Baron left the tavern and went to hunt. He was annoyed he wasn’t able to get drunk and just felt like hunting. There was only 10 days before he had to go with Barry so he thought it would be a good idea to train more. At level 8 he was in the top 10% of players, but that wasn’t good enough. He was sure the Blue Blood Brothers were higher than that. After all, revenge was still his main objective.
The hunting grounds around Gorn were devoid of weak rabbits. Even right next to the city gates the high level bunnies were gathered in force. Compared to Sai that was over crowded with users, there was an abundance of mobs. Baron was the only one in the entire hunting ground. By the end of 3 hours he had killed as many rabbits as he would have in a day at Sai.
A little further out of the city there were foxes. Some were at higher levels, but they didn’t give Baron any trouble. Having two swords increased the speed of his counter attacks. A foxes ability to dodge is there strength, but Baron’s fighting style took that from them. No matter where a fox would dodge his second sword would be there waiting.
He was careful not to wander too far from the city. Once the forest begins wolves start attacking. The lowest level possible for a wolf is 15. For common wolves you would find in normal forests the highest they can go is around 30. The Versailles Continent was thought to have many different species of wolves likely getting all the way up into the hundreds of levels.
The problem is that the high and low level wolves mix together. At his level Baron wouldn’t be able to handle one. He would have no hope if attacked by a pack. Packs could be anywhere from 3 to 500 wolves, or even more. Since they are smart animals they can even use tactics when fighting. For any beginner it would be nearly impossible to fight one by themselves, or even in a small group.
Baron spent the next 4 days hunting foxes in the area. Because of the lack of competition he was able to level at an incredible speed. In the first day alone he was able to level up one and a half times. He went up 5 levels total, ending on 13. Each level he put all his stat points into strength, endurance, and vitality. He also noticed that as he kept using the two swords, his dexterity continued to rise. Since he killed the first rabbit it had been steadily increasing. At 83 it was his highest stat, aside from his health which was past 200. As his dexterity got higher it got easier and easier to one hand the long sword. The short sword was very natural, but the long sword had been awkward to use at first. With such high dexterity 50% of his strikes landed without a problem.
The only reason he had to stop hunting was because Avrice sent him a whisper. She had finished the basic training at the tamers guild and wanted him to repay his debt. They were set to meet at the hunting grounds. Baron arrived on time, but Avrice was already there and waiting.
“Why are you late?” She had the same demeanor as the first time they had met.
“I’m on time! Why are you early?” ‘It doesn’t even matter if I’m right does it?’ Baron had been thinking about Avrice the whole time he was hunting. He just couldn’t figure her out. One second she was cheerful and the next she was yelling. He really didn’t know her yet. Unlike his childhood friends there was no way to judge her. What she looked like IRL, how she lived, what hardships plagued her, were all questions he couldn’t answer. Everyone is atleast slightly two-faced. But without knowing what stereotypes Avrice fit in, Baron didn’t know how to act. Anything he said could potentially offend her.
“Well… Lets hurry and go find a fox. I’ve been waiting a while for this.” Thankfully it wasn’t too hard to find a fox. Baron already knew where they would spawn. The first one they came across looked to be closer to a pup then an adult. Baron expected her to start screaming at the fox like she did before, but he was proven wrong.
The first thing Avrice did was take out food. The fox was caught off guard when the treat was thrown in front of him. It wasn’t very trusting and quickly backed off. She didn’t seem discouraged and threw another treat towards the mob. This went on for several minutes until the fox ate the first treat. It had been gaining courage for a while before attempting to eat it. The treat was so delicious that the fox hesitantly began eating from the heap of treats strewn about. Avrice got a glimmer in her eyes as she took out a different kind of food. Instead of the jerky she had been throwing, this was a chicken leg. Even Baron’s mouth started watering when she brought it out. The fox saw the food and went to approach Avrice. Before he got too close he stopped himself and resumed his fighting stance. Avrice threw the chicken leg in front of the fox. Like a thief it grabbed the chicken leg and ran away.
“Fucking shit!”
What little bit of class Avrice had disappeared as she started spewing profanity at the fox. Baron was a little envious of the fox. It got the delicious looking food and managed to escape Avrice unharmed.
The next several foxes Avrice attempted to catch just stole her food and left. One of them even attacked her and then ran away with the chicken leg. Baron was doing everything he could not to laugh. It was hilarious how the fox got the better of her every time.
Towards noon she finally got a fox to stay after she gave it the chicken leg. Her attitude did a 180 as she went from annoyed to ecstatic. The rest of her process involved feeding the fox more and more food. Each time she would throw it closer and closer to herself until the fox had to take it from her hand. It was reluctant but took the food and ate happily.
Avrice spent another 10 minutes feeding the fox various treats from her hand before attempting to pet it. The fox was very timid but opened up to her.
“Your name is Fox 1.” Avrice said it in a very happy tone as she stroked the fox who had no idea what she was saying.
Baron couldn’t believe she had such horrible taste in names. ‘It’s so bad I almost believe its on purpose.’
He was sitting several feet away from the them. He had found out quickly that his job in all of this was to kill the fox if it attacked. If he tried to help with the taming process he would only frighten the animal.
“Baron come over here and feed it.”
“What? I thought you said I’d just scare them away.”
“This one already trusts me. I just need it to trust other people now. If it can trust you it will trust anyone.” Baron reluctantly walked over to the fox. It attempted to flee but was held in place by Avrice’s aggressive petting. Baron sat on the ground next to them and pulled out some chicken. The fox was showing its teeth but he didn’t scare Baron. If he wanted, Baron could’ve killed it with just his hands.
The fox attempted to refuse the chicken, but Baron was persistent. After dangling it in front of the foxes face for a while, it finally indulged. After that it readily took all the food Baron was willing to give out.
It took another half hour but they finally ran out of food. Avrice stood up and told Baron they were going to the market to buy more. It was part of Fox 1’s training to get used to crowds. The market was a little more than just a crowd, but that would only speed up the process.
They walked back to the city gate with the fox trailing a few feet behind. They only passed 3 players on the way and got dirty looks from all of them. When they passed through the gate the guards informed them of the rules of having a pet in the city. It was mostly predictable things. Avrice would have to take responsibility for anything it did. Since it wasn’t completely trained the fox needed to be held or leashed to prevent incidents. Since they didn’t have a leash and the fox was too big for Avrice to hold, the task fell on Baron. Similar to a cat, the fox sat on Baron’s shoulder. It would’ve been too big to do with a normal person, but his broad shoulders made it possible.
When they walked into the market the fox became spooked. He dug his claws into Baron, who attempted to suppress his anger. After a while of just walking around the fox loosened its grip. Avrice bought some more treats and food from a vendor. She got a pretty decent deal because the food wasn’t up to the standards of human consumption. It was several days old and had a strange odor. She gave some of it to Fox 1 who happily ate.
Avrice didn’t tell Baron why but they continued to wander through the market. Eventually they came to a specialized weapon shop. The building was big enough to hold around 20 people. Since it was a building and not a vendor, the merchandise was likely of higher quality. The shop seemed to sell hunting related items. A plethora of bows lined the walls, and several types of traps were on display. At the counter there was also several other types of items: various hunting knives, mob attracting incense, tracking equipment. A man behind the counter greeted them when they walked in.
“Hello, what can I do for you today?”
“I’m looking to sell this fox.” Avrice’s response left Baron speechless for a second. She took the fox from Baron’s shoulder and placed it on the counter in front the shop keeper. The fox was oblivious to the situation. It just sniffed its surrounding out of curiosity.
“What level of training does it have?” The man looked the fox over. He checked the mouth, eyes, fur, and nose thoroughly.
“Its only tier 1. I caught it earlier today, so I haven’t had time to train it any further.”
“I’ll give you 150 coppers as is. Bring it back later with tier 2 training and I’ll make it 350. There aren’t many people looking for an untrained pet. It’s a little on the old side as well which will make it harder to sell.”
“175 and it’s yours.” Avrice tried her hand at bargaining, but it wasn’t her strong suit. Her pretty face couldn’t be taken seriously.
“Sorry, can’t do. I gotta make a profit here as well.”
“How about a trade?” The shopkeeper was a little more intrigued.
“Go on.”
“I need a hunting knife and a whip.” He thought for a moment before going into the display case under the counter. He took out one of the least expensive knives. It was about a foot long with a single edged blade. The hilt was covered in leather that was worn and stained. The edge looked slightly dulled and had nicks in it. Overall it was an average, used hunting knife. He also went to one of the walls and took down a tattered old whip. It was in better condition than the knife. The whip was made of black leather. It to was used, evident by the cracks already forming on the hard leather. It was one of the shorter whips on the wall, but not the worst.
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“The knife is worth 35 coppers and the whip is priced at 120. This is the best I can do.”
“Deal.” Avrice didn’t waste any time before accepting.
The man took the fox and went into the back of the shop. He placed it into a cage along with a bowl of water. The fox who had been oblivious was starting to get an idea of the situation.
“If you’re feeling up to it could I offer the two of you a job? I can tell you’re not an experienced tamer, but I’m in need.
“Whats the job?” Avrice tried to hide the excitement in her voice, but it was clearly evident.
“Viscount Theo of Gorn came here about a week ago. He asked if I had come across a wolf with tier 2 training. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the such in many years. He didn’t specifically ask that I search for one, however, I would like to get his favor. I’ve heard he is a hunter of great skill. If a noble like him starts coming here I might be able to retire early.”
ACQUIRE A WOLF
The owner of a hunting store in Gorn has asked you to get a wolf with tier 2 training. Viscount Theo of Gorn is searching for one, and the shop owner wishes to win his favor.
Difficulty: E
Rewards: Twice the market value of the wolf
Requirements: At least tier 2 training
The owner of a hunting store in Gorn has asked you to get a wolf with tier 2 training. Viscount Theo of Gorn is searching for one, and the shop owner wishes to win his favor.
“We’ll accept!” Avrice accepted the quest for the both of them. She didn’t even read the discription.
Baron didn’t really want to accept. He already had the quest with Barry. Also, he didn’t know if it would be possible for Avrice, who struggled taming a fox, to tame a wolf. Even if they did have 2 months, he wasn’t confident at all.
“Thank you! Have that wolf here in 60 days and I’ll compensate you handsomely.” The shop owner seemed excited. He had likely been searching for someone to give the quest to for a while. Since there weren’t many players in Gorn he wouldn’t have gotten many chances.
After they left the shop Baron had Avrice explain the taming system to him. Basically, she said that a mobs level of training is represented by a tier. Tier 1 involves the basics. Things such as: Don’t kill me, Don’t kill my party member, are included in it. Tier 2 is similar just more in depth. After that, the training can change. Specializations in certain areas change the training program. Specializations can be anything from hunting and fighting, to artisan crafts. It all depends on the type of monster, and type of trainer. How long it takes to achieve the next tier varies in the same way, however, it always gets longer the higher the tier.
Avrice came up with a plan. Since Baron had to leave in 5 days for his quest with Barry, they would just tame a wolf before then. At her low level it would be nearly impossible to go head to head with a wolf. Baron was the key to both surviving and success. There wouldn’t be any point without him.
They decided to start with foxes so Avrice could gain battle experience. She had never been in a proper battle and still needed to test out her whip.
Avrice soon found out how difficult it is to aim a whip. The first couple foxes they came across nearly killed her before Baron stepped in. The whip had a range of 5 feet, but was very unruly. Whenever she tried to swing it one direction, it would go the other. Very rarely was she able to get the whip to snap.
After a couple hours her level was starting to rise steadily. Her and Baron started using teamwork to hunt. Baron would tank and block while Avrice dealt the damage. It was a very inefficient strategy, but it worked to increase her skills.
Baron and Avrice started getting better at small talk. Although Avrice was the type to never stop talking, Baron was much more reserved. Now that they were spending so much time together he was forced to talk. Mainly to eliminate any awkward silence.
By the next day Avrice could handle a weak fox by her self. She finished learning the basics of the whip, along with the skills associated with it. It all made it so her skills considerably increased.
Baron was the opposite. The hunting was slow for him so he barely got any exp. He was able to gain a level only because he was so close. His skill proficiencies were already decently high so they didn’t change. Once he started hunting in Gorn he managed to acquire a few skills related to combat.
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Sword Mastery (Passive)Beginner232%Allows for more skilled sword play. Increase the level for further benefits. Certain professions raise the rate that experience is gained.
5% increase in damage while using a sword
2% increase in attack speed while using a sword
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Fighters stance (Active)Beginner17%Fighting with a proper stance is what seperates the skilled from the average. A correct stance allows for better strength, speed, and resilience in battle. It is the core of all fighting styles.
Combat related skills gain ecperience 1% faster.
5% increase in defense
5% increase in attack damage
5% increase in attack speed
Opponent is less likely to land a critical hit
all status effects caused by physical actions are 10% less likely.
Cost: 1.2x stamina consumption for the duration of use
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Unexpected Reach (Active)Beginner313%By switching between weapons with different reaches it is possible to catch the enemy off guard and land a critical hit. Using it in succession will result in a decreased chance of working.
10% increase in critical hit chance
25% chance of putting your opponent into a confused state
Costs: 50 manna
Sword mastery seemed like it would be a very common skill, but it was still very effective. The fighters stance skill was a mystery to him. Since it was an active skill he needed to activate it, however he had no idea how to do that. The 7% of experience he had gained was completely out of luck. If he could figure out how to use it, the skill would likely be very useful though. Unlike Fighters Stance, Unexpected Reach was a skill he already used in combat. It was the product of his unique fighting style. He used it in almost every fight making the skills level rise faster than the others.
Having already wasted a day getting Avrice battle ready, they started raising her taming skill. Since the skill grew whether or not the taming was successful, they just had to attempt to tame every fox they saw. Since Avrice’s combat ability had grown Baron was no longer needed to protect her. Instead of wasting his time watching her, he decided to go and gauge the skill of a wolf.
It was only about a 10 minute walk to the edge of the forest. Baron walked along the outskirts looking for a wolf. He didn’t dare go deeper in. The edge of the forest was where you find lone wolves, and deeper in is where you find packs. He ran into several foxes before coming across his first wolf.
The wolf he found was level 17. It was black with mangy looking fur. It had some scars on its body and what looked to be a fresh wound on its nose. The wolf would have been terrifying if Baron didn’t know this was a game.
Rather than wait for the wolf to attack, Baron lashed out. A fox would have dodged to the side to be safe, but the wolf wasn’t afraid and lept forward to avoid Baron’s slash. It was so quick Baron was barely able to get his short sword in place to block. Immediately after blocking Baron stabbed with his short sword and landed a flesh wound. It barely fazed the wolf which lept for his throat a second time. Rather than block, Baron decided to trade blows. He put all his strength into slashing the wolf. The wolves teeth barely grazed Barons neck as his long sword struck and sent the wolf to the ground.
He barely got hit but Baron lost almost 10% of his health. The wolf took a much more lethal strike and had lost nearly 50% of his. The wolf wasn’t dumb. It had tried two frontal attacks without avail. Now it just circled Baron waiting for an opportunity. Baron just stood there. When the wolf was in his blind spot it attacked. It was such an obvious move that Baron had already started to turn and face the wolf. As it leapt towards him Baron simply pointed his sword at the wolf. In mid charge there was no way for the wolf to stop itself. The force of its tackle was enough to impale itself onto Baron’s sword.
In a puff of smoke the wolf faded leaving nothing but blood and loot. It dropped a pelt along with some wolf meat. The pelt could be sold for a few coppers and the meat could be used by Avrice for treats. The exp he gained was enough to raise him to level 15. More than anything Baron was just excited about having a fun fight. Unlike the foxes, Baron was actually challenged by the wolf. It wasn’t the same as fighting another player, but it was the closest he had got thus far.