Chapter 2 Stupid Uncle Thomas!
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Kayle entered the forest and started trekking. He had been given information on a flower that Uncle Thomas wanted that had medicinal properties. A five-petalled flower which could grow to over 100 centimeters in diameter and weigh over 10 kilograms. The flower was red in color, looked and smelled like rotting flesh, and its foul odor attracted insects such as flies. Kayle thought that he could locate the flower easily due to its size and foul odor, so he decided to explore around.
He had absolutely no sense of direction, and walked deeper into the woods. The chirping of birds, singing of insects, and cries of animals could be heard. However, not a single animal was within sight. After two hours of walking aimlessly, he spotted the ruins of a fallen kingdom. As his curiosity arose, he started to walk faster towards the ruin, hoping to discover something.
As he picked up speed, he tripped over something, and fell forward.
“Ouch!”
Sprawled across the moist grass, his hands caught something. He tilted his head and saw a skeleton in front of him. The skeleton had his head tilted up as well, seemingly looking at Kayle’s eyes while sprawled across the moist grass like him. Kayle’s hands was firmly holding onto the corpse’s hand. His face immediately turned pale and, he screamed at the top of his voice. After screaming, he fainted immediately, in front of the corpse.
The sun had started setting by the time he woke up. He was getting up when he saw the skeleton, and shot upright in fear.
He remembered his sister’s words during the hungry ghost festival,“If you misbehave and offend the dead, they will punish and hunt you!”, as he walked down the streets with his eldest sister, Caitlyn. Food offerings could be seen at the roadside, joss sticks and incense that had been burnt was left untouched. Unluckily, that night, Kayle had a night terror, he dreamt of the spirits of the dead chasing after him after he had stepped on the incense and offerings. He thrashed his limbs around, kicking wildly and screaming at the top of his voice. He even kicked Caitlyn, and saw a large bruise on Caitlyn’s eye, which at least lightened his mood.
After his night terror, he remembered Caitlyn comforting him by telling him, “If you respect the dead, they will respect you.”
Thus, he took out the spade from his inventory and started digging. After the sky turned dark, he finally dug a grave, carefully laid the corpse inside and started filling the grave up with earth. He then found a large stump and obtained a small piece of wood after cutting 3 centimeters of the wood away. After finishing carving “Grave of”, he heard a voice beside him saying “Yorick”. The atmosphere turned cold, the rustle of leaves of a tree could be heard as the birds flew up to the sky. He slowly turned his face around, and saw a ghastly figure of a young elven warrior. His face turned pale and his fingers started shaking.
“Go on, write my name for me,” the ghastly figure spoke.
After the completion of the grave, the spirit laughed heartily.
“I can finally rest in peace! Young adventurer, since you forgot to bury my sword, you can have it.”
The spirited faded away after touching his sword, which was originally lying on the ground, 50 centimeters in front of him, and a system message popped up.
You have buried Samurai Master Yorick.
Reward 200 Fame.
Gained familiarity with Spirits.
Unless provoked, Spirits will not show hostility towards you.
New Skill: Spirit Talk
Spirit Talk
Able to converse with Spirits, thus gaining knowledge, wisdom, information and requests from them.
As Kayle picked up the katana, it seemed to grow, and system messages appeared.
You have gained the wisdom of Master Samurai Yorick through the sword.
Unique skill Iaijutsu[1] moved under Skill Iaido.
You have learned Skill: Iaido.
Unique skill Dual Wielding changed into Nit?jutsu.
You have learned Skill: Nit?jutsu.
Iaido[1]
The user learns to draw the sword from the sheath in a controlled, fluid motion, striking or cutting the opponent, and then replacing the sword back into the sheath.
Iaijutsu
Base damage +100%
Able to perform a lightning quick iaijutsu strike against the target, to inflict devastating wounds immediately after drawing the sword.
Can only be performed before unsheathing one’s weapon.
Mana cost: 25
Nit?jutsu[4]
The user learns the art of using two swords, or a sword and the use of a dagger offhand.
Increases Attack Power by 20%
Increases Attack Speed by 8%
Able to create own swordplay techniques. Power and mana cost will be determined by system.
“Item stats window,”Kayle brought up the stats of the sword.
Rusty Taichi
Durability: 34/50
Damage 14-16
An unidentified sword once used by Master Samurai Yorick, this sword seems to give out an aura, however, it is unidentified at the moment. It has also rusted over the centuries, thus losing most of its power and durability. However, a skilled blacksmith might be able to repair it.
Equip:
+10 STR
+10 AGI
Requirement:
STR 50+
AGI 50+
VIT 50+
Kayle immediately equipped the rusty long sword into his main hand and move the other to his off-hand. Kayle noticed that the moon was already high up in the sky, and started collecting mushrooms and fruits for his dinner. Using the knowledge he had gotten from Uncle Thomas, he managed to gather many edible mushroom and fruits. He used the stump from before as a chopping board, and sliced the mushrooms into small pieces using the Hard Iron Sword, instead of the Rusty longsword, as he feared that it might lead to rust poisoning if he did. Next, he left the mushrooms on the edge of the stump, and squeezed the juices from the fruits into the pot. He then set up a campfire using matchsticks, and brought the juices to a boil. After it had started boiling, he threw the mushrooms in and stirred using his Hard Iron Sword. The aroma soon spread, and animals gathered around him. Looking at the animals, he took out some bowls and shared his dinner with them. After a dinner together with the animals, he conversed with them and learned the story of the ruins in front of him, passed down for generations.
The ruins were once a prosperous Elven kingdom two centuries ago, whose King was a tamer, and every beast in this forest knew his mighty codename, George of the Jungle. The king led his people into a golden age, and people soon travelled to the elven kingdom, lured by its wealth and prosperity. The neighboring kingdom soon experienced a brain drain, as their local talents left to get a better living. As time flew, the surrounding kingdoms grew jealous and blamed the Elven Kingdom, Kyonin, for their declining economies. The Dwarves, Halflings and Kobolds kingdoms got together and founded the “Trinity Force”, which declared a war against King George. The war ended in a month. They had sieged Kyonin daily, utilising the technology of the Dwarves, the small and swift Halflings, and lastly, with the ferocity of the Kobold. With their powers combined, they succeeded in sieging the city. The kingdom was then looted, and almost everyone was killed.
After conversing with the animals, he also found out that King George had left something important, which the Trinity Force never found. The animals then urged Kayle to find it. Kayle fought in his mind about whether he should enter or not. The ruins of the fallen kingdom looked menacing. He was afraid of ghosts and feared that he would disturb them. They might even think that he was one of the Trinity Force and attack him, as he looked like a Halfling due to his height.
He stood outside the castle hesitating, and received a headbutt from a reindeer, pushing him forward.
You are the first to discover the Ruins of Kyonin.
Rewards:
Fame increased by 200.
For a week, the rewards and experience in the village are doubled.
As Kayle sees the word “Quest” sweat form on his forehead, he look around and could see skeletons all over the area. The reindeer pushed him to get him to move on, and he started walking down the dead silent road. He heard the loud clank of metal chains, and turned his head. To his horror, the drawbridge had drawn up, and the gates had started closing. White figures soon appeared around him…
He hugged the reindeer tightly with his eyes shut. He could feel the ghosts touch him, and his hair stood up.
Then, a voice sounded beside his ears,
“Hello, you can see us right?”
It was a peaceful tone, and Kayle slowly opened his eyes while trembling.
He saw an Elven lady with an Elven child on his left, while more Spirits started materializing.
The child opened his small mouth and asked, “Why are you trembling? Are you afraid of us?”
Remembering Caitlyn’s teaching of respecting the dead, he stopped trembling and timidly said no.
“Since you are not afraid of us, can you help us?”
A quest message popped out.
Suppressing the evil Spirits.
You have been tasked with defeating the evil Spirits of the Trinity Force who are inside the castle.
Number of Spirits: 50.
Difficulty C
Reward:
Familiarity with Elves and Spirits increase greatly.
Kayle hesitated before replying, “How do I kill a Spirit?”
When he tried to touch the Elven child, his fingers passed through.
“Your Taichi will cut through them,” the lady Elf replied.
You have accepted the quest.
Kayle then asked, “How can I, alone, fight against 50 Spirits?”
The Elven lady smiled and said, “I will get some warrior Spirits to help you.”
“Thanks,” he replied.
10 Elven Spirits appeared before him, with weapons that he could see through. He then asked them to lead the way. He asked the reindeer not to follow him as he would be fighting, and asked it to play with the little elves. He then proceeded on his way towards the castle. On the way there, his new sword resonated strongly as he walked pass a blacksmith shop. Feeling curious, he asked the Spirits to wait. and he entered the shop. He saw a glow from inside the forge furnace, and went to take a peek. As he could hardly make out what it was, he reached his hands inside and pulled out a dagger.
“Item stats window!”
Rusty Tant?
Durability: 33/40
Damage 5-8
An unidentified Tant? that resonates when brought near a Taichi. Both seem to have a connection with each other. This dagger seems to give out an aura. As it has rusted over the centuries, it has lost most of its power and durability, however, a skilled blacksmith can repair it.
Equip:
+5 STR
+15 AGI
Requirement:
STR 50+
AGI 50+
VIT 50+
He equipped the Tant? to his off-hand and left the forge, not realising that the Spirit of a blacksmith was staring at him.
Before entering the castle, he got the Spirit of a cat to scout for him, with his Spirit Talk and Beast Conversation. The cat soon returned and reported the news to them. There were 7 spirits, consisting of 4 Kobolds and 3 Halflings, and 5 large Forest Spiders inside, near to the entrance. Kayle then gathered the Spirits and split them into pairs. Taking advantage of their numbers, they would flank the enemy while Kayle would distract two spirits. As for the Spiders, Kayle planned to get the cats to attract their attention while Kayle and the warriors fought the Spirits. They peep in through the window to take a look, the hall was filled with skeletons, corroded swords and armor.
Kayle first sent the cats in, to get the attention of both Spiders and Spirits. While the Spirits were distracted, he jumped in through the window and landed silently, while his minions walked through the walls. They ran silently across the hallway and prepared for a surprise attack.
“Iaijutsu!” Kayle shouted, unsheathing his sword and his dagger at the same time, he struck a Kobold’s neck with the sword after fully drawing it.
[Critical Hit!]
A system message popped out, however it had only taken a small fragment of the Kobold’s life. The difference between their levels was huge, back in the forest, Kayle hadn’t been attacked by beasts, so he was still level one.
With a sidestep, he moved past the Spirit he had first striked, and slashed another Spirit behind it. With two aggo on him, he had to be extremely careful. Two hits from the Spirits might even kill him, due to their difference in level and his newbie basic clothes. Maneuvering around the hallway, he used his dagger to parry while using the sword to counter. After 20 minutes of fighting defensively, he had only managed to only bring down one Spirit to ½ health, and still avoid being hit, due to his talent of martial arts, which had passed down from both parents. He managed to land the last hit on 3 Spirits that his minions had been fighting, as he was throwing his tant? sneakily or sliding around the hall while cunningly outmaneuvering his opponent .
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From delivering the last hits, his level skyrocketed to level 13. He ordered the Spirits to aggro his opponents for a minute while he quickly raised both his STR and AGI by 30. As soon as he had increased his stats, he jumped back into the fray and dealt the last hit to the remaining Spirits. After finishing off the Spirits, he turned his head and found the area where the Spiders were, which were filled with webs. As the webs could affect his maneuvering, he asked the Spirits to lure the Spiders over one by one. Kayle’s party stomped the 5 Spiders, and he started clearing the webs and followed the cat that had previously scouted. From his first fight, he manage to learn a maneuver skill, Cunning Feet, and also raised his level to 19. After distributing 8 points into VIT, and 22 points into AGI, he decided to check his new skill.
Cunning Feet[1]
Increases evasion through unpredictable movements together with speed and skills.
Increases movement speed in battle by 1%.
Increases evasion rate by 1%.
Increases chance of performing critical hits through openings in enemy’s defense by 1%
Feeling satisfied with his current progress, he walked into the left wing of the castle. The left wing of the castle was mostly choked with rubble, making it a difficult terrain to fight in. Five Spirits were spotted, and Kayle’s party charged into melee range. Under the bright moonlight, Kayle had an easier time fighting, as his vision had significantly improved from the hallway, which had low light.
He danced around the rubble looking for a chance to sneak attack, and was able to attack precise spots that resulted in critical hits. Using the dagger, he directed the Kobold’s sword to the side, creating an opening, and slashed deeply. Kayle leapt back, then dashed forward with great speed, taking advantage of the Kobold after it had lost its footings after the slash. With great accuracy, he pierced the sword through its heart and slashed its neck diagonally with the dagger, scoring two critical hits. As the Spirit faded away, Kayle could sense an incoming attack from his left side. He tumbled to the right to avoid it, but ended up rolling down a hill-shaped pile of rubble. When he got up, the fight had ended, and he found himself beside a spiral staircase. Kayle decided to take a rest on the steps, performing first aid on himself as he had taken quite a bit of damage thus far. After that, he regained his stamina with rye bread, and then, they moved upwards.
Before they reached the second floor, Kayle was told that there were 14 Spirits inside, and 4 Lizards. Kayle took a peek into the room. Judging from the shelves lining the walls, this darken room was possibly a storeroom, though its contents have long gone through the passage of time. A crack on the wall had appeared, letting in rainwater which had collected into a large puddle of water on the floor. 8 Halflings were standing motionless, while others were walking around. Before Kayle could even send in the cats, 3 Lizards jumped at them, releasing sparks of lightning. Kayle got his minions to retreat as they drew the Lizards away from the Spirits. The large Lizards were roughly 50 centimeters long, with blue stripes on their back that gave off sparks.
“Split into 3 groups and delay them!” Kayle commanded and they rushed into position. As the warrior Spirits striked the Lizards, they gave off sparks and electrocuted Kayle’s minions. Kayle ordered them to retreat down the stairs to the rubble-filled area. He then took chunks of debris and threw them at the lizards. After burying the lizards alive with debris, he jump repeatedly on the “pile” of debris, crushing the lizards.
After getting back to second floor, Kayle told his minions to stay away from the water. He then sent the cats in. As the Spirits were distracted, Kayle and the warriors quickly rushed in and attacked the last Lizard, that was asleep. Iaijutsu, with a critical hit, took down a chunk of the Lizard’s health. Then, the 10 Elves repeatedly slashed and stabbed the lizard. The commotion attracted the Kobolds and Halflings who came rushing, joining in the fray. With a kick, Kayle sent the Lizard towards them, and it landed in the puddle of water. When it was stepped on by one of the Kobolds, it gave out electricity, which conducted through the water. The entire platoon of enemy Spirits got hit, and their health decreased drastically. After discharging its electricity, the Lizard stood motionlessly, awaiting its doom as all the Spirits aggro towards the Lizard. Using this opportunity, Kayle and his minions rushed forward and attacked. As the Lizard’s health gets lower, Kayle prepared himself and dashed forward. He plunged the sword into the Lizard’s head. With its final breath, it sent out a jolt of electricity through its head, targeting Kayle. However, due to Kayle’s sword being completely rusty, he wasn’t affected. In under 15 minutes, they had wiped out the enemy Spirits, some of which had been paralyzed due to the Lizard’s area of effect.
With the spirits gone, the cats took the lead again, leading them down the stairs after walking past the store room. They soon arrived outside the armoury. Since there were 14 Spirits this time, they had no choice but to fight individually, with the cats aggroing the remaining Spirits. Kayle ordered those who had finished off their opponents to help fight against the weaker ones. After giving out instructions, he sent the cats in to maul the slower Kobolds. Taken by surprise, the Spirits drew their weapons. Before one of the Spirits could even unsheath its weapon, an arc was drawn across the Halfling’s neck. Kayle then bent down, slashed diagonally upwards and ended with a kick. The Halfling flew 2 meters back. Using this opportunity, Kayle closed the gap and sliced across its neck with his dagger, and plunge his sword through it.
Seeing their comrade fall, the other three Halflings stopped their aggro on the cats and jumped onto Kayle. With his long reach, Kayle slashed horizontally and hit all three Halflings in the air. They fell down. Kayle took the opportunity to pierce the smallest Halfling five times at its joints and heart, crippling it. He then fought with the other two. His minions finished their individual prey and started attacking the crippled Halfling. Soon, the last enemy Spirit in the armory fell. Kayle and the Spirits then continued onwards to the last enemy-filled area, which was the courtroom.
pr stopped here
The last 10 Spirits could be seen as Kayle peeped through a small hole in the door which he had carved out. Kayle could see a large kobold holding a large claymore. His minions identified the Kobold as Kazmuk, the general of Kobolds Kingdom, Godagor. Intense killing aura seemed to be given out from him, and the morale of his minion started dropping as they shivered in fear.
Kayle quickly pulled them back and started motivating them, “Come on! We are so close to wiping the enemies out! We have come so far and fought hard! This is the last battle. We can do it, leave the General to me and finish your enemy. Then come and assist me in taking him down! This is your country, show me your courage and will to protect it, even when you are dead to begin with!”
The minions’ eyes grew wide, and they clenched their fists. “Let’s charge in together!” Kayle declared and shouted, “ONWARD! FOR KYONIN!”
Kayle pushed the door open, dashed towards Kazmuk and used Iaijutsu. However, Kazmuk blocked the attack with an uppercut from his claymore, throwing Kayle off balance when his Taichi got deflected. Without delay, Kazmuk slashed his claymore down with a lightning speed. Kayle managed to get away with only a cut on his left arm, taking away 1 quarter of his health. Blood started to flow. Angered, Kayle allowed his blood to flow onto his Tant?, and splashed it onto Kazmuk’s eye. As Kazmuk tried to wipe off the blood, Kayle disengaged for a moment to kill a Halfling a few meters away.
When he saw Kazmuk closing his eyes and wiping the blood away, he threw his the Tant?, which then pierced through Kazmuk’s right hand and left eye. Kazmuk roared in rage and charged towards Kayle, while tossing the Tant? on the floor. With Kazmuk’s main hand injured, he couldn’t use his claymore properly. He swung the claymore diagonally, and Kayle stepped back. After the claymore passed by him, Kayle dashed forward and stabbed his right shoulder. The Taichi pierced through Kazmuk’s shoulder. Kazmuk reacted and tried to grapple Kayle with his left arm, but Kayle tumbled in between the Kobold’s legs to reach his Tant?. The Kobold turned around, slashing his claymore at Kayle, using his left hand. Kayle tumbled in between Kazmuk’s legs again, then stabbed the Tant? at the back of the Kobold’s left knee. Another groan was heard, and at the same time, his minions finished their fight and ran forward to assist Kayle. Kayle equipped his Iron Sword and slashed at Kazmuk, however, it passed through him. Using this opening, Kazmuk swung his claymore and sent Kayle off his feet. He landed on the floor with 9 percent health remaining, and started bleeding. Kayle commanded his minions to attack Kazmuk’s limbs and try to take out both his weapons, which were stuck in Kazmuk’s body, while Kayle bandaged himself. After 10 minutes, his weapons were removed from Kazmuk and he started attacking again. Kazmuk finally fell and disappeared into the darkness, while everyone was left with a quarter of their health.
You have suppressed the evil Spirits of Trinity Force.
Reward:
100 Fame.
Gained familiarity with Spirits.
Spirits of Kyonin will be free to roam their homeland.
You have leveled up.
You have leveled up.
You have leveled up.
“Ah finally… I did it.”
Kayle collapsed on the floor, as his stamina had depleted completely. A white figure rose from the throne. The figure had a crown with precious stones on it. He was wearing a large green cape and there was a silver sword at his waist.
“Well done adventurer, thanks to you, our enemies are now eternally gone. You have done a great service to Kyonin. However, I would like you to fulfil one request from me,” his majestic voice sounded throughout the courtroom, and rays of light shone through the windows, as the sun rose.
Bury the dead
You have been tasked to bury the remains of each and every citizen of the town by King George.
Difficulty: B
Remains left to bury: 2539
Reward:
Familiarity with Elves and Spirits increase greatly.
Gains absolute trust of the King.
Kayle stared at the quest and asked the king, “Your majesty, I'm currently on another quest to obtain a plant as medicine to cure Uncle Thomas’s horse. I’m willing to accept the quest after I have completed the task Uncle Thomas entrusted to me.”
King George’s eyes shone, and he replied, “So be it, but be back as soon as possible. If you need any help, do tell me.”
“Oh. then may I ask if you know about an extremely large, smelly flower found in this forest, which is red and attracts lots of flies?” Kayle asked immediately.
“I do not know, but I can lend you some dogs to sniff out the location of the flowers.”
“That will be a great help,” Kayle replied with a smile as bright as the sun.
King George conversed with two dogs, and then, both of them ran forward and jump onto Kayle while wagging their tails. However, they passed through Kayle.
Kayle departed from Kyonin to look for the smelly flower. 9 hours later, after walking aimlessly and trekking up a hill, the two spirit dogs finally smelled something pungent. The dogs told him that the smell was one kilometer in front of them, and that they did not wish to go on. Kayle had no choice and told them to go back to Kyonin. He continued to press on, and could finally smell the pungent “fragrance” of the flower. A large red flower finally entered his vision, and lots of flies were circling around it. He quickly fastened some leather around his face to act as a mask, then poured lots of sweet-smelling flower essence onto cotton wool, and plunged it into his nose. He quickly took out his spade and started digging the entire plant out.
“Uncle Thomas, I’ll make you pay!” Tears welled up in Kayle’s eyes as he dug.
After digging out the entire plant, he quickly set off back to the farm, with his clothes smelling of rotten meat. On the way, he got lost as usual, and animals avoided him due to the stink. After spending 12 hours in the forest, he finally got out. He dashed towards the farm, since the guards were chasing after him to kick him out of the village. After running into the barn, he quickly shut the doors and locked it, then he took the entire plant out and shoved the flower into Uncle Thomas’ face. Uncle Thomas fainted from the pungent smell, as the quest completion message appeared.
You have gathered the ingredients for Uncle Thomas.
Reward:
100 Fame
Gained complete trust of Uncle Thomas.
You have leveled up.
Gained 50 silver.Please collect your reward after Uncle Thomas has wake up.
Unable to collect his reward now, Kayle logged out in disappointment.
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Notes:
Taichi is a kind of sword which is slightly curved. Its blade length averages from 70cm to 80cm.
Tant? is commonly referred to as a dagger with a blade length of typically 15 cm to 30cm
Trinity Force~ Tons O Damage~
The off-hand (aka off hand) is the secondary hand slot for weapons (dual wielding), shields, or other items that you are able to wield/equip. The other hand is known as the main hand.
http://www.wowwiki.com/Off-hand
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Sorry for the large chunks of paragraph xD imma take not to split it up or shorten it next time~
and thanks sha and bowac for proofreading~ sorry for the horrible grammatical mistakes T.T