Northwind Forest was cold early in the morning. Small fairy’s prances about in the growing light. Their frost blue wings fluttered as the rising sun began to take over. If the light touched them they would surely melt and die. As the light covered the landscape orange fairies burst from their flower pods and took over the sunlit world.

Some of the little blue fairies found cover in snake holes, while others were snatched up by frogs and caught in spider webs. This silent fight for survival happened every morning in Northwind forest. “Boy, life in the forest is often brutal and short. When I was a boy watching this for the first time with my pa, I tried to gather up and raise the little blue fairies.” A few of the fairies managed to survive and crawl to safety. The rest were devoured.

                “What happened to the fairies you raised?”  Markus asked Pa.  The man looked like he was looking back on a long off memory. 

                “I named them, Anna, Cat, Tinker, Bell, and Nyla they were always happy to see me.  I let them out at night and kept them in a cage during the day.  They ranked up and turned on me.  One managed to kill my dog.  Froze it solid then ate its remains.  I took an axe and chopped them into bits.  They aren’t your friends, boy.  Not unless you bond with them.” Pa said and scouted ahead. 

“Would this happen to us, if the nobles weren’t here?” Markus asked. He looked up at his father for some insight.

“Boy, let’s find your critters and leave. This forest isn’t safe even during the day.” Markus followed the older man as they passed by the larger toads and stopped at a nest of spiders.

“Rei Widows poisonous type monsters. None get strong except for the queen. Most of the time Night ravens pick the nests clean.” His pa took a small cylinder broke it and tossed it under the nest.  Pa raised his hand forming a barrier to protect them from the smoke. 

Smoke began to billow out of the cylinder and the spiders began to fall out of the tree. “Don’t just stand there. We are out here for you. Get the jars and catch them.” Markus ran and collected the spiders. The massive body of the queen fell with a thunk. Her legs spasmed as the smoke inhalation knocked her out.

Markus was quick.  His hands snaked out grabbed the stunned spiders by their thoraxes and jammed them in the bottles careful not to break off their legs.  The queen when he picked her up showed off an impressive set of fangs each the size of his fingers.  He jammed her in a bigger jar. 

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Once the spiders were gathered Markus placed them in his pack and they made their way out of the forest. Waiting for them was their faithful Chimera Stan. The big goat, lion, and snake was an ornery creature. Markus still remembered the goat head spitting at him when he was eight. Pa said it was to get its scent on him, but Markus still thought it was Stan being grumpy.

Markus loaded his pack in Stan’s saddle bags only to feel a wet snake tongue in his ear. He leapt back, nearly spilling every spider in his pack on himself. Getting back to his feet he glared at the Chimera only for the creature to chuff at him. Pa grunted and sat on the wagon. He offered a hand for Markus to climb up.

“Don’t take it personally boy, Stan likes to mess around. If he actually meant you harm I would have whipped it out of him.” Pa said. Markus calmed down and settled in for the long ride back home. The snake head on Stan’s tail kept winking at him as they rode back.

Back home ma was outside chopping wood. While his younger brother Tiberius handed her wood and his little sister Joanna played in the grass. “Go see to your spiders, I think the tree over by the tool shed should do.” Markus nodded his head and grabbed his pack from Stan running just as the goat was about to lick his head. He heard the lion head growl in disappointment.

Running through fields of corn and cutting through the Haven Hog pen, he made it to the tall tree in record time. Some of the bark was gone from this morning’s breakfast. Pa had handed him a piece and said this should last us the trip. The Dru Trees were green year-round and had bark that was loaded with calories. The sap inside the tree was sold 1000 points a liter. Nobles would have private orchards of the trees if they could.

Dru Trees were very choosy of where they grew. Their seeds wouldn’t sprout just anywhere, and it was rare for two to grow in a kilometer of each other. At twelve Markus had only seen 20 of the trees. No one really knew how they chose where they grew.

Another problem with the trees was pest control. Bugs of all kinds infested the trees eating their nutritious bark and drinking their sap. Markus opened the jar containing the queen and let her crawl out on the new tree. She immediately snatched up a wood beetle.

Markus began to release every spider until he was at the last one. This one wasn’t going on the tree. The spider was a good size not that it mattered.

Quest #1 Eat a Poisonous Monster

Reward +10points

He tossed the spider out of the jar and kept it from crawling away with his leather boot. The spider chittered and struggled. Markus took a stick and stabbed it through the spider’s abdomen. He waited for the spider to stop twitching. Opening his mouth, he bit off a leg and swallowed it.

Eating: beginner 98

+.98% nutrition

Markus kept eating the spider until it was gone.

+9Points

He’d done it. Finally, he had points to spend. That meant he could buy options like an inventory, a trading system, and stat boosts. A whole new world had just opened to him.