The Beast
Chapter 3: Cross Training
A Royal Road Fan Fiction… of sorts
By Halosty
Roger was hanging around towards the back of the group, not because he was a coward or lazy, but because it was the best idea. He’d been told to stay back, and he honestly wasn’t strong enough during the day to fight foxes well. Foxes, of course, being what Cael’van the ranger, Aeltas the warrior, and Lailam the druid were hunting. They had a good system for fighting them two or three at a time. Cael’van would find an pull the foxes to Aeltas, who would then cause them to attack him. Aeltas dodged, and occasionally took hits while keeping their interest by striking at them. Meanwhile, Cael’van shot arrows. Lailam provided buffs and healing, and if necessary, some magical damage.
Roger just got to sit there looking cute. He did this job extraordinarily well. Although it was generally useless for the average rabbit, they all started with the charisma stat. It even increased naturally as they leveled, although most of them never did. That’s what happens when you are on the bottom on the food chain.
The hunting was going very well until Cael’van accidentally pulled a wolf. Then *REPLACE stolen scene*. No, wait. It actually happened differently than that. This party could quite easily have handled a single wolf. What they couldn’t afford, however, were a few extra foxes. Instead of their intended two or three, Cael’van accidentally pulled four. This means that he and Aeltas had to fight two each. They probably could have survived this just fine, with the support of their druid. However, another fox showed up from behind, and decided that the druid looked very tasty.
With the other two party members occupied, Lailam would have to fight the fox alone. Since she was a support class, this meant she was pretty much going to die. She couldn’t afford to get hit. However, the fox very shortly changed its target to something much more tasty looking. This was only slightly after getting stomped on by a rabbit.
*Ding*
New Stat: Fighting Spirit
You can call on superhuman strength temporarily, or bring weaker monsters to their knees with a force in your eyes alone. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat, and it rises spontaneously, depending on the avatar’s action, especially if you fight monsters for a long time, or often confront monsters stronger than your current level.
This was, to say the very least, a stat that no normal rabbit could obtain. They never chose to fight, and certainly didn’t fight anything stronger than themselves. Roger, however, had fought foxes and a wolf, and come out on top. This time, he was likely weaker than the fox, owing to the huge disparity between his daytime and nighttime selves.
He had trouble dodging the fox because he was so much slower than he was used to. The fox got in a good swipe at him.
*Ding*
New Stat: Endurance
Reduces the loss of vitality and stamina. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat.
If only the stat had appeared earlier, Roger could have gotten some increases to it during his hunting the night before. Instead, now it came too late.
Roger was thrown back at Lailam’s feet with critical injuries. Since his health was below 10%, he would die.
Lailam looked down at him with tears in her eyes. She wasn’t a terrible player however, so she immediately healed him- although it only brought him up to 60% health. Then she buffed his strength and agility. “Run away Roger, I don’t want you to die!”
Tears fell from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Roger very much wanted to go save his own life, but for some reason he felt that he would regret it.
Instead, he sprang into action. As he used his hop skill to get critical damage on the fox’s head, the fox swiped at him. However, he could not hit him. Even before the buffs, Roger hadn’t actually been much slower than the fox. His real problems had come from being so much slower than he was used to. Since he had been buffed by Lailam, and because he’d had a little bit of practice being less quick, he quite handily avoided the fox.
His strength wasn’t too pathetic, either. Although nowhere near his nighttime levels, with each hit of his hop skill he was able to shave off about a tenth of the fox’s health. With some agile moves, he managed to bring the fox down, at only a small loss of health after that point.
Lailam, who had been intending to use her weak elemental spells to fight the fox, had covered her eyes. She couldn’t watch Roger get injured anymore. It was somewhat of an irrational move, because it would have been quite easy for him if she had helped.
When the fighting was over, she peeked through her fingers. There, she saw a rabbit sitting next to a nice fox pelt. She ran up and hugged him, and spun him around as she danced. Then she remembered about her party members.
After running over to them and quickly healing them with apologies, the managed to finish of their foxes, if not easily, at least without too much chance of death.
“Another fox showed up and attacked you, Lailam? How did you beat it?” asked Aeltas.
“Roger killed it,” she said.
“Riiight,” said Cael’van. “That’s… good.”
Secretly, they thought the fox had already been almost dead. However, Lailam had been the only one to watch, or, actually, not watch, the fight. She knew the fox had come in at full health, she just wasn’t entirely sure how Roger had beaten it.
The rest of their hunting went by without incident, but all too soon they had to be done. They went back to town to sell the small amount of loot they had gained.
Cael’van said, “Well, I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Hopefully in a few days, we can play a lot more, since it will be the weekend.”
Lailam brought Roger to a part in the city and talked to him, “I’ve got to log off now, I’ll see you later.” She set out a small pile of carrots. “Eat these if you get hungry, although you probably know how to find food for yourself. Goodbye.”
She gave him a tight hug. It might have been enough to hurt a normal rabbit, but Roger was just fine. He didn’t really understand the gesture though. Then she waved and disappeared.
So. That was a logoff. People just… went away? Roger kind of wished he could do that, but he didn’t really know where he would want to go. He decided to nibble on some carrots. Carrots were tasty.
Then, he heard the sounds of combat. He cautiously went to check it out. If there were combat happening in the city, he could do very little to affect it alone, during the day. From the edge of the park, he saw a building with an open front. Inside were a large number of strange people standing still. Another person was hitting one of them, apparently the one making the sounds of combat.
As Roger edged closer, he realized the ones that weren’t moving were also not alive. He was slightly relieved to find that no real combat was happening.
The one person in the building was muttering to himself. “Hmmph. Kids these days. No commitment to getting stronger. Nobody takes time to build up the basics.”
Roger moved into the building at the mention of getting stronger. That was one thing his little rabbit heart truly desired. The elf turned to look at him.
“Little rabbit, are you lost? Where is your owner?”
Roger had no real way to communicate with this man, but he tried to activate his fighting spirit to show the man he wanted to be stronger.
The elf looked slightly confused, then laughed. “Well, little one, you show more spirit than many who come around these days. You are welcome to strike the scarecrows, although I can give you no instruction myself. After all, I mostly teach swordsmen.”
Roger made some friendly noises and picked a scarecrow to start hitting. It was very hard to reach head height on one. Instead, Roger alternated between jumping at the lower chest and striking the pole at the base. He wasn’t actually sure how this was supposed to make him stronger. Still, based on what he overheard, it took commitment. At the very least, he could try it during the day.
When nighttime fell a few hours later, he had still not receive any benefits. Perhaps there were none. Still, he would try again the next day to make sure. Somehow, he felt that he no longer needed to sleep. Part of being an animal companion, perhaps.
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The Beast struck out into the woods. It was stronger now, and foxes were kit’s play(Note: a kit is a baby rabbit). The Beast hunted wolves. Well, one at a time. He had to be careful, but he was confident that he could outrun them if necessary. Although the night before he had trouble with a single wolf, with a 20% increase to his abilities, he was consistently able to take out a wolf. He was still careful to recover fully between any battle, because he did not want to risk death.
During these fights, his level as well as his endurance and fighting spirit stats grew. Even with 20% of his experience going to Lailam, he was sure that he was gaining experience faster because of his increased power.
The most interesting battle came on his way back towards safer areas, near dawn. The beast was in the domain of the foxes, and he ran across a warrior. This was in fact the very warrior who had started him on his fateful increase in power. The warrior struck the first blow, perhaps out of recognition, but more likely out of frustration at his previous loss to a rabbit. The Beast was prepared, and had been about to strike anyway. He dodged quickly to the side.
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Although the warrior was quite proficient in fighting rabbits most of the time, he wasn’t used to them really being this fast. Even more so, he wasn’t used to them having any strength at all, let alone enough to break his arm. This was, in fact, the first good location The Beast struck him. It was entirely by accident, as he intended to use the hop skill to smash the warrior’s face. Not really a better result for the warrior, which was why he threw up his arm to block. The cracking sound very much surprised him.
Prejudices drive people’s actions. Whether they are aware of them or not, they exist. For good reason, even, though they can be used wrongly too. Still, it is important for people to recognize wolves and lions as enemies to be afraid of. If they felt that way about rabbits, people would be too nervous to get anything done when they had nothing to fear. However, this distinction of dangerous foes is only useful until it is wrong. Then, it can be a serious handicap.
The warrior was so surprised by taking real damage from a rabbit that he dropped his guard entirely. The Beast was not familiar in fighting stances, however, so it decided that another attack at the head would be dangerous. Instead, it went for something much easier to reach. Kneecaps.
Soon, the warrior was lying on the ground, unarmed and defenseless. The last thing he saw was a rabbit’s hind legs. He vowed never to fight rabbits again. Fortunately for him, this was in his favor. He never died, even a single time, against something that wasn’t a rabbit. Unfortunately for him, he would meet The Beast many times in the future.
The Beast, meanwhile, searched his pockets for carrots, but there were none to be found.
You have received the murderer’s mark!
Because you have slain a player, your name is displayed above your head.
Special: Because of your status as a Night Hunter, the mark will be suppressed in the daytime.
Special: The slaying was not at the behest of your Human Companion, so when you are near them your mark is suppressed, as long as no further action are taken by you or your Human Companion.
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Roger hopped into town in the morning, and ate the last of the carrots in the park. Nobody had even thought about stealing them, because they were carrots. Roger, however, had been happy to find them still there, and vowed to find a good hiding place to put some in the future.
Then, he returned to the training hall. It was still abandoned, except for what appeared to be the instructor.
Roger started up the process of training again, although with some hesitation. He hoped he would gain something soon, and that he was not just wasting his time. He hit the scarecrow for a few more hours, before receiving the first message.
Strength increased by 1 point. (+1 STR)
This made Roger very happy. Upon thinking about it, he could also tell that his Natural Weapon Mastery was increasing, although not quickly.
Shortly after that…
Agility increased by 1 point. (+1 AGI)
...and then again a few hours later…
Agility increased by 1 point. (+1 AGI)
Vitality increased by 1 point. (+1 VIT)
Agility was rising much faster than anything else, because of the natural affinity of rabbits for it. Meanwhile, strength rose at a slow rate. At this point, Roger was hungry, but he was out of carrots he had stored up. He would have to go out into the wild and find something to eat, or perhaps there were some clovers in the park.
On the way out to the fields, however, he found a person running a stall selling heavenly foods.
“Fresh vegetables, right here! Grown in my own garden! Good for filling up satiety!”
A young woman was hawking her wares, but very few people stopped at her stall. The tastes of people don’t change much, and if it won’t affect your waistline, many people decided they didn’t need vegetables.
Roger, however, didn’t care what other people though. He could only think of the delicious crunch of a good carrot, or the slightly different feel of lettuce. He wasn’t really aware of how possession of property worked, but he went around behind the stall and nudged the vendor on the ankle. He figured if he could distract her from the vegetables, he would be able to take some. Of course, he hadn’t thought about the fact that he was just going to make her pay more attention to him.
“Aww, look at the cute little rabbit! Hi there!”
She leaned down and pet him on the head. Roger’s plan hadn’t worked, but he wasn’t entirely against being pat on the head. He was still hungry though. He tried to intimidate her with his fighting spirit.
“Soooo cute! Hey little guy, are you hungry?”
Well, sometimes misunderstandings worked too. Roger nodded, a gesture he had seen some of those humans use (Note:Roger could not tell the difference between humans and elves).
“Alright little guy~ have some carrots~”
Roger ravenously ate them. The vendor was crouching and watching him eat with a rapt look on her face. Although she wasn’t paying attention to her stall, no one was going to steal vegetables anyway.
Charisma increased by 1 point. (+1 CHA)
Roger was happy to be full, and not entirely disappointed to have an increase in a stat, although he considered Charisma useless, since it didn’t affect his fighting. He was really more interested in Strength, Agility, and Vitality. Still, if he didn’t have to put points into it, he didn’t care.
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The cycle of training for Roger continued that way for two more days, equivalent to about three quarters of a day in the real world, which he didn’t know existed. Roger trained in the training hall during the day, when he needed to be safe, and at night went out and used his augmented abilities to hunt wolves, and pretty much anything he came across. He didn’t fight any more players, though. They were more unpredictable, and Roger didn’t want to risk his life just for the chance at a bit of extra experience.
Roger sensed when Lailam came back online, and hurried to the park to meet her.
“Hi Roger, if anything you’re even cuter than when I last saw you.” Lailam said with a smile.
When she went and met up with Aeltas and Cael’van, she said to them, “Hey guys, I gained two levels while I was logged off!”
Aeltas remarked, “Hah! Maybe Roger was hunting while we were off. Seriously though, you should remember to distribute your stats while we’re hunting, unless you’re saving them for some reason.”
“Hmph. I don’t forget to distribute them. Roger definitely caused it. You were hunting, right?”
Roger nodded.
“See? Even he says so.”
Cael’van just rolled his eyes, but he wondered. Lailam really wasn’t known to forget what her level was.
As the party walked by the vegetable vendor, she spoke up, “Oh, is that cute rabbit yours?”
“Why yes he is, I hope he wasn’t causing any trouble here?”
“No no, he was so cute, I just had to give him some carrots.”
Roger bumped into Lailam, attempting to communicate a message. She looked down into his eyes, then straightened back up.
“He says the carrots were very excellent!”
Roger was surprised. That was actually what he had meant.
The vegetable seller replied, “Well, tell him he can come and visit whenever he’s hungry. To be honest, the carrots will probably just spoil otherwise.”
After saying goodbye, the party continued on their journey.
Cael’van spoke up. “How about we head for Moonbeam dungeon? We don’t really have much time today, but we can hunt there over the weekend. It will probably be our last chance to really play before finals next week.”
The party agreed. They were in no real hurry to get to the dungeon, so they hunted some monsters on the way. Roger stayed back, as he had before. When they arrived at the dungeon, they hunted some monsters nearby before it was time for them to log off.
“Now remember Roger, you have to stay where it’s safe, okay? I probably should have left you in the village…”
Roger shook his head.
“You’re sure you’ll be okay out here? Alright, I’ll be back in two days. Can you find food for yourself until then? Well, besides these carrots I bought.”
Roger nodded. He would be fine. He sensed no dangerous monsters around. More so, he felt instinctively that the dungeon acted like nighttime.
Finally, Lailam did that logoff thing, and disappeared.
The Beast headed into the dungeon.
End Chapter 3: Cross Training