Lucas accepted the quest because he hadn’t managed to pick up the herbalism skill yet.

In Dawn of the Realms, there was a small and seldom encountered part of the quest system where a player could gain precious skill points by completing a related quest. In general you only got three skill points per seldom-achieved level, and so a free skill point was quite valuable.

And Lucas liked playing jack of all trades. He’d much rather be able to play around with any of the game’s systems than attempt to achieve mastery of any specific skill.

So when he found an NPC that was looking for a guardian for an herb gathering trip, he was quick to agree. The NPC would be heading to a meadow just north of town, in a dangerous wood, and was looking for a protector. The reward was trash, and the challenge low, but even that small chance of picking up herbalism made the trip worth it.

So he set out with the NPC, a cute young thing named Laura.

They passed through the snow-bound town, though soon enough they had left it’s brick and light behind them. The wood was dark and foreboding, and Lucas whistled at the artistry before him. The forest loomed and crackled through his screen, and he noticed that their foot prints were even leaving tracks in the snow, as far back as he could see.

Soon enough they arrived in the meadow, and the girl set about picking her plants. Lucas looked around himself, but without a rank in the herbalism skill there was nothing to distinguish the actual, harvestable plants from the generic stuff there to fill the scenery.

He spent several bored minutes waiting for something to happen, but he was not disappointed when something finally did.

The NPC screamed, and Lucas turned to see what she had seen. There, approaching the edge of the forest, a group of creatures approached. They were hideous, the size of children but with tiny heads attached to muscular body, only scraps of cloth maintaining whatever modesty they had. Their skin came in all the colors of disease, and the creatures had rough hewn ropes lashed around a bear. It was sickly and scarred, and it didn’t resist as it was dragged to the edge of the forest. Only when they arrived, and the creatures removed the ropes from its collar, did it react.

It lifted its nose in the air and sniffed, as the wretches around it climbed into the trees. The thick scars where its eyes had once dwelt meant it could see nothing, but it could smell them.

It charged, a half ton of meat and muscle barreling towards them.

Lucas had his character draw a longsword and dagger, and prepared for the creature’s attack. As the creature neared, he dodged to the side, and the bear had to spend several seconds stopping itself and changing course. In those moments, Lucas was able to put several blows into the creature, not that it seemed to notice.

The fight proved to be one of attrition. Lucas was unable to greatly injure it, but the beast was not limber enough to hit him. As long as he kept a careful eye on his stamina, and didn’t get greedy, victory would be his.

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After four minutes of carefully wearing down the bear, Lucas finally had it down to a sliver of health. He was hopeful that whatever the bear dropped would be better than the actual quest reward, since it seemed to be a unique encounter.

Then, while dodging back from the bear, he tripped over the NPC.

He hadn’t even noticed her there, behind him, kneeling amongst the tall grass and trying to avoid the bear’s attention. When he performed his dodge back, in her direction, the animation engine kicked in, causing his character to trip and fall due to her prone form.

Lucas cursed aloud at this setback, desperate to avoid dying now. He’d been hit a few times by the bear, and while a normal hit wouldn’t finish him off, a badly timed crit might.

Sure enough, the bear was charging now, and there was no way his character would have his stamina back in time to avoid the blow.

However, there was something between the bear and his avatar.

The bear’s charge hit the NPC full force.

She had just looked up and had no chance at all to avoid the attack. The bear didn’t try to bite, or tear, it just used its massive bulk to ram her. She went flying, her small form broken in an instant, and she landed a dozen yards behind Lucas’ character.

Lucas didn’t notice most of that at the time. He just noticed that the bear was distracted.

A lucky crit later, and the fight was complete.

Eager for his reward, Lucas began to harvest the bear. Fifteen seconds later, he was the proud owner of a Dire Bear Skin, as well as a Collar of Taming. All in all, the quest had definitely paid off.

Then he noticed the NPC.

She was still alive, though it was a near thing. Several bones were broken, with one of her arms and both her legs pointing in entirely the wrong directions. She wasn’t able to speak, though, she seemed to be trying to draw in enough breath to speak. Small sparkling tears rolled down her cheeks, like diamond’s in the night air, and a small pool of blood was slowly staining the snow under her.

Lucas watched, captivated, as her mouth moved, hollowly trying to put out words. He moved his character closer, and watched as it knelt next to her.

At last, she seemed to gather the breath to speak.

“Help me,” she gasped, voice small.

Lucas felt a shudder run through his body. He felt warm, and flush, and his throat was raw.

It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. The look on her face, the way her body was arranged, the glittering of light upon her skin, every moment was perfect.

His character was kneeling beside her, his carving knife still out from where he’d skinned the bear.

Without thinking, he pressed the button to harvest, and his character got to work.

He didn’t get that herbalism skill, but he did pick up another rank in his skinning skill.

A few minutes later, he logged off. He sat at his computer for ten more minutes, until he thought he had control, and stood up.

When he thought he’d be able to walk calmly, he headed to the bathroom to wash before bed.

“Have a good night dear,” he heard his mother call from the living room. “Sweet dreams!”

He smiled. He was fairly certain his dreams tonight would be wonderful.

“You too, mom!” he called out cheerfully.

Half an hour later, Cicero Nine Spine opened his eyes.