Summer picked up his mug for a toast. His party had just cleared a dungeon. And now they were celebrating. They celebrate like this every time they dropped by the Golden Goose. Any excuse for a little celebration was fine with him.
All the members seated at the table,overly loud, were his subordinates in real life. While Ronald chose Winter, Daniel picked Summer as his name. It was close to his real family name too, Somner. Ronald was the one who came up with it, saying that with his constant sunny disposition, it was as if summer air surrounded him. Since then, every times they played MMORPG, he became Summer, and Ronald became Winter, also in allusion to his normally cold personality.
“Summer was awesome. I cannot believe he walked up right to the boss and shot him in the eye.”
“Try Corbin here. While we were mobbing the boss, he somehow stuck his spear up the boss’s ass.”
“Eww, that’s disgusting!” One female party member exclaimed.
“I did not stick it into his ass! It was just an accident!” Sputtering, Corbin defended himself.
“I was wondering why the boss gave a girly yelp!” One quipped.
Everyone laughed at that. This sort of good-natured bantering was pleasant to Summer. He was a good boss. But there was some distance that could not be crossed. It was still noticeable in-game, just a lot less.
His party was not all fun and no work. All of them had a minor responsibility to monitor the trends of the market and game. Due to the low cost associated with the non-physical nature of their recent work, Daniel’s profit had increased manifold.
Playing with one end of his mustache, Summer idly thought about his best friend was doing right at the moment.
‘Probably already beat my time in the Training Hall.’
It would not be a surprise. Daniel always knew of Ronald’s competitive nature. It was one of his strengths yet also his weakness. Ronald was only competitive against him however.
‘Wonder if he will pick another melee class this time. A tanker?’
Their usual pattern was Daniel picking a range class. Archer this time, while Ronald would pick a melee class. Usually it would be a tank warrior type. They never got real famous, well, Ronald didn’t, anyway. It was enough that they managed to go real far in any MMORPG they had played in the past.
‘About three more days. I give him five days until he reaches here. Got to prepare some welcome for him,’ thought Summer cheerfully.
The conversation around them soon moved to what dungeon they would conquer, with Daniel providing details on what would be needed for each dungeon.
Summer’s prediction was dead on. Winter was indeed planning to drop by the Golden Goose the very moment he exited the city. None of them had thought that it might take both of them a lot longer than that to meet inside Royal Road. The author got ahead of himself, however.
Winter was enjoying the night air in Cosare. He finally had the opportunity to tour the city. There was no more weight in his mind since he had already beaten Daniel’s time in the Training Hall. After spending enough time, more than enough time actually, within the Training Hall, Daniel’s skeptical expression made a lot of sense. Whoever finished the entirety of the training hall would be… an idiot? Fanatic? Beast? Freak? Winter had no idea what word he would use to fill the blank.
‘Maybe iron-willed. Yes. That sounds a lot better,’ he nodded to himself while continuing to take in the view of his surroundings.
He had passed several taverns with warms lights peeking out through the cracks between the frames of the boards. Some NPC peddlers were hawking their wares in the market. Players did the same around the market area and city square. Myriads of items were displayed, such as strong, beautiful-looking weapons, armor, japtem for quests and some other consumable items. Of great interest to Winter. was the food sold. He had been eating only rye bread and expected the same; until he was done with his one month time. He expected no luxury such as eating delicious-smelling rabbit stew or roasting fox meat, seeing the small amount money he had.
‘Only 10 coppers. Got to save it for emergencies.’ He checked his inventory.
‘Maybe I should get a job at some inn or restaurant. Yes. I will do just that. Free food.’
He passed by those too during his jaunt. Seen from the other side of the window, all players inside looked so happy eating the served food.
Having made his choice, Winter went to a few inns and restaurants, checking if they were hiring anyone. He got a job as an errant boy after his sixth try.
The reward was not much. 30 Coppers. But it helped him gain another level and another five stat points, that he left unallocated. He was also told to come by around the same time tomorrow if he was interested in more work. He promised he would be back.
Throughout the night, he hit a few more places, getting pretty much the same type of errand running quests. He brought messages, moved crates, and one time, he was even peeling potatoes. He had not cooked for a very long time, choosing to eat out most of the time. He had no trouble completing the quest, though two coppers were deducted from his reward for spoiling some potatoes, his first few failed attempts at regaining his quite deft hands. It was not disappointing at all, since he gained a skill from it.
Handicraft Skill [1] 18%
Enables you to learn cooking or tailoring skills.
Increases attack power of melee or range weapons. (+1% ATK).
Increases attack power of fists (+2% ATK)
‘I will be eating something else besides rye bread soon.’
On the third day of running small quests, he gained another skill.
Cooking Skill [1] 0%
Enables you to cook any food. Result varies depending on expertise rating, ingredients and skill.
Affected by player’s Agility stat, Handicraft Skill and Art stat.
There was no food recipe included inside the sub menu of the skill. It only listed <
‘Finish up the rye bread first. then move on to other food.’
Thriftiness of a businessman!
Taking small bites of the hard rye bread to fill up his satiety level, Winter seated himself at a corner of a park bench. The swaying trees and grass created a sense of peacefulness in him. He tucked the largely untouched bread back in his inventory, leaving his satiety level not wholly full. Though it drained his stamina faster, he discovered that it caused no noticeable difference in how fast the satiety bar decreased.
Stretching, Winter was about to find more work, when a robed character walked pass him.
“Excuse me, Sir, I am wondering if by chance you saw a little girl about this height, dressed in green, around here?”
The man’s hand gesture described a girl probably around eight years old. Winter shook his head.
“Thank you for your time. Have a good day.”
The man said, not acting at all agitated. His neck craned left and right around the park however, spying the bushes and trees carefully. It was possible that it was some sort of quest. Winter was about to give it more thought when a bit to his left, some ten meters ahead, a little girl in green sneaked from one tree to another. Winter would not had noticed if not for her hair, which was jet black in color. As the man that asked about her earlier had said, she was wearing a green dress, that camouflaged her among the leaves.
Catching The Little Girl in Green
A man is looking for this particular girl. He is her father. No idea what will be in store for her. But it cannot be bad right?
Difficulty level: E
Quest Requirement: Contact with the Robed Man in the Park
Reward: Unknown
Ever seen someone get chased because they run? It was what happened. The little girl turned, and both of them made eye contact. She ran, and Winter chased automatically.
“Wait! Don’t run!”
“Go away! Don’t chase me!”
Damn if the little girl wasn’t fast on her feet. Her slight build gave her a marked advantage dodging between trees and short branches.
You are injured. HP -5
You are injured. HP -5
Such messages popped up when Winter failed to dodge the tree branches jutting out. He cursed a little, while keeping up the chase. Finally, there was a stretch of empty land. She was cut off by the small lake in front of her. Winter was guaranteed to catch her before she managed to reach the tree line, a good distance on either side of the lake. He was also confident that she would not get pass him.
While the girl ran her options inside her head, Winter, who was a little winded, caught his breath.
’30 stamina consumed for chasing a little girl! For real?!’ That was half his stamina bar.
In the little girl’s eyes, Winter looked like a very nasty-looking character, with his slit eyes, white hair, and constant scowl while chasing after her.
“Quit running! Come with me!” Yelled the man.
Bravo to Ronald and his inept social skill. He had never been particularly good around kids.
When he took a step, the little girl decided that getting caught by this unsavory-looking man wasn’t an option.
Winter took a step closer to the little girl. He was about to explain that a man, probably her father, was looking for her. But before he got the words out, he was punched in the gut.
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“Oof!” Was the word that came out when he was launched a few feet into the air. The ground met his backside soon.
You took damage. HP -30
People around Ronald’s age usually experienced a scrape or two in their time. Ronald had slightly more than average, due to his sometimes abrasive personality when the mood called for it. He reflexively sat up. There was no need to check how badly he was injured, since it was virtual reality. His subconscious had subtracted that possibility. He also noticed that it took a good chunk out of his 230HP that had decreased earlier from his foray among the greens. 110HP was left.
An adult-sized fist the size of a pro boxer’s, jutted out from ground. It was completely made from earth, angled exactly where his gut was. He immediately knew that this was his first experience with magic in the game. He wasn’t expecting to get punched in the gut by an earthen fist for his first experience, however.
‘Crap.’
Another wave of the wand, and this time Winter felt two blows at both sides of his head.
You took damage. HP -20
You took damage. HP -20
You are stunned for six seconds.
While waiting for the head-spinning effect to fade, Winter appreciated the humor that he was about to get wasted by a little girl waving her magic wand.
She seemed to be building up to a big finish too, waving her wand a few times. And Indeed it was. An open palm was rising between the little girl and him. It was HUGE! It rose higher and higher, the open palm more than enough to cover his body, and then some. Winter saw what was coming.
Death by getting smacked like a mosquito!
Two seconds in, the palm descended.
‘I was curious how it feels to die here anyway. Oh well.’ Winter thought in a resigned manner.
There is something macabre about facing a potentially deadly situation. You suddenly have the time to observe the progress.
So Winter observed as a slender hand, completely black, picked up the little girl by her scruff and dunked her in the lake, while a pillar of tubular pillar of the same color, much shorter than the hand, rose up right at its root to strike the descending rocky hand about to swat him. It jarred the earth around Winter and broke it.
The earthen hand faded to dust, but was carried by the wind before it hit the ground. The solid black tube also slowly descended back into the ground. The only evidence that any disturbance had ever happened, was patches of earth where grasses were shoved away to make exit points for the magical hands. Even those disturbed grasses were slowly going back to their previous spot, though anyone that gave a second glance would notice that the grass grew in a haphazard manner on several spots.
The hand that did the dunking did not disappear while Winter processed his predicament. It continued dunking the sputtering little girl a few more times, before remaining still a meter above water, the clearly formed thumb and forefinger pinching the scruff of the little girl’s green dress. She had ceased struggling.
“Sorry about that, good Sir, my daughter really has no manners. Are you okay?”
The very same man with his robe and dark hair knelt beside Winter.
“I am okay. It is not an everyday occurrence for me to get smacked by a giant hand, though.”
Sometimes Winter had good wits. Sometimes. The man laughed at the reply, while helping Winter up.
“And now, daughter, your deserving punishment.”
His face turned hard. The hand reversed the direction it was facing and let the little girl go gently. She began walking to both of them, dripping wet, looking chastised.
“I am sorry for running away, Father. But the lesson was boring!” She gave her best little girl pout.
It was something Ronald had not seen for a very long time. That was the sort of face Daniel’s daughter made when she was caught doing something she should not. It was also the kind of face that Ronald used, whenever he was at Daniel’s house, to quickly ask his best friend to forgive her and be done with it. He would then spin her around gleefully while Daniel shook his head.
‘Wonder what sort of girl she is now. The little chipmunk.’
“Can you please forgive her, friend? I probably scared her more than she scared me.”
Smiling in the sweet memory, Ronald reflexively tousled the wet hair.
“Maybe next time she would not be so quick to smack another person, eh?”
Being double teamed, by someone victimized by her daughter and the said culprit, there was no other recourse for him but to do so.
“Of course, good Sir. I will do so on your account. But at least allow me to offer a recompense for your discomfort.”
“Please, there is no need.” Though it would probably be the quest reward, Ronald wasn’t interested.
“Please, I insist. I would not rest easy otherwise.”
Ronald knew when he should stop pushing away gifts.
“This is not my most precious item. But this is the most precious one I have on hand. I believe it will be useful in the future for an adventurer such as you. Please kindly accept it.”
It was a scroll with gold caps on both ends.
‘Could be sold for a pretty penny, maybe. Looks pretty rare.’
“Er… I am sorry. What am I to do with this if you do not mind me asking?”
The man looked a little puzzled for a second.
“Ah, are you by chance new at adventuring, good Sir?” Winter nodded.
The man tapped the scroll on my hand. A window popped up.
Magic Scroll: Thousand Bolt
One time use only. Allows the use of Thousand Bolt magic by following the written instructions.
One of the rare High Magic converted by a genius to a ceremonial form. Usable by any class and any level. It has reduced power in exchange to its simplicity. Still plenty destructive however.
Thousand Bolt
A specialized Tier 12 Wide Area Annihilation magic. Like its name, it is a Lightning element magic. A standard spell for wise Wizards of old age. Not many learned this particular spell as it is fiendishly difficult. It is even more difficult to find someone that still remain faithful to the old teachings and know the secret of teaching this spell.
Requires sacrifice of 3000 Magic Points.
‘Whoa.’ Exclaimed Winter.
It was unlikely for the item to be of highest tier. No newbie would be that lucky.
Giving his best winning smile, Winter thanked him.
“My name is Minalan. This is my daughter, Adria. Do look both of us up if you are ever around the Magic District side of town.”
“Winter. I will be sure to do that if I am ever around.”
He knelt down so his eye was level to Adria’s.
“Do go easy when I visit. I am not as sturdy as I look.”
Adria gave him a sheepish smile. A little blush crept to her cheek. Behind Winter, Minalan smiled.
Exchanging farewells, Winter split up from both parent and daughter at the exit of the park.
Quest Completed: The Little Girl in Green
You Leveled Up!
Familiarity with Minalan and Adria increased.
Familiarity with Magic type NPC increased.
“But, he looks real scary!” Whined Adria at the turning of a corner.
Winter did not hear the reply from Minalan.
**********************************************************
Ronald logged out of Royal Road.
‘I am getting too old for this.’
He had been up for nearly two days, playing. Thoughts on making good use of his budding relationship with the father and daughter swirled in his mind.
‘What else does he have in his home, I wonder.’
‘Maybe I can do more quests with good rewards from him.’
His thoughts were along those lines.
There was another thought foremost on his mind. Magic.
In the old MMORPG he played, mage characters always had low health and defense, offset by their huge damage. It required them to be standing still, mainly while blasting away. For someone with little patience when he was much younger, it never suited his playing style. There was little excitement there.
What he experienced firsthand in Royal Road though, was something else. A caster still had to stand unmoving while casting. But the effect was more impressive. Much, much more than several melee skills he saw in the Training Hall.
He searched the net for more information and videos in regards to the skills of mages and warriors. Not to say that warriors had none or little. He had experienced the magic side first, and it had moved him. It also brought inner turmoil. He was unsure whether to remain as a warrior, or striking out in a completely new direction.
Holding onto the turmoil, he slept like a log until early morning.
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Author's Note:
1. Credit to -The Slacker- for the diligent PR
2. Credit to several people that helped with bouncing ideas, being good listener, and random talk that leads to some creative process. No idea if they wanted to be credited for now. But I will leave it open.