The pot-bellied monsters surround the two adventurers who were back to back—about to be hunted and feasted. Although, because of Arka's previous kill on one of these beasts, they instinctively maintain a few meters of spacing away from her, aware of her sword's reach. For Banelfsing however, the monsters stay near with little room for him to extend his attacks.
Despite the death of one of these creatures’ kin, they remain unfazed without the uncertainty of resorting to fleeing or hiding.
It was clear who was the predator, and prey among them.
The pot-belly monsters are called, Bor-kulitz.
Arka can identify one due to her previous, swift, kill on one of them.
Whenever you kill a monster in Helsfate Online, its name will be revealed and recorded to the player's monster index. This index was saved to the player’s own Dive Console which will only to be brought up when the player performs their Examine skill, an innate talent that players have to refer to and determine the previously encountered monster’s weaknesses at will. Players are not sure of the extent of what this index can record.
A Bor-kulitz suddenly strayed away from its group in Arka's field of view. As Arka saw this, she immediately dashed forward with her sword in hand and aimed to behead the beast's small head.
But she missed as the creature quickly stepped back. Arka was surprised as the creature portrayed its sudden agility. Its six limbs weren’t just for show.
And then, it pounced at Arka, with its mouth open, and its carnivorous teeth exposed, about to bite her.
Arka quickly stepped back herself, almost losing her footing while she lunged her sword forward while the creature was in the middle of pouncing at her. It pierced through the beast's thick, fleshy body, and it stopped the beast's attack. But it wasn't enough for a mortal wound.
The Bor-kulitz kept chomping and pushing her down with its weight as it screeched at her, hungering for its lunch.
With the torch she held, she rammed it into the creature's eyes. This left the beast burnt and blinded, halting its attempts at biting her.
Arka quickly pulled out her sword and swung it once more.
A clean hit.
And just like that, the Bor-kulitz' small head with its crab-like eyes dropped unto the cave floor, resounding with a slop. Its round and fleshy body followed after.
"T-These things move quickly! You gotta... bait them first!" Arka said to Banelfsing, as she stuttered.
"Got it," Banelfsing said in response.
Banelfsing quickly dropped the rucksack that was strapped on him, allowing himself to make his movements quicker. After that, he charged forward to one of the creatures closest to him.
A few feet away from his target, he saw the beast attempt to pounce at him. He quickly hopped back and made a quick turn to the beast's side.
With his body backward and his daggers held in a reversed grip, he quickly cut off one of its protruding eyes. The beast's other companions attempted to charge in at Banelfsing, about to take a bite off him as they saw this likely opening.
The creatures bit down on whatever they chewed, and a loud rip echoed across the cave being torn away from Banelfsing.
A part of the tail of his padded armor was bitten off. Banelfsing was able to evad in the nick of time.
The one-eyed Bor-kulitz then attempted to turn its body at its blindside to face him. But as it did, Banelfsing circled it and decapitated its head after a quick forward lunge with his other dagger. As the blood he drew dripped from its blades unto the cave floor, so did the head, and the fat, round body of this creature.
Arka's fighting the two Bor-kulitz. As one of these creatures lunged at her, she immediately stepped to the side, and behead this creature's small head with the right speed and reach with her sword. She's coming to understand the movement and attack of this type of creature with ease.
As she's fighting the Bor-kulitz she also glanced up at the three unknown beasts to keep them in check on the wall in case they would leap at her.
And to Arka's hunch, two of the creatures on the cave walls were about to leap down at her. Arka saw this.
She jumped out of the way as the two creatures dropped from the air, with their claws out.
As the creatures landed on two of their humanoid arms, they stood at a height of 4’6”. And with momentum on their landing, they immediately stormed at her— their claws drawn out, and their extensive tongues dangling, with certainty, of a sure kill.
Still unwavering, she stood her ground, waiting for a chance to strike. Arka relaxed her shoulders, one sword, and one torch in front of her, with a stance at the ready.
But suddenly—
One of these beasts tripped and fell, interrupting and stumbling its companion; just a few feet away from Arka.
Turns out, Banelfsing was done with his fight with the Bor-kulitz. He shot his crossbow, and it pierced through one of the creature's exposed sides. He portrayed a distressed expression, showing his inexperience and uncertainty with the crossbow he held.
A lucky shot it was.
Arka seeing this opportunity, charged forward at the other creature momentarily incapacitated. Drawing close, she swung her sword upwards, aiming for the head.
Her sword successfully connected, decapitating the creature, as its once, living body slumped to the ground, and its head with its long, tongue, rolled to her feet. Its blood splattered on her darkened, steel armor, as the pressure of flowing blood on the creature's body diminished.
A new monster registered in her index. The one she slew just now was called a Drak'septh.
"Thanks." Arka said to Banelfsing.
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Banelfsing nodded at her, as he shot his crossbow at the other creature in the head at point-blank range.
It wasn't time to relax yet, however, as a few remain. Arka and Banelfsing turned to face the last remaining monsters.
And so, they fought.
Experience is earned in Helsfate, by hunting monsters or completing specific quests. Hunting monsters is the most efficient way of gaining this experience.
The supposed difficulty curve begins with the weakest ones giving 1 exp, then the curve becomes slightly more difficult once you fight the monsters that give 6 exp, while the hardest monsters in the curve can give up to 13 or more. However, this is all highly subjective in the game world, and each player still has their own preferences in what they would like to hunt.
The reason for this subjectiveness was because Helsfate Online uses movement, spacing, timing, and attacking—pretty much the overall use of the 3D world was put into the combat formula.
But of course, the type of monsters were also put into consideration for these factors of the supposed difficulty curve.
Right now, Arka and Banelfsing were earning about 1 – 3 experience points for each kill of these monsters.
Arka and Banelfsing were left in the cave, as scattered bodies and pools of blood from the monsters they fought littered the cave floor.
Both of them are sitting on the ground, resting due to the mental exhaustion from the fight; with Arka, the most exhausted due to a lack of sleep. But she's used to all-nighters, so she didn't complain about it.
At the same time, they waited for their HP to regenerate to 100%.
After catching their breath moments later, Arka stood up.
"Let's continue." She said.
Banelfsing felt reluctant "Don't wanna rest anymore?"
"No," Arka said. "The more we stay here, the sooner these creatures will respawn," She said.
Banelfsing felt reluctant no further. "Right... good point. But... dungeon monsters don't respawn do they?"
"I'm not... even sure if this is a dungeon." Arka said. "I don't have... any idea of what this place is... But I don't wanna sit here and find out about it. Better to be safe than sorry when these guys respawn..." she said in her slow tone.
"Well, if you say so," Banelfsing said, as he stood up from the ground, and went to fetch his rucksack.
After that, Arka and Banelfsing continued their journey in the dark cave.
Without all the monsters here... this place is actually quite peaceful... Arka thought.
"By the way..." Banelfsing said. "You're pretty good at beheading things," He said.
Arka glanced over at Banelfsing. She can't help but feel a shred of doubt for some reason being praised for her skill... actually, was it proper praise to tell that to a lady, even?
After a short pause— "Could... could say the same with you..." She said as she looked back on the cave's path, with her torch in hand.
Later, they arrived at a location with tiny bioluminescent plants. She didn't need the torch anymore because of the ample lighting. Still, she held on to it; just in case. They didn't encounter a single monster or trap anymore before their arrival. Although, it took a few dead ends and backtracking before they reached here.
“Hey, B-Ban Uhh... W-Why do you think we earn experience?” Arka suddenly asked.
“To level up?” Ban replied without a second thought.
“N-No... I mean, there’s no... E.X.P bar to tell whether we’re even making progress...”
“Oh, now that you mention it...”
Players in Helsfate do earn experience, however, it was just as Arka has said, there was nothing to indicate their progress. So, why do they even earn experience points from slain monsters?
“You know what—beats me... I mean, this game is still in its alpha test anyway. It could be a feature soon,”
“I...I suppose you... are right about t-that,” Arka said.
They eventually found some old, wooden stairs and a large, wooden platform.
Arka looked more at the surroundings of the place they were in. Thanks to the glowing plants that surround the area, she was able to distinguish that there are piles of wooden crates. Some were broken beyond repair, and some were untouched. Debris lay around in the corners near these crates.
Arka spots soon with her peripheral vision, something that moved. It shone a faint light.
She looked up, and saw a swarm of fireflies... but these fireflies have a pair of long, soft tails. They uttered without a sound as they flew around at the top of the cave.
More of these firefly-like insects flew at the sides of the cave they were in. They didn't pay attention to Arka and her partner. They were harmless.
"The treasure must be at the top," Banelfsing said.
“How can you tell?” Arka asked.
“I have game sense,” Banelfsing said.
This whole cave does look linear now that he mentions it... Arka thought.
The two of them walks across the luminescent cave, and up the wooden stairs. While they were climbing, one of the steps broke as Arka took her fourth step. She almost fell through. It seems her heavy armor couldn't support the weathered staircase for long. She and Banelfsing were still able continue heading up, though, while Arka remained careful as she ascended.
And finally, they reached the top. There are tables placed with weathered parchments and bottles of different shapes and sizes.
At the far end of the platform is a large, coarse, chest.
"There it is!" Banelfsing exclaimed in excitement and pointed at the chest for Arka to see. Arka looked in the direction Banelfsing pointed in response.
Both Arka and Banelfsing approached the chest in the room. A few creaks on the wooden floor indicate that it could break easily, so as they walked across the platform, they took cautious footsteps.
Eventually, they reached the large, and rough chest in the room. Arka and Banelfsing stood in front of it.
Since it was Banelfsing's treasure, Arka moved to the side, as he let him kneel next to the chest, preparing to open it.
Banelfsing rested his hands on the lid. He exhaled a breath of relief knowing, that his adventure was over. "So, we'll split, huh?" He asked.
"Yeah. I want half..." Arka said as she leaned to a beam of the wooden platform, with her arms crossed.
After what happened recently, it was only appropriate to split the spoils of the treasure they found.
"Done," Banelfsing said
And so, he opened the chest. Inside, was a large volume of old coins, a pair of metal pauldrons, metal greaves, a pair of gloves, a leather helmet, and a goblet.
The coins that they found were from an old kingdom, long gone. Using their examine skill shows an unknown value for the coins... they reckon it was useless currency for them to keep in-game. It only added more weight to their inventory.
Still, they agreed on splitting the spoils over the armor pieces. Arka took the metal armor pieces and hid them in her satchel. Her satchel bloated, with some of the metal pieces protruding out of its flap. Banelfsing took the leather ones, and it both got stuffed in his rucksack without any problems. They agreed to split between the Fels from the goblet that Banelfsing will sell, agreeing that he'd trade the Fels to her once Arka logs back in.
Later, they finally left the cave, without any worries about the traps. The monsters activated them previously and were the ones that got caught in it. Arka thought the A.I. for these monsters were still unrefined.
Outside the cave, Arka and Banelfsing said their farewells, and they left their separate ways. It was finally time for Arka to log out of the game.
She's standing near the entrance to the cave, as she saw Banelfsing leave heading back to town to play the game some more.
She has been online for 36 hours, only taking breaks for bathroom and food breaks.
Arka was now alone. She looked at the lush forest in front of her one last time, and once again, opened the hidden, system settings menu of the game. She directed her pupils at the logout icon and selected it.
A count down suddenly appeared in front of her, which started at the 5-second mark.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1....
Arka opened her eyes, staring at her apartment's ceiling through the visor of her Dive Console. She felt the cotton of her soft, and springy bed on the palms of her hands.
She sat up slowly, as her head felt a heavy sensation. She was groggy after her many hours of gaming on Helsfate. She rubbed the side of her temple. Maybe she was about to catch a cold.
She recalled Banelfsing sending her a friend request in the game before they headed their separate ways. He told her that whenever either of them needs help, they'll just send each other a direct message in the game.
The friend request for Arka in the game felt so personal to her. It felt natural unlike how she used to send and receive friend requests in the other online games she has played for a long time with her old friends.
She just blamed the Con-Imm once again for fooling her senses, and the lack of sleep.
After that, she went to her bathroom, which is through a single door within a few meters of her room.
After she bathed, brushed her teeth and dried her long, outrageous hair with a blow dryer where it seemingly took her almost an hour to dry; she turned off the lights, and went to sleep.
It was midday when she finally had this well-deserved rest.