Benjamin – Alpha Zone #193 Level 1 – 20
After traveling to what feels like a safe distance, I try to put the recent events from my mind and get the fuck on with it.
Coming to a stop in another tree nook, I decide it’s time to don my new gear and stop looking like a hobo before I go hunting for more trouble. Fishing out as set of [Elevant’s Essential Gear] first, I gratefully discard the tattered remains of my grave robbed clothes before slipping on the snug, white fabric undergarments followed by the leather shirt, pants, and boots.
Marveling at how the clothes seem to have adjusted to my body shape in the process of putting them on, I move around tentatively at first, discovering that they seem to adjust themselves even as I move. Smiling at my prudent purchase, I next retrieve my [Elevant Initiate’s Sturdy leather Armor].
The armor is a more involved affair as it has buckles and straps, but after five or so minutes of messing about, I’m all decked out and looking like a larpers larper. Realizing I don’t even need weapons, and not having any real experience with bladed weapons aside from the odd splitting axe, I forgo getting one out lest I stab myself in my already overly receptive eye.
Figuring now is a good a time as any to imbibe magical consumables, I pull out [Basic Intelligence Empowerment Potion] and chug the faintly blue, shimmery liquid down before I have a chance at second thoughts:
Intelligence permanently increased by 5.
Left with a pleasant aftertaste of something like a mix of aniseed and blueberries I’m thankful I didn’t over think it and go for the [Profession Tome of Basic Gathering] next.
Entering a staring contest with the leather bound book with an icon of a hand and some swirls in its palm on the cover, I take a stab in the dark and guess I have to open the thing for it to actually work. Doing so, the thing glows as a prompt pops up in my vision:
Would you like to learn the Gathering Profession y/n?
Mentally intoning ‘yes’ the book dissolves into motes of brassy light as they travel toward my sternum and pass unhindered through my new duds:
You have learned the Gathering Profession.
Not feeling any immediate physical difference, nor a flood of new knowledge entering my brain, I glower around the jungle as I think of how, if at all, I would go about getting a refund. As I’m about to don my [Major Bag of Holding], a glowing outline flickers to life in the corner of my vision.
Giving, what appears to be an orchid type of flower no bigger than my big toe my full attention, I slowly approach the delicate looking plant.
When I get to within about a foot of the plant a blue box jumps into being next to orange and red fragile flower:
Kloiantine Orchid
Resource Rank: Apprentice
Condition: Pristine
Properties: Acts as a multiplicative catalyst in several alchemical solutions
Storage Requirements: Once picked must be placed in a stasis like environment or it will rapidly lose its efficacy.
Description: A kloiantine orchid that is a valuable alchemical agent. A rare flower that requires a humid and shaded environment to thrive in nitrogen rich phase 1 worlds.
Proverbially patting myself on the back as I resist the urge to immediately ham fist the shiny. I retrieve my [Major Bag of Holding] and plonk it down next to the flower and ever so carefully tease out the things roots with a scavenged twig and gently lower the earthly bounty into the bag. Hoping the bag meets the requirement of a static environment, I shoulder it and think about whether I should go on a gathering montage here or in a different zone.
After weighing my options for a minute I figure it’s best to steer clear of my fellow human. At least until they have established some sort of organization or government type arrangement before I attempt contact again.
However this line of reasoning raises the problem of food and I figure that while leveling or attempting a gathering montage is up there in priorities, food is the biggest immediate need, followed closely behind by shelter.
Thinking I should head for the higher level zone where Max lost his life, I almost head into a depressive funk about my lost buddaay, before realizing that my new friend, the translucent green arrow has made an appearance.
Doing what any grown man does, I bottle up my angst and set off at speed to where the arrow I have dubbed ‘Greeny’ leads.
When the jungle starts to thin and the grounds incline steepens, a few swift strides brings me out into the more open and rockier terrain that I remember for all the wrong reasons. And I’m hardly surprised however, when Greeny does his disappearing act and I get a notification:
You have entered Beta Zone #76 Level 21 – 50.
Not immediately seeing any shredded pine tree or crater likely means I’m not near my first foray into the zone. Heading deeper into the rocky hills playing host to the towering pines that help give a sense of scale to the lofty snowcapped peak, whilst it protrudes through the banks of clouds in the background, I lose myself in the majestic scenery for a time.
*RRROOOAAARRR!*
Hearing the intimidating roar of what I immediately recognize as a truck-bear, I am broken from my nature bathing and imitate a meerkat to thankfully confirm that I’m not about to get run over.
Chiding myself for not actually been on the lookout for monsters, I stand stock still while I wait for more sounds to confirm the bear’s location. It doesn’t take long before I’m offered another serving of ear rattling.
*RRROOOAAARRR!*
Pushing aside my misapprehensions about meeting another furry monster the size of a delivery van, I head toward the hill from whence the roar came.
Stopping near a pine on the way, I quickly scale a third of the way up it’s impressive height, to get a better idea of what I’m about to walk into.
At the base of a rocky outcrop behind the hill, there’s a large crack in the rock face that is playing host to one angry and bloodied bear, and multiple wolves. I can see that three of the attacking wolves have already met a gruesome end, after being mauled by truck bear, while the other 5 are using hit and run tactics to try and wear the bear down.
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Watching for about a minute as another wolf falls prey to a crushing swipe, another more cunning wolf uses its pack mates distraction of a sacrifice to latch onto monster bears neck, causing it to rear up in pained annoyance and release another bowel shaking discordant.
*RRROOOAAARRR!*
The wolves, hanger on included, freeze in place as the bear attempts to bat away the lock jawed assailant in the moments reprieve. When the wolves spring back into life, the hanger on drops away from its enraged killer, bereft of any resistance. Things however conversely get worse for truck bear as it’s now bleeding profusely from its wounds.
Thinking it’s about time I step in and finish them all off, I snap off a smaller pine branch to almost its base and use it as a tether point for looping the straps of my [Major Bag of Holding]. Descending as quickly as I’m able, I get to the uneven ground and head to join the fray.
However when I’m halfway down the incline to the battle weary monsters, I hear another roar that comes from over the other side of the hill that hosts the cave.
*RRROOOAAARRR!*
All engaged parties cease hostilities as the remaining wolves leave their fallen kin and head for the literal hills, whilst the beleaguered and bleeding Giant bear, retreats in a wearing fashion toward it’s cave. The ground trembles as a larger version of the bloodied bear makes an appearance opposite my halted descent.
The new arrival has a streak of grey running down the center of its back and also seems to come equipped with fifty percent more bear as it barrels down the incline while taking in the scene. Seeming to not view the other bear as a threat and with the noticeable absence of the wolves, I become the larger truck bears focus. Visibly changing direction from the cave to me, it does the giant bear equivalent of drifting, while the rocks and earth beneath its oil drum sized paws, spay out like water displaced by a speed boat.
Having my potential opponent increase in size, my initial plan remains the same as I reaffirm my resolve in light of the hundred and fifty percent bear in my immediate vicinity.
Whilst I’ve been shoring up my testicular fortitude, Yogi has begun to ascend my slope and is starting to pick up speed.
At the point where he looks like he’s about to let out a paralyzing roar, I make my move.
I start by casting a maximum [Minor Field of Gravity Decrease] followed by a max [Decrease Gravity] on the cement truck sized monstrosity while my mana bar dips to halfway in response.
It’s resulting facial expression is hilarious, eyes open wide in a look of terror as it pushes itself farther than expect, off the ground. Maintaining it’s impressive momentum but lacking any surface on which to alter its trajectory, the behemoth sails over my head while flailing its massive paws to little effect.
When the adorably yowling monstrosity is almost directly over me, it begins to take on a brown glow and the ground around me starts to quake violently. I refuse to let it finish whatever its apparently trying to do.
Now that the beast is directly above me, I cast maximum strength [Increase Gravity] on myself.
My bones creak and grind in protest as I feel like I’m being crushed by the earth itself, and ignoring the discomfort I follow it up with a maximum strength [Minor Repulse] on Yogi.
Surprisingly I feel little backlash this time as the truck bear shoots up in to the sky whilst a completely un-bear like yelp exits its massive maw.
Don’t get me wrong, I planned to do exactly this, well except for the extra bear and increased mass of it, but what I’m amazed by is the fact that it synergized so well.
Patting myself on the proverbial back I watch the ever decreasing silhouette of the bear as I realize I should probably not be standing under it when it comes back to earth. Heading directly away from the still occupied cave, I notice that the bear in there has stopped moving completely, whilst resting in an alarmingly large pool of its own blood.
When I’m about a kilometer from the launch site, I look up and find that truck bear has started to give up the aspirations of being a bird and come back down to land, sooner than expected. When it’s outline is about the size of a phone screen, I hunker down and brace for impact.
As the second man made dropbear makes landfall, there is an almighty thunderclap and while the ground shudders with a localized earthquake, rock, soil and bits of Yogi fountain into the air in all directions:
You have slain a Giant Mountain Bear Alpha Level 48, experience awarded.
You have leveled up + 1 to intelligence + 1 wisdom.
While I laugh manically as the blue screens tell me of my success, I fight to keep my sea legs under me whilst the ground settles as I also get peppered with small rocks and bits of bear for my achievement. A silence descends on the hilly terrain as I wade through the dust cloud that has subsumed the immediate area, to get to the bones of the beast and get some more manamotes.
Coming to the Alpha bears remains it looks starkly different from its originally majestic and truckulent form.
What I’m meet with as I traverse the newly made craterous edge it rests in is a sorry looking mound of fur and blood, as jagged bones protrude through its massively pancaked corpse. When I get to within about ten feet of it, its outlined in blue and an accompanying box pops up:
Giant Mountain Bear Alpha Hide
Resource Rank: Apprentice
Condition: Ruined
Properties: A durable hide suitable for leatherworking
Storage Requirements: Before storing in a cool and dry place, must be skinned from corpse before rigor mortis sets in to maintain hides quality.
Description: A giant mountain bear alpha hide that is a somewhat valuable leatherworking material. A rare hide of a monster that is a formidable foe to any inhabitant of a phase 1 world.
My combat high from earlier fades as I find out I’m not going to be able to have a pimp bear coat.
Letting out a dejected huff, I gingerly extend a digit and make contact with the corpse’s fur:
735 Manamotes acquired from Giant Mountain Bear Alpha.
My eyes roam over the multitude of other ingredients on the corpse ranging from claws to fang and even bones. Sadly all sport the ruined condition so I don’t even bother with trying to retrieve them.
Still not seeing anything remotely close to a monster core from the behemoths body and as its pulverized insides begin to leak from its perforated hide and orifices, I write the whole thing off as useless.
Heading over to where the other transit van of a bear is situated, I discover that while it has a light dusting of kicked up earth and stones, it was largely unaffected by its larger cousins untimely attempt at becoming a flying mammal.
On closer inspection it seems the wolves really did a number on its [Giant Mountain Bear Hide] and its condition unfortunately shows as heavily damaged. Yet thankfully apart from a couple of cracked [Giant Mountain Bear Claws] and a chipped [Giant Mountain Bear Tooth], everything else appears to be in good to pristine condition.
Going back and retrieving the [Elevant Initiate’s Steel dagger] from my [Major Bag of Holding], I get to de-clawing the monstrosities remains with a side of amateur dentistry thrown in for good measure. Next problem is how to butcher the beast and secure some bear steaks.
When I was still trying to convince myself that I could be a contributing member of society, I spent a couple of months doing farm hand work out west in New South Wales. I was absolutely useless at most of it, but I did manage to pick up some basic butchering and skinning tips for sheep.
The gist of it was that you first have to bleed then skin the animal, and remove its innards so the gastric juices won’t spoil the meat.
I scratch my head for a moment in contemplation while I cobble together operation ’How to Butcher a Bear in The Sort of Woods and Then Cook Me Some Steak’.
After some brief troubleshooting I begin to enact the plan by casting [Decrease Gravity] on truck bear.
Then carry it up the a pine about half way and amateurishly lash his midsection to the trunk with some salvaged strips of hide from other corpses. That done, I use [Elevant Initiate’s Steel dagger] to skin the ridiculously large beast as large flies begin to congregate about whilst my professions instinctual nudgings guide my bloody work.
What comes next is a surprisingly straightforward disemboweling followed by me casting [Decrease Gravity] on him a couple more times.
After I’ve lashed him halfway up pine with thick strips of his own hide I figure its best to let him drip drain till he eventually leaked no more claret.
Then completely amateurishly, I set about removing the choicest cuts of meat from the carcass and chucked them in the [Major Bag of Holding].
That done, I decided it best to pay it proverbially forward and left the carcass at the base of the tree where the blood had drained for the still wary super spoopy alpha wolf and its pack that had subsequently reappeared but refused to come near me.
Feeling a little hurt from the canine shunning despite the free smorgasboard yours truly had just provided, I shrugged and left them to clean up, free of Benjamin based distractions and went a few kilometers away to an apparently empty cave.
Devoid of any cool flambe magic I took to starting a fire cave man still and rubbed some sticks together.
Then proceeded to mung on some extremely rustic bear steaks held above a campfire with some thicker than average skewers(branches).
And thus with my hunger sated, having eaten so much bear steak that by rights I should have exploded. I cover the cave entrance with a giant boulder that I’d gravity decreased to get into just the right position and promptly fell into a food induced coma the likes of which I have never experienced before.