Chapter 16- Skinning, skinning and more skinning
[Sharp Skinning Knife]
Attack: 3-5
Durability: 50/50
Description: An ordinary but sharp skinning knife crafted by a good apprentice blacksmith. Sturdy and durable for efficient peeling.
Abel cheerfully made his way back out of the city, ecstatic at the new skinning knife he had on him. He had gotten it for 70 copper coins, slightly more expensive than the cheapest offering but its durability was around 30% greater.
The durability of a weapon would degrade with use and would have to be mended by a blacksmith for a fee, the amount would vary depending on the quality of the weapon. It wouldn’t cost much to fix cheaper weapons like the ordinary iron sword, but the higher leveled items would surely cost a significant amount to repair. If an item reached half durability then it’s attack power would be lowered by 20%, degrading further with use and if it ever reached 0 then the weapon would simply break and become useless.
‘Alright, there’s still an hour left before the sun sets but judging from that earlier battle, I’m pretty sure I can still kill monsters at night. Still, I should stick close to the city gates when the sun goes down, I’ll probably puke from regret if I were to die a stupid death.’
He couldn’t afford to die so early on, if a player dies then they’ll be locked out of the game for 24 hours and drop a level. Considering Abel was still only level 1, he didn’t mind the level drop since he couldn’t anyway but he absolutely couldn’t be prevented from logging on for an entire day.
Abel made his way around and kept a little distance from the dirt road, he didn’t want a repeat of his earlier encounter with the girls. Once he was a sufficient distance from the gate, he began looking around for some fierce rabbits. Although rabbits in real life were crepuscular, mostly active during the two twilights within a day, he wasn’t sure if their habits translated into a virtual game. Regardless, he was ready for any small monster that was in the area.
Soon enough, another fierce rabbit saw him as a suitable prey and came out to attack him.
-55
-35
Abel took a quick sidestep and a slashed, using the monsters own force against it. He followed up swiftly by pivoting towards it and gave it another slash as a thrust wasn’t viable from his angle. He then stepped back just in time for the rabbit to jump at his former spot and finished it off with a thrust.
-100
*Ding*
+20 EXP
+2/1000 Basic Sword Proficiency- Greenhorn (0.2%)
Would you like the system to process [Fierce Rabbit]?
Yes/No
‘No’
This time, Abel had a handy skinning knife on him so he felt a bit of confidence. Unfortunately, perhaps it was because skinning in-game was different than real life but he failed once again.
*Ding*
Skinning Failed
Fierce Rabbit Meat x1
Fierce Rabbit claw x1 (damaged)
He didn’t let the failure affect his mood as he knew it was all too normal. This wasn’t like the training grounds where he had a high-level NPC guiding him and making the learning process easier for the system to accept. He still had plenty of potential attempts ahead of him, not to mention the small fortune that landed on his lap just a little earlier.
The worst-case scenario would be having to eat some stale black bread until he learned how to properly skin a monster and gain the cooking skill.
‘No, I can’t assume the worst possible situation and normalize it in my mind. I have to concentrate and pay attention to the moment the skill fails, maybe I’ll pick up on what I’m doing wrong. The faster I learn the skinning skill, the sooner I can try learning the cooking skill.’
Abel picked up the damaged fierce claws and the small piece of meat that remained from when the carcass broke up, he then got up to look for his next victim.
He spent a few minutes walking around, going slightly farther from the city wall at his back, until he spotted a new monster that was digging into the ground and hadn’t yet realized an enemy was right behind it.
[Stone-toothed Rat] (Normal Monster)
Level: 4
Attack: 11-14
Defense: 10
HP: 160/160
This monster was a level higher than the fierce rabbits he came across earlier, with a much higher defense and slightly stronger attack. Abel eyed it for a moment before stepping up to stab the back of its neck. The monster seemed to sense its impending doom and quickly tried to scurry into the hole it was digging but it was still struck.
-25
Stone-tooth Rat stunned for 3 seconds
The stab seemed to hit its spine, managing to stun the little pest, giving Abel the chance to stab it again and again since he couldn’t really slash at it.
-25
-25
-35
“Clang”
The rat seemed to realize it’s predicament so it started fighting back after the stun wore off but Abel managed to block its sharp stone teeth with his sturdy sword. He backed away to make more room and get a better vantage point from the half-buried monster. The stone-toothed rat seemed to be much faster than the rabbit, while sporting mud-brown fur it had 2 sharp grey teeth coming out of it’s mouth that seemed to be its only weapon of choice. It jumped out to attack again but Abel pivoted his feet and swung with a wide slash aiming for its neck.
-80
*Ding*
+35 EXP
Would you like the system to process [Stone-Toothed Rat]?
Yes/No
‘No’ Abel took a deep breath and steadied his mind to try skinning again. He had long studied all the loot he could acquire from the small monsters around the city, while it took him a while to memorize such mundane information, he was thankful he had because the meat of the stone-toothed rat was actually not edible. Instead, it carried a slight poison that could be refined by alchemists or a potioneer. While Abel didn’t mind learning such skills, he knew he wouldn’t have the time to level them up but he could still sell its meat for much more than regular monster meat of its level.
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With a calm mind and steady hands, Abel concentrated on skinning the rat. This time he concentrated heavily on his current task, whether it was due to his extra concentration or it was just a matter of probability and luck, he succeeded in his attempt.
*Ding*
Skinning successful:
Stone-Toothed Rat teeth x2
Stone-Toothed Rat meat x2
Stone-Toothed Rat tail x1
The monster carcass broke up like earlier but instead of fragmenting into nothing but scraps, it broke up into several usable pieces with none of them bearing the (damaged) notification. Although Abel was slightly disappointed in not “learning” the skinning skill, it only made sense when he thought about it. The luck needed to learn a skill on the first try was basically heaven defying and considering his current luck stat was at 0, he didn’t expect a miracle anytime soon.
He packed up his loot and made his way around the shrubs, looking for rabbits and rats to bully. By the time the sun starting edging closer to the horizon, Abel had killed and skinned a dozen more rabbits and 3 more rats. He had successfully skinned 11 beasts including the first rat and was at 40% through level 1. He still hadn’t picked up the skinning skill but he had learned a few tips when skinning that he thought would result in a success. One of them was to skin from beginning to end without stopping and starting at another section. Another little tip was to concentrate on the part your skinning without looking or thinking about the next part, if his mind wandered then it was likely to end in failure.
‘No wonder people are taking forever to level-up, if I had to share a couple dozen EXP with 3 or 4 other people after every kill… and the loot!’ Abel thought to himself as he carried his slightly bulging sack to an area much closer to the city gates. Imagining how turtle-paced such a levelling method was, although much safer, it was undoubtedly much slower.
He met several groups throughout his time hunting but he bluntly told them he didn’t want to party with them when invited. Most left him alone after that while others tried convincing him but after Abel ignored them, they just walked off in a huff. Thankfully, none of them were stupid enough to get violent so Abel had a pretty uneventful time hunting.
Although each piece of his loot could only be sold for a few copper coins at best, all together it should net him around a silver which would tempt many poor and foolish players. The poisonous rat meat was the most expensive of the loot he got over the past hour but he figured he’d have to spend some money fixing up his sword, he wasn’t sure how much it would cost but he figured it shouldn’t cost more than what he earned hunting. The swords durability had already dropped by 3 points and while still far from breaking, he didn’t want the swords attack to lower due to low durability, besides it would surely drop a little more by the time he was done tonight.
“Man what a day… I have no clue how we used to play those other games before Realm Quest released Faeron!”
“Hey, why did we return so early? The lunar bane cycle is at its lowest right now… I’m sure we can still hunt in the depths of Hollow Forest.”
“I’m telling you bro the second I reach a high enough level I’m going the MerEmpire! I was in such a rush setting up my avatar that I didn’t pay attention to where I was placed in Caelondria.”
“What’s wrong with this weirdo, why isn’t he going into the city?”
“Maybe he’s doing a quest…”
Some players were coming back to the city to offload their loot, reload on supplies or fix their weapons. Others were planning on resting up in one of the many taverns available in the city, while some wanted a safer place to log out for the day. Abel overheard several conversations, some about him even, as he waited around the dirt road. He waited till the traffic flow eased significantly, before trying to look for more monsters. By then, the sun had set and the torches at the city gate were lit up when he finally saw some movement from among the trees a couple hundred meters away and out came a different type of monster.
“Inspect”
*Ding*
Inspect failed
Since the innate skill failed at such a distance, he figured he’d wait till it got a bit closer but he had an idea of what type of monster it was. It was most likely an umber wolf that would come out to hunt at night, usually in packs. They were wolf-type monsters with fur darker than night and yellow eyes, other than their sharp black claws, they were no different from normal wolves. While they were low leveled monsters, typically between level 3-8, they would almost always hunt in packs of 5-7 wolves and so he didn’t dare get any further than 400 meters from the city gates as the archers could shoot from 500 meters away and would step in if he was in a dire situation since it was under the guards ‘jurisdiction’.
He eyed the monster and waited, while it seemed to be alone, he was sure there was a pack behind it. A minute passed by as the monster got closer, it still appeared to be alone but that was a trick these wolves used to draw in their prey. They’d wait for a player to come and attack the lone wolf and then several more would jump out to gang up on you. An uncountable number of players suffered from these monsters early on and many people scolded these wolves on the forums, it even reached a point where being called an “umber wolf” online was a way to disrespect and cuss at someone.
“Inspect” Abel figured he’d try again and thankfully, it worked this time
*Ding*
[Umber Wolf] (Normal Monster)
Level: 4
Attack: 20-22 (+10%)
Defense: 10 (+10%)
HP: 275 (+10%)
Sure enough, it was an umber wolf. Abel figured he’d be able to take on 2 or 3 but if the pack behind it was on the larger side then he’d definitely have to fight and retreat at the same time. As these thoughts swam across his mind, he loosened his shoulders and slightly bent his knees when the umber wolf before him jumped in to attack.
Abel sidestepped and blocked the lunging claws with his sword, stopping the wolf in its tracks. He was pushed back slightly but used the momentum to swing out a double cut.
-20
-20
He sidestepped before the wolf could jump at him again and swung two more times, dealing greater damage since he hit the area around its neck.
-30
-35
The umber wolf was about to let out a howl to call its pack when Abel lunged with all his strength at what he thought was a stunned monster, driving his sword through the wolf’s throat and into its head.
Critical Hit
-200
EXP +50
Abel didn’t relax, waiting for the wolf’s pack to make an entrance but even after standing vigilantly and looking all around, he didn’t see any sign of them. What he didn’t know was, the initial wolf had to let out a howl as a signal to call in his pack. Without this signal, the other wolves wouldn’t show up as it meant the wolf was dealt with quickly and their prey was too strong for them, hence causing them to retreat. After dragging the wolf carcass closer to the city gates, Abel got to skinning the monster.
*Ding*
Skinning successful:
Umber wolf pelt x1
Umber wolf meat x2
Umber wolf claws x2
Abel packed up his loot and went back to the area he was initially at where he noticed a new umber wolf had shown up. They seemed to be quite prevalent within this section of the forest at night. He slowly repeated his game of patience with this wolf and got it to attack him first, except this time, the wolf let out a howl before its death.
Suddenly, he saw 4 more wolves jump out of the trees and he knew he had a tough fight ahead of him, he figured the lack of howl in the first encounter was the reason behind no pack showing up. Thankfully, the wolf this time was also Level 4 and the pack was on the small side so he steadied his breath as the wolves spread out in a semi-circle before him. When the 2 wolves in front of him jumped in for a bite, he slashed out with his sword, offense can be used as defense!
-20
-20
Just as he stabilized himself, the wolves on his right and left were coming in for a swipe from the sides, he quickly rolled forward to dodge them while carrying on his offense with the first 2 wolves. He slashed in quick succession while evading around them, he didn’t want to leave his back open to the wolves behind him.
-25
-25
-30
-25
Abel tried to make quick work of the wolves before him but they were adept at teamwork, blocking every attempt he made to stab at their vitals. The wolves weren’t rigid and stupid monsters like in other games, all monsters had some level of intellect in Faeron and wouldn’t just follow a pre-coded script. Nevertheless, they were still low-level monsters so they weren’t that bright. The wolves he had dodged earlier ended up knocking into each other and after getting back up they saw their 2 packmates were already half dead. They tried to circle around Abel to corner him but he would maneuver himself around the 2 wolves, slashing and stabbing with every step he took. He would keep all 4 wolves within his line of sight at all times, never giving them the chance to mount a sneak attack from behind. Slowly, he whittled them down on his own over the course of 15 minutes. He didn’t get an opportunity to go in for a critical hit but the 8-figure whirl he learned from instructor Cedric was essential in this battle as he’d often have to change his attacking slash into a defensive block.
*pant* *pant* *pant
‘Open Character Status’
Name: Red Sky
Level: 1
Profession: None
Alignment: Neutral
Title: None
Reputation: 0
Health (HP): 150
Mana (MP): 100
Strength (STR): 16
Agility (AGI): 14
Endurance (END): 16
Toughness (TGH): 12
Vitality (VIT): 15
Wisdom (WDM): 10
Intelligence (INT): 10
Resilience (RES): 2
Luck: 0
Satiety: 55
Stamina: 23
Abel looked at his stamina and saw it was dangerously low, while his EXP bar had jumped to 72%. After resting for a minute and drinking some water, he dragged the wolves closer to the gates one at a time, he didn’t want to risk pulling another wolf from out of the woods and he’d have to head back in to the city after attempting to skin these monsters.
‘Ahhh, so many monsters to skin… hopefully my sack can hold these monster parts too or I’ll have to carry them by hand’ Abel joyfully thought to himself as he started getting to work.