Baron had been hunting in the same spot for 3 days and managed to reach level 7. The EXP gap to the next level required more than 50 rabbits. The problem was the spawn rate of mobs. Baron was lucky if he could get 40 rabbits to spawn in a day. It was getting easier for him to predict where the rabbits would spawn. Although it was getting more efficient, there were also more people to contend with. As the game progressed players naturally got stronger. More and more parties started appearing in Baron’s hunting ground.
He had unintentionally claimed the land for himself after he killed the 3 players. Since then the parties in the area began avoiding him. There was a hill in the plains that no users dared visit, Baron’s hill. That was untill all the new parties started coming. They hadn’t been there to witness the carnage and had no clue about Baron. Some had heard rumors, but there weren't that many people who believed it. They didn’t think it was possible that the solo player stealing all their mobs was that much of a monster.
Most parties consist of up to 5 players who level up together. They get stronger as a group and move on to new hunting grounds when everyone is ready. Usually it consists of friends from real life who get the game to play together. Some players who lack patience will form the largest party possible. They try to gather as many players as they can and move directly to the better hunting grounds. Since EXP is evenly distributed amongst the greater numbers, there is no difference in leveling speeds between the two strategies. The latter is however, much more dangerous as people become expendable. The players in the party usually don’t have teamwork and end up sacrificing players to win. Still there were many examples of this present in the hunting grounds.
One of these groups consisted of 17 users fresh out of their 1 month bans. Every member was either level 2 or 3 and had no fighting experience, but they insisted on hunting the highest leveled rabbits. The group had been hastily formed in in the past couple days. Most of the users didn’t even know each others names. Still they had delusions of starting a guild and dominating the hunting grounds. They talked about becoming the strongest and dominating the game.
By the time they reached Baron’s hill they had already started to get annoyed by the lack of mobs. There hadn’t been a single rabbit in the past half hour of searching. They finally decided to go where no other parties were and try their luck. They were suspicious at first that there was an area so large without people, however they determined it was just luck after seeing Baron. If there was one person there then it wasn’t because something was wrong with the place. They continued their search for another 20 minutes before getting mad. They failed to find a single rabbit, but every time they looked at Baron he was locked in battle. The leader of the party was hot headed and decided to confront the barbarian. He was currently the closest barrier they needed to break on their road to controlling the hunting grounds.
Baron had been watching the group for a while. It wasn’t often that people got so close to him. Baron had memorised the mob spawns in the area and continued killing every rabbit. After a while he noticed the group was approaching. He didn’t turn around and face them, or even acknowledge they were coming. When they got close they started calling out to him. ‘When will these bastards learn?’
“Hey you! Big guy!” The party leader and the groups tank came closer to Baron while the rest of the party stayed about 20 feet away. Baron kept walking and paid no attention to the disrespectful calls.
A tank is a player who has high health and protects the rest of the party. They are usually heavier classes like knights who can wear heavy armor. Most carry a shield to reduce the damage they take. Baron would be classified as a tank. Barbarians have naturally high health which makes them perfect for the role.
“Yo! Idiot! Look at me when I’m talking to you!” They player was clearly upset at being ignored. Baron had his reasons though. They were annoying him, and he was secretly hoping they would attack. The last fight he had with users had been like a drug and he was currently experiencing withdrawals. Half of him just wanted to turn around and take the guys head off, but he had to wait. It would be a problem if he got the murderers mark. It was better to wait for them to attack first.
“The big bitch is too scared to even look at us!” The party’s tank picked up a rock and through it at the back of Baron’s head. They reached a new level of anger as Baron didn’t react at all. Just like before he kept casually walking, although inside he was overflowing with bloodlust. The user who had just thrown the rock was pissed. He unsheathed his broad sword with a loud clang of metal. As he was went to slash, Baron turned around to face him. The player attacking him was also a barbarian, although he was shorter and didn’t have as much muscle definition. The sword he swung was much larger than Baron’s short sword, however that didn’t make much difference as it was parried with ease. In one fluid motion Baron’s second sword slashed a wound from shoulder to waist of his aggressor. The parties tank faded away after 1 hit. The player was only level 3 so his health was miniscule.
The party leader was only a couple of feet away. With 1 stride and a leap Baron covered the distance and landed a critical hit. His short sword pierced the players neck from above and dropping his HP to 0. Compared to rabbits, users were slower, weaker, and had less health.
“If you guys are going to attack me, at least put in some effort!” Baron was beyond pissed and couldn’t help himself from taunting the rest of the party.
The other 15 players were standing 20 feet away watching it all go down. After the first death the 9 warriors left sprung into action. Most of them had swords, with a couple brandishing an ax or mace. They attempted to surround Baron to no avail. Without rest he lashed out at the players. The first player he targeted was nearly 2 feet shorter than him. The man had a shield along with an ax. He stopped in front of Baron and began to say something. He was cut short as Baron slashed the air in front of him. The player block with his shield but was knocked to the ground. Baron was forced to turn his attention away as 3 more fighters closed in. They attempted to attack in unison but had no coordination to speak of. Every swing and thrust was easily blocked by Baron’s high dexterity. His feet rarely moved, but his swords seemed to dance around the enemies. The 3 fighters were dead in seconds.
Without letting up Baron turned and sliced the throat of a player trying to backstab him. One of the groups mages cast a fireball spell. Baron was oblivious and took the hit directly. In his confusion he also took 2 hits from a players sword. All 3 hits combined lowered Baron’s health by half. Once he gained composure he dealt with the pesky player that had slashed him. Realizing the situation Baron ignored the remaining 4 warriors and began an assault on the groups mages, cleric, and archers. The 6 players that belonged to the 3 classes didn’t have a chance in a melee. With 6 strikes 6 players faded away. At level 2 they all had next to no health.
All that remained were 4 level 3 warriors. They were hesitant as Baron stopped his rampage for the first time. Of the players remaining: 2 of them were shaking, and another was still on the ground. The last of the 4 decided to run away. The first 2 players Baron killed were the groups best fights. Without them or the clerics, there was no hope. ‘That ones not worth my effort.’
The 3 that were left began begging and pleading. Baron had slight de-ja-vu as he mercilessly executed them. He was still caught in the ecstasy of battle and wasn’t thinking straight yet. During the fight he lost himself in bliss. With all his focus on the carnage he didn’t pay attention to much else. He hadn’t even seen the numerous parties in the vicinity who were watching. He was just standing there in the middle of the red soaked scene. Blood covered his arms and was splattered around his body. ‘What a wonderful image.’ He thought as he sheathed his long sword on his back and the short sword on his waist. He turned his attention to the windows that popped up.
You’ve gained a level!
You are now level 8!
+5 stat points available
You have received the murderers mark.
Despite being attacked first, your ruthless way of handling the situation has been noticed by the city guards. Guards in Sai will arrest you on sight. Guards in all of the Gradian Kingdom will be weary of you. The murderers mark will appear above your head for all users to see.
The mark will disappear after 1 week or after a sizeable donation is made to a church.
For recieveing the murderers mark for the first time:
+50 Fame
Increased Reputation among the Infamous
New Title Acquired:
15-Man Slayer
Number of players with this title: 2
Requirements:
Kill 15+ players
No outside help
All players must be within 10 levels of each other
Effects:
+100 Fame
Increased reputation as a fighter
+50 Fame for being in the first 10 to acquire this title
+15 stat points available for distribution
You have been recorded by a player’s in game camera. Do you give permission to the player to use this footage?
Baron read and closed each message. The one about the murderers mark made him a little upset. He only had enough food left for another day and would need to venture back to the city to buy some. The thing about the title made up for it though. Just the sound of The 15-Man Slayer Baron sounded badass to him. As for the thing about being recorded he didn’t mind. If anything it was a way to upset the scientist back in real life. He quickly accepted it in case they were planning to take control of his system and decline. ‘I might as well make their lives hell. I’m just returning the favor after all.’
It could have been anyone of the numerous parties around that recorded it. Who ever it was Baron wanted to thank them. He had been trying to think of a way to annoy his captors but hadn’t thought of anything until now. They had warned him not to tell people about his situation, however he had no control over whether or not people took videos of him. It was a loophole in the plan that he intended to fully exploit.
Now that he couldn’t return to Sai he only had the option of going to another city. He had heard that the city of Gorn was a little over 10 hours away by foot. A few players had managed to make the trek, although it was dangerous because of the number of foxes on the trail. Baron hadn’t fought a fox yet but he was confident they wouldn’t be too strong.
The average fox was around level 10. The highest leveled players in the game were at level 12. For them foxes were their main source of EXP, however most of them hunted rabbits till level 10. At that point they would be able to match the fox in most areas of combat. Players at level 8, like Baron, normally wouldn’t have a chance, but Baron did start killing level 7 rabbits at level 1.
There was a main road coming out of the Sai’s north gate. The road was said to be around 17 miles and cut around the mountains and to the city of Gorn. The mountains in the area were surrounded by massive forests that were home to wolves. Taking a shortcut through wasn’t an option because of their high levels. Baron would be dead seconds after getting into a fight with a wolf.
The road didn’t have that many people on it. Even for it being early morning it still seemed deserted. Every 10 minutes or so Baron would cross paths with an NPC merchant or adventurer. Some of them gave him dirty looks as he walked past. He ignored them and kept walking.
He ran into a fox during the first hour. Baron was disappointed by its strength. The fox was much faster than the rabbits, but its health, attack and defense were the same. Baron only took 2 hits before landing a critical hit and finishing it. The EXP it gave was significantly more, but that didn’t matter to him. He was looking for the thrill of battle. No matter what he tried Baron couldn’t get the same feel as killing players.
After several hours of waking Baron could see something in the distance. At first it was just a speck on the road, but as he kept walking it came into focus. It was a person, a girl, fighting a fox in the middle of the road. The girl didn’t have a weapon and the fox was clearly winning. Once he was in earshot Baron could hear the girl shouting, although he couldn’t make out what was being said.
He kept walking at the same pace. The girl and fox were slowly getting closer and closer until Baron was standing in front of them. They payed no attention to him and continued their brawl. At this distance Baron could easily make out what the girl was saying.
“I command you to STOP!”
Stolen novel; please report.
“Don’t hit me again or else I’ll…”
“YOU’RE NOT LISTENING TO ME!!”
After a minute of fighting and yelling the fox was one attack away from killing the girl. It had knocked her down and darted forward to bite her ankle. When it was inches away Baron’s sword sword swung down and cleaved the fox in two. It faded away as Baron received a message about the EXP.
“WHAT DID YOU JUST DO!!” The girl quickly got to her feet and started yelling at Baron. She didn’t seem fazed at all by the fact her HP was nearly 0. Baron Didn’t know why but he started yelling back.
“I JUST SAVED YOUR LIFE!!”
“Oh…” The girls demeanor changed at Barons flawless logic. She had indeed been on the verge of death, however she hadn’t realized.
“Either way you owe me a fox. I could’ve still tamed it if you didn’t interfere.” The girl quickly came up with a come back.
“What are you talking about? It was about to kill you. There was no chance for you to kill it.”
“I wasn’t trying to kill it! I’m a beast tamer. I was trying to control it, you idiot!” By this time she was close to Baron attempting to yell in his face. She was tall for a human at over 6 foot, but Baron still had a head on her. He was surprised she wasn’t scarred by the murderers mark above his head. Most users wouldn’t risk upsetting a murderer. Especially if it was a girl alone in the middle of no where.
“Because of you all my hard work taming it is lost. Now you’re going to help me tame another. It’s only fair.” Baron didn’t understand her reasoning, but for some reason he went along with it. ‘Maybe it’s because she’s pretty?’ She started walking away. When she walked about 10 feet she turned around.
“ARE YOU COMING OR WHAT?” She yelled at Baron who hadn’t taken a step. ‘What the hell have I gotten myself into?’
Baron caught up with her and they began walking down the road together. It was silent between the two for awhile until she initiated conversation.
“Hey whats your name? Or do I just call you big guy.”
“Baron, and you?”
“Avrice. I’m a beast tamer, and you?”
“I don’t have a profession.”
“You should become a knight... or a paladin. That would be cool! Actually, I think you’re too scary to be a paladin. You kind of have to look, you know, like you would save people and not eat them.”
“I don’t eat people.”
“No, you just look like you do. You’re like 7 feet tall, muscular, and you have dried blood on your shirt. It kind of looks like you eat people.” Baron had washed the blood off after his last fight, however it never came out of his shirt.
Baron decided to ignore her and the conversation ended. He didn’t know what to think about this girl. She openly spoke her mind in front of someone with the murderers mark. It was obvious she had no fighting skills so if Baron wanted he could have killed her with ease. She was lucky he wasn’t a real player killer.
They didn’t walk in silence the entire time. Avrice would strike up a random conversation here and there. She was constantly reminding Baron of his duties. He had to help her tame an animal as payment for saving her life. It wasn’t the most fair trade. They came across several foxes while walking. Avrice attempted to tame them to no avail. After her 4th failed attempt Baron started killing them before she had a chance. He was beginning to get annoyed and Avrice’s whining wasn’t making it any better.
He wasn’t able to find enough mobs to raise his level before they arrived at Gorn. He was planning to slow his walking pace and hunt more but Avrice hadn’t let him. Now that he was in the city he needed to sell off his loot and buy some food. Avrice decided she wanted to go to the tamers guild, and so she insisted Baron register her as a friend so they could keep in touch. She reminded him again of his duty to help her, so he couldn’t refuse. Not that he really wanted to. He thought Avrice was beautiful, even if she was annoying at times. After 10 years in prison he would take anything he could get.
The city of Gorn looked almost identical to Sai. They were often referred to as twin cities for this reason. Aside from geographical differences there weren’t many differences. Gorn only had mountains to the north, unlike Sai that was surrounded on 3 sides.
The layouts of the streets was so similar that Baron had no problem finding his way around. Gorn wasn’t a city available to start in, so the amount of players was a lot lower. Players could hitch a ride with a caravan from Sai, but that was either expensive or dangerous. Of the over 10,000 players who had started in Sai only about 200 had came to Gorn. The market wasn’t nearly as crowded although there were still many NPC stands catering to NPC customers. Baron window shopped for a while before deciding on a store to sell his loot. It was starting to get dark so he hoped the stores would still be open. He had over 100 rabbit pelts and a couple fox pelts. He was able to get a decent sum of 124 coppers. Subtracting the food he bought he made a profit of 78 coppers. It wasn’t close to what he would make pickpocketing, but he was also able to level up so it didn’t matter. He was pretty sure the store keeper offered him less money because of the murderers mark. The mark reduced their already nonexistent familiarity to less than nothing.
He spent some more time walking around the market before finding a tavern to get some food. He had been eating preserved jerky for a couple days and it didn’t satisfy his palette. The tavern didn’t exactly have high quality food, but it was made by a chef. He got some sausage and stew which cost 85 coppers. With that meal alone he spent more than he had earned in the past 4 days. He was in the mood to splurge and decided to get some alcohol as well. Each pint cost 47 coppers and he planned to get drunk. Aside from food Baron didn’t have any expenses in game, and had decided there was no use for the riches he’d been saving. In total he still had 1500 coppers and no qualms about wasting it. The first beer the waitress brought he downed in one go. Even though he wasn’t of age before he was arrested he was still an avid drinker. It had been 10 years since he tasted alcohol and it was much better than he remembered. That with the good food made this one of the best nights he had had in his entire adult life.
He was surprised to find TVs in the tavern. He hadn’t been to the tavern in Sai so this was new information for him. The TVs were for people in game to watch real life Royal Road broadcasts. The one currently playing had an attractive female host and was going over player accomplishments. Since the game was a little over 2 weeks old players were beginning to do things. Baron chuckled when they talked about the player with the world record for highest skill level. He had gotten his archery mastery skill to beginner level 6 after only 2 months in game. Baron had already achieved beginner level 7 in pickpocketing and it only took him 1 month. They also talked about someone considered the richest player in the game, however he only had 400 coppers more than Baron did before he started buying food.
The biggest news they covered was about the highest leveled player, Bad Ray. Although he wasn’t the only player at level 13 he was the first. They showed a video of him fighting another player in a duel. At the time both players were level 12, but there was an evident skill gap. Every move his opponent made was in vain. Bad Ray’s sword was able to bypass the other players defense with every attempt. The fight only last 45 seconds until the goal of 25% health was reached. Watching the fight Baron couldn’t help but get excited. He had grown to love fighting. The strong opponent he just saw gave him another reason to get stronger. He cursed his luck that Bad Ray hadn’t started in Gradian and ordered a 4th pint from the waitress. While drowning his sorrows the topic switched on the TV.
The host began talking about a video that started going viral just a few hours earlier. Apparently it had almost 100,000 views and had started trending. She gave a warning about the clip containing violence right before the screen changed to that of a user in RR.
In the clip it was still dark, however you could see the sun beginning to rise in the background. The user was looking down at a group of about 20 users. All of their faces were blurred except one. When Baron took a closer look he realised it was him. It was confirmed when the fight started to play out exactly like it had earlier that day. Baron watched as he killed the first two and moved onto his next victim. He started to get weird looks in the tavern as people recognized it was him. The clip ended and the hosts voice came back.
“What a monster.”
Baron couldn’t help himself and started laughing as hard as he could. He had hoped to annoy the scientists with the clip, but this was on another level. He could just imagine the balding man in a labcoat screaming profanity at the TV. Then firing the people who were supposed to monitor Baron in game. If this show was airing inside RR it was likely a major show in real life as well. Baron hadn’t changed the face of the avatar, so he still looked like the death row inmate whose face was on the news countless times. ‘Out of the millions of people watching, what are the chances of someone recognizing me? HAHA those fucking labcoats are screwed.’
“Pretty good with a sword there.” The man sitting next to Baron at the bar started talking to him. He was a middle aged man that had the appearance of a drunkard. He also slurred a little when he spoke. The man took another swig of his beer before continuing.
“Don’t worry. I’m not gunna give you shit for killing them. Those whiny bastards had it coming. There isn’t a real man in this kingdom who would call you out for that.” The man drunkenly raised his glass for a toast. When Baron didn’t participate he took a big gulp before slamming it back onto the table.
“I doubt the city guards see it that way.”
“Like I said, any real man wouldn’t give it a second thought. Those Gradian dogs all have a stick up their asses. I’ve fought along side them all my life. Even in battle they’re worried about the enemies rights. Give me a break. War is war, and there is no mercy in war.” The old man was clearly drunk as he chugged the last of his alcohol.
“Hey bartender! Get me and this here fella another round!” He shouted at her across the tavern. She didn’t look too pleased as she excused herself to a customer.
Baron and the old man, whose name was Barry, had a couple more pints together. Barry was in good spirits after finding a drinking buddy and started recounting war stories. He had been a member of one of the top mercenary guilds on Versailles. They were a NPC guild considering the timeline was before the game became open to players. In the guilds prime they had over 500 member and were one of the main military powers in the kingdom of Haven. Barry was careful not to reveal too much information. Baron couldn’t tell if it was just a touchy subject or if he was hiding something. Baron thought it was odd he never mentioned the name of the guild. He did however, mention that the guild was nearly destroyed. At the time he was the commander of a 100 man unit, and 11th in terms of rank in the guild. After one battle he had become the highest ranking member still alive. It wasn’t mentioned how many others survived, but Baron got the impression there weren’t many more. He went on for over an hour talking about the whole thing. He talked a little about tactics they used and unique fighting styles he had come across. Some of it was useful, but most wasn’t. By the end of his stories he was close to passing out from all the beer.
“Well now that you know my story, what do you say I hire you for a fight or two? I’ve seen you fight and you’re not half bad. Hell, you can probably just stand there and our enemies will piss themselves while they run away.” The drunkard burst out laughing before continuing.”I got a job lined up but I don’t have the manpower to do it yet. I’m gunna try to get a couple more people like you before heading out in a week or so. What do you say?”
Barry’s Mercenary Job
The mercenary Barry has offered you a job. He hasn’t specified what it is but he is recruiting multiple people before starting in a week or so.
Difficulty: F
Rewards: Payment equal to contribution
Requirements: Proved to be a decent fighter. Listened to Barry’s story.
“I’ll be there.” Baron was slightly reserved because of the last quest he took, but Barry wasn’t nearly as shady as the thieves guild representative.
“Good, meet me at the west exit of the city in 10 days.” Barry picked up the full beer he had just ordered and walked out of the tavern with it. He could barely walk as he stumbled out of the building.
Baron paid the waitress what he owed. Since every beer after his 4th was covered by Barry he didn’t owe as much as he expected. Even though he had drank enough to puke, he was barely tipsy. The only reason for this he could think was the change in body size. In Royal Road he was a foot taller and weighed twice as much as he did in real life. ‘This game is so realistic it’s annoying.’