Now that I was alone again, I had to think of the next thing I wanted to do. Belatedly, I remembered that the victory window from Hillock’s fight told me to talk to the NPCs here. Players seemed to be grouping around two in particular, a buff, tattooed, grumpy-looking guy irritably crossing his arms, and a slender, frail-looking woman puttering around the area of the camp that counted as the infirmary. Between the two, I’d rather talk to the woman first…the guy looks like he wouldn’t appreciate being bothered.
“Uh, excuse me,” I called out as I approached her. She jumped a little, but turned to face me readily enough.
“Yes, can I help you?” She murmured. Her voice was as wispy as her physique. The other players trying to talk to her didn’t appear to mind my intrusion, even continuing their individual conversations with nobody in particular. Maybe NPC interactions are instanced? It would make sense, since everybody has to talk to the same people, but players can’t just wait in line patiently to turn in quests.
Shaking my head to clear out the distracting thoughts, I said, “I defeated the brute outside, Hillock, and thought I should report it.” I didn’t bother mentioning game concepts like quest windows. As an NPC, I doubted she’d respond to them anyway.
Her pale eyes widened. “You killed Hillock? Amazing. That tyrant had been lording over this camp since he and his band of misfits stormed the beach. I really must thank you! Would you accept this as a reward for your efforts?”
A window appeared, startling me. It read:
Do you accept?
“Yes, thanks!” I hastily said. Never pass on free stuff, especially when the word “skill” is attached!
Tessa nodded with a small smile, and there was a quiet “ding!” as the first window vanished and was replaced by a much larger one.
The Skill Gem,
Skill Gems can be socketed into equipment with Gem Sockets of a matching color.
To use an equipped Skill Gem, speak the name of or strongly think of the image invoked by the Skill Gem. (e.g. To use Fiery Slash, you must have a blade equipped and visualise slashing with fire.)
Gem Sockets can be viewed easily in your Inventory screen.
Dismissing the window, I opened the flap of my little leg-satchel, and sure enough, above the mostly empty inventory grid, there was a simple equipment grid with spaces for two weapons, armor for various body parts, and a few trinkets. My bow and quiver occupied both weapon spaces, and my tattered rag of a dress didn’t even count as equipment at all. In the grid below, I could see the stale bread Calvin gave me still sitting in one box, a tarnished-looking brass pendant, a shiny blue gem with an intricate gold casing, and an oddly-shaped rock with a small white “3” in the corner. I suppose the new items are my spoils from the boss fight? Neither my bow or quiver had anything looking like a socket on their equipment windows, so I left the gem alone, but I tapped the pendant and dropped it into the necklace equipment slot. A brief golden “+5 STR” floated out of the window, and dissolved. So equipment can give status boosts too, huh? It makes sense, for an item called “Amulet of Giant’s Strength.”
Thinking about the boss fight reminded me, I had unspent Skill Points! I pulled up my Skill Tree and advanced the Dexterity branch again, and after a short internal debate used the other one to advance the Intelligence branch. I never liked the idea of min-maxing a character, and it was extremely important now to be comfortable with my playstyle!
Tessa spoke up once I was done fiddling with menus and screens. “You’ll want to tell Tarkleigh about your feat. He’s something like the leader of our camp here. I know he’s a bit irritable, but he’s a good man.” She indicated the angry guy standing imposingly by the camp’s second gate, then bid me a quick farewell and went back to tending the ill and injured.
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Moving back to the center of the camp, I sighed and approached the grumpy man. None of the other players were standing too close, either, but they weren’t being chased away, so how bad could he be?
Once I was close enough, he acknowledged my presence with an even fiercer scowl and a grumble of, “Fucking hell, not another one.” Okay, noted. He’s as grumpy as he looks!
Feeling put off, I tried to shake it off and said, “I was recommended to report the defeat of Hillock and his thugs.”
He raised a bushy eyebrow inquiringly. “A waif like you took down an oaf like that? Maybe you’ve more steel than you show. Well, you did make it in here, so I suppose you’ve got nothin’ to hide.” He uncrossed his arms and shook my hand firmly with a calloused grip. “Welcome to Lioneye’s Watch, our shithole of a camp. Eh, it’s surely not the best, but it’s better than the nightmares outside. Mind you don’t disturb the peace.”
“Um, I won’t?” I answered, discreetly nursing my poor hand. I heard another “ding!”
Congratulations,
Quests can be either Story Quests or Task Quests. Story Quests must be performed in a certain order, and will determine your role in the fate of Wraeclast and its inhabitants. Task Quests are granted by NPCs or special Quest Items, and will not influence the world as a whole.
Your reward for fulfilling this Quest is:
1000 EXP, +1 Skill Point
I heard the familiar sound of the experience bar filling up, and yet another “ding!” The window vanished and was replaced with:
You have reached Level 5.
Now that you are more experienced, the automatic status increase will be replaced by an increase of 5 to one stat of choice.
Please select:
STR/INT/DEX
The level-up reward changed at level 5? That seemed a little weird to me, but I guess it was to keep the stat numbers at reasonable levels. If everyone got +10 to all stats for every level, stat restrictions on items would be pointless. With another sigh, I chose Dexterity. As a squishy archer, having good aim and fast feet would serve me better than anything else.
Just then, Tarkleigh cleared his throat to get my attention back. “You did a good deed for this camp, and I believe good deeds should be rewarded. Take these, for the future.” Woah, I’m getting so much stuff so quickly! It almost seemed too good to be true, like my entire ordeal in the tutorial was a lie.
Do you accept?
“Yes! Wow, yes, thanks,” I stammered. A Skill Book?! Did that mean I could learn a skill to use without needing to equip a skill gem?
When I checked the newest additions to my inventory, though, it just granted an extra skill point to use. It was still an awesome reward! I used the book on the spot, spent the skill point on the Dexterity branch, and equipped the new bow to my main weapon slot. It even had a gem socket! When I tried touching my skill gem to the socket, I felt a slight chill run through me, like I’d passed through a film of cool water, and then the gem sat firmly in its socket on the back of the bow, just above where my hand gripped it. I took a moment to review my numbers. My Strength was now sitting at 25 thanks to the boost from my new amulet, but my Intelligence and Dexterity had both rocketed forward to 40 and 50, respectively! Since I decided to stick with the bow, I didn’t really mind having a low Strength stat, but it did limit my health pool severely. I suppose in the future I’d have to work to balance that out, but for the moment I felt pretty good!
“Lil’ missy, I run a small barter program in this camp with Tessa’s help. We always need materials, and have goods to trade for them,” Tarkleigh continued. He opened a heavy-looking chest at his side, and a large inventory screen appeared in it similar to my little pouch. His, though, was absolutely packed with gear! Weapons, armor, shoes, even quivers and arrows! Everything had a small square marking with a sketch of some material or other and a number, presumably the quantity. There were multiple tabs, and I took a moment to browse. In the end, I found a leather corset for two whetstones and a bundle of 30 arrows for just one whetstone, that I decided were worth handing over all the whetstones I had. Not like I needed them for anything, either. I was even able to sell my old bow for a shard of some blue crystal, labeled “Transmutation Fragment.” It wasn’t useful in any way, but something told me that if I gathered enough of them it’d be worth my time.
Having stowed away my new arrows, struggled to lace up my new sturdy corset, and sorted out all the distracting windows, I finally made my way back over to the wall where I first rested. I pulled the loaf of stale bread from my inventory and started to nibble on it. The dusty taste made me long for my hot coffee and bacon from breakfast this morning…but it was a world away, now. I would eat all the bacon and drink all the coffee I could get my hands on when I made it back!...If I made it back.
Feeling lonely, I sat down with my back to the wall, closed my eyes, and tried not to think anymore.