s a tailor! He’s a Rabbitfolk.”
“What…what the hell is a Rabbitfolk?”
“Why are you so hostile?”
“I’m confused!”
Graham pinched the bridge of his nose and chuckled. “Look kid, Harehill is two miles from here. Let me take you.”
This man seemed sane, but he was talking like he was crazy. Was there really some massive portion of the game I was missing? This seemed like a major mechanic to have not noticed for three months. In fairness, I hadn’t left Eastland County much, but this still seemed a little crazy. Maybe this guy had lost it? “Okay. Take me.”
He gestured to his horse and I hopped on. He took the reins and started to ride north, which would put us three or so miles east of Moran. The ride was easy, and mobs were practically nowhere to be found.
Besides a few animals, only a Level 11 Wild Dog was found. This dog was easily eliminated by the Sheriff, barely putting a dent in our pace. I decided to use the time to observe my profile. I went ahead and opened my own menu, ready to spend my 3 points from reaching Level 13.
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NEW PASSIVE SKILL AVAILABLE
I went ahead and focused on the new passive skill notification. As I opened the menu, I looked over my five options. The game would provide you with passive skill options related to things like your class and what you had been doing lately. The only issue was that it was impossible to tell what passive skills were rarer or would be more effective down the line. This was one of the harder parts of the game for me. I always wanted to pick the best thing. It was near impossible to be certain I was making the best choice without some form of wiki or other guidebook, but I felt like I could reasonably determine at least one of the best options with a bit of thought.
CAMOUFLAGE Stay hidden from friend or foe. BONE PIERCING Shatter the natural defenses of physical enemies. TAME BEAST Bond with a physical creature. INDENTIFIER See more information about players and enemies. TRAPPER Slow down or immobilize enemies.
As I looked over the options I let out a groan. All of these looked good and incredibly useful. It was like this the last two times as well. Camouflage would improve my survivability, Bone Piercing would improve my damage, Tame Beast would let me have a pet like Lincoln, Identifier would…well, whatever it did it looked good. I wasn’t sure what it meant by “more information” but it looked useful. Trapper would of course help keep me out of danger. I thought over what I had done so far and what I hoped to accomplish and my mind instantly went to the Treekin we had fought. I was near useless against those enemies.
I selected Bone Piercing and moved back to the main sheet. With my 3 available points I put one each into STR, DEX, and AGI.
NAME
Jeremiah, L.
CLASS
Ranger
LEVEL
13 (2%)
GOLD
492
STRENGTH
9 (8+1)
DEXTERITY
21 (14+7)
WISDOM
3
AGILITY
21 (14+7)
CRAFTING SKILLS
Cooking (1)
SPECIAL SKILLS
N/A
ACTIVE SKILLS
Multi-Shot (5), Quickdraw (5)
PASSIVE SKILLS
Tracker (6), Resolve (4), Bone Piercing (1)
MAIN-HAND
Viper Pistols (7U)
[+5 DEX]
OFF-HAND
N/A
HEAD
Roughrider Hat (5C)
[+1 DEX, +1 AGI]
CHEST
Ranger Tunic (6C)
[+3 AGI]
LEGS
Buffalo Hide Leggings (8C)
[+2 AGI, +1 STR]
BOOTS
Stealth Boots (4C)
[+1 DEX, +1 AGI]
I checked my Texas rank again, realizing I was still in the 13,000’s. I wasn't exactly sure what number I was last time I checked, but a sinking feeling told me that I was falling more and more behind.
It didn’t take much longer before we arrived. It was immediately clear that this player was not crazy. A series of small late medieval-era buildings lined several streets to form a small village. A town posted on the road leading into town declared this place as “Harehill Village”.
“This is where you’ve been living?”
“Yessir, just me and the rabbits.”
As I looked into the village, I saw what he was talking about. At least a dozen creatures that were the same height as Kobolds meandered around the village doing tasks. They looked like anthropomorphic rabbits. They were thin, had long and tall ears, and large hind legs. They wore medieval clothing and carried what looked like rudimentary metal tools. I watched one of the rabbits who carried a scythe heft a bundle of wheat into what looked like a warehouse. I watched another who carried a basket with linens in it walk into what looked like a tailor’s shop.
“I didn’t know these existed.” I was in awe. Graham gave a shrug as we entered the village.
NOW ENTERING: HAREHILL VILLAGE (FRIENDLY)
I had a suspicion and opened my own profile. I could clearly see the reputation tab now. As I opened it, a single entry appeared.
REPUTATION TEXAS RABBITFOLK: Friendly (0%)
How many of these NPCs existed? How many villages were there? What were the benefits of the reputation mechanic? I had so many questions and I was sure that Graham only had some of the answers.
We strolled into town and the rabbits gave Graham a bow as he rode past. “Yep, as soon as I hit honored they started acting weird. No idea what happens if I level up the reputation again, but they might start worshipping me.” He flashed a grin as he turned around, indicating he was joking. I, on the other hand, was more seriously considering the possibility.
“I’ll take ya to Cassil. He’s the village chief.”
We rode for another few minutes as I took in the buildings. Most of them appeared to be residential, but signs for what looked like a tavern, a warehouse, an alchemy and potion shop, a blacksmith, a tailor, and a variety of other signs I didn’t know of appeared as well.
We got to a large building with a crown insignia on the sign hanging over the door. Graham got off his horse and smiled. “She won’t go anywhere. C’mon.” He waved me inside.
Inside the building smelled stale, but not at all dangerous. It was well lit with torches and a grey rabbitfolk was sitting on a large chair at the end of the room. A long green robe and a wooden crown made up his attire. I opened the profile.
Chief Cassil Proudfoot - Level 7 Elite
So the Rabbitfolk had levels? That made sense I guess. I wonder what would happen if the village was attacked? Do they respawn?
“Greetings! Mister Graham, who have you brought to our quaint homestead?” The accent sounded like a young child pretending to play as a royal, but it seemed genuine to me.
“I brought a young man I found in the wild. He was seconds from death when me and Gretchen heroically rode in and saved him.”
“Oh my! Your deeds continue, good sir. Harehill thanks your support once again, Samurai.” Cassil gave a wink and a nod to Graham before turning to myself. “So! What is your name, Ranger?”