Level up!

You have reached Level 2!

“...What in the world?” Will mumbled upon seeing the message.

“Oh! Didja get a level up?” Tin asked, strutting up to stand beside him. She surely couldn’t see the message that he’d gotten, but it was an interesting gesture nonetheless, since people didn’t usually willingly approach him so boldly. He’d killed five of the little things now, and as it turns out, not only did a few of them require several hits to go down, but he was also significantly weaker than he was in the real world. “See, now that you’ve leveled up, you can put in a few status points to get your stats up. You’re a warrior, so you should put them in strength and vitality.” Will didn’t answer. “Oh, right, you don’t-, just say ‘Open Status’ and it’ll show up.”

Somehow, Will could feel that there was some sort of underlying intent beneath her words, but he couldn’t tell. “Open Status.”

William Ainsworth Class Warrior (Tier 1) Title(s) N/A Health 15/15 Mana 5/5 Status Strength 5 Intelligence 2 Vitality 4 Wisdom 1 Defence 4 Dexterity 3 Skill points: 10

...If this was meant to be an objective evaluation of Will’s strengths and weaknesses, he felt somewhat insulted. Not only was there no mention of his manpower or financial strength, but it also ranked his wisdom the lowest. Will was not a man to brag, but he understood his intelligence enough to know it was equally as important to his success as his combative strength.

“...You look like you don’t get it, so just, like… Since you leveled up, you should have 10 stat points, right? Just-, just put like... four in strength, two in vitality and defence, and put the rest in dexterity. I think. And we’ll be fine. Don’t think about it,” Tin suggested, and, as before, Will listened.

She was really quite helpful, though Will had to wonder why that might be. Perhaps she knows his stature? -No, that would be next to impossible. Only the most reputable of his own forces so much as know his last name, and the SuperHero Coalition was only aware that the current leader is Ulf Ainsworth’s son, nothing more and nothing less. For her to know his name and face, she would have to have a most powerful form of clairvoyance, capable of penetrating the force fields surrounding his buildings. Though, without that, he truly can’t see any reason for her to help him.

In this world, he is neither strong nor influential. He is nothing.

“Alright, now that you’re a little stronger, let’s get back to it!”

And they did. Killing moles became even easier and his strength and deftness slowly returned to him, and soon enough he only had to slash them once for the creature to dissipate into red pixels and exp. One level up and several moles later, and…

You have gained 10 Exp

Level progression: 67,7%

Tutorial I

Objective 3: Defeat 20 Horn-Eyed Moles Completed

Quest (Tutorial I) Completed!

Reward:

50 Gold

70 Exp

Level up!

You have reached Level 4!

Quest started:

Tutorial II (Rank F)

Objective 1: Join a Class Guild

Objective 2: Defeat 15 Horn-Eyed Moles

Objective 3: Defeat 10 Leercats

Will looked over the information for a few seconds before turning back to Tin. “What’s a Leercat?”

“Oh! I take it you’ve gotten to the second part of the tutorial, right?” Tin asked, her eyes sharpening strangely. “Than… You know, really, you don’t actually have to follow the tutorial to a tee. See, you can really just shuffle it to the side.” Her voice, which was usually quite high-pitched with a faint accent Will couldn’t quite place, seemed to have deepened somewhat. “Like, you can just… I think you’re ready to battle the boss.”

Will eyed her up and down. “The boss? These moles have a manager?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

And in a single second, the cold in the air dissipated, because Tin had no choice but to laugh. She had a deep, hearty sort of laugh you wouldn’t expect from such a small teen. “Hahahahah! Sure, sure, they’ve got a manager, and-, and a little PR consultant, and-, pff, you really are old, aren’t you?” Will didn’t answer. “A boss isn’t someone who gives them money to do stuff, he’s just the strongest guy in the area! So, since you’re, what, level 3? We’re gonna go beat ‘im. Or, well, you’re gonna go beat ‘im. Me? I’ll stand by the side. Watching.”

“Well… if you insist. Cut the head off the snake, let the tail squirm and perish. A sound tactic.”

And off they were. They had previously been hunting moles in a barren, desolate piece of land outside the city walls, populated only by a few singular pines, a pair of large boulders and the earlier mentioned moles. Now, Tin guided Will into the thick of the woods. They passed a few players on the way, who gave them a nod and a wave. Perhaps wishing them good luck? Will wasn’t sure, but the deeper into the woods they got, the more assured he became. These woods were populated. Not just by moles, oh no, at some points he could even notice a few other creatures, popping in and out of holes and hanging in the bleak trees.

Will hadn’t often been in the woods. There was never any business to be had in the forests, and therefore, businessman as he was, Will was seldom in there. The only noticeable example he could think of was when The Donkey had dragged him in there to hunt together to deepen the relationship between them, and, consequently, their organizations. Will hadn’t seen the point in it, after all, a written contract worked much better than some puny human relationship. Having a friendly relationship with anyone wasn’t-,

“Will, we’re here,” Tin said in a half-whisper, ducking down behind a large boulder. When Will didn’t follow along immediately, she clicked her tongue and nodded at him to follow. “Hey, get hiding! If you stand around like that you’ll get noticed!”

Ah. Slowly, Will crouched down beside her. The boulder only barely covered his frame, but Tin seemed to accept it.

“Y’see that snake over there?”

Will peeked his head over the boulder. Oh. Yes, he saw it.

Many-Tongued Boa Lv.21 (BOSS)

“Are you entirely sure that I am capable of defeating this creature?” Will asked calmly. He was neither cocky nor ashamed. As it was, he knew his strength well enough, and this creature seemed a few levels beyond him.

“Whaaaaat? Pfffff, you’ll do great! You’ve received extensive training in the art of fighting!”

Somehow, when Will looked at that great big creature, about as long and thick as a drainpipe, large enough to strangle an elephant, Will didn’t feel too confident. Not to mention that his weapon remained rather lacklustre: rusty and barely enough to kill a mole. Still… for some reason, the idea of fighting such a monstrous foe with little but his wits and meek strength made his heart pound in a way that it hadn’t in a long while. Why, the last time he felt this exhilarated before a battle… Must have been his first few sparrs with his former teacher. He hadn’t known how to fight back then, no confidence in his ability to defeat anybody…

He felt like that now. For once, he doubted his usual certain victory. “You’re right. You’re entirely correct, Tin.”

And with that, he stood up, drew his weapon, and approached the beast. It turned to look at him, three purple eyes focusing in on him. It could easily swallow him whole, and when that large fanged mouth parted, letting eight slippery tongues emerge, Will finally understood the name of it. Very fitting. As more of the tongue emerged, Will realized that it wasn’t actually eight tongues, but merely a single one split into several forked ends. Before Will could feel slight disappointment, the mass of tongues opened up into a biological hole, which pulsated for a moment before tensing up.

Will dove to the side just as a stream of acid shot out at where he’d been standing. Keeping his momentum, Will ran from where he’d landed, barely giving heed to the bubbling pile of acid, and flew at the serpent.

He gave a quick slash at the boa’s face, which made a loud, unpromising “CLANG” resound.

Hard Armour Hit

Rusty Sword lost 15 Durability (66/100)

Will didn’t understand exactly what it meant, but his years as a swordfighter let him know immediately that the dull tremble in his sword and arm was a result of the boa’s hide. It had been like striking a boulder. Will clicked his tongue and evaded a vicious bite that clipped part of his armour. If he hadn’t seen it coming a mile away, it would’ve surely reaped his life.

In this movement, he once again struck the serpent, feeling his blade simply bounce off again.

Hard Armour Hit

Rusty Sword lost 17 Durability (49/100)

A hefty chunk of rust dislodged itself from his weapon and Will reluctantly accepted that he wouldn’t be able to win using his sword and skills alone. He had to think.

A lesser man might have given up at noticing that his sword could not slice his enemy, but Will was no such man. There were plenty of ways to harm an enemy, and looking at that big snake’s mouth, Will could think of a very viable way of doing.

The air seemed to part as the boa cracked its tail like a ginormous whip, forcing Will to once more evade the devastating attack. The snake itself then flew at him, its entire body rippling and heaving with boundless muscle and heavy scales, mouth parted and wide, revealing teeth and acid that Will wouldn’t like getting in his face. He evaded it with a tactical sidestep before trying his one other tactic: namely to bare his right fist and smashing it down into the serpent’s neck just as it whizzed past.

Critical Hit!

The boa gave a whine, escaped from beneath his raised fist before turning back around, hissing threateningly. Barely hurt. It seemed even such a direct hit would do nothing to quell it. And for once, Will grinned. He didn’t do it often, but now, here, in the heat of a battle he knew he couldn’t win, he grinned.

He raised his broken sword. “En garde!”

“HISSSSS!” the boa hissed loudly, bore its fangs and jaws wide, and launched itself at him once more. Such a one-track mind. Mouth as wide and open as Will needed it to be.

He took a stance, his sword raised beside his head, ready to stab. He waited. For a moment, their eyes were locked. The boa, stuck in perpetual flight. Will, ready to attack.

Then, they met. Will barely even had to try to stab it. His sword simply sank into the boa’s open mouth, lodging itself between the boa’s sharp teeth, tearing through its tongue and throat and making the snake into an unwilling sword-swallower.

Critical Hit!

“HISSSSSS!!” the boa hissed once more and in its rightful fury bit down upon Will’s sword as if that would help at all. It did.

Critical Damage has been incurred!

Rusty Sword lost 49 Durability (0/100)

The rusty thing shattered into a million shards and the snake jerked its head away from him. It seemed annoyed, but not hurt. Not as hurt as Will wished it would have been. And now he was bare-handed, without so much as a weapon to guide him. “Very well, you monster! Have at me!”

In an instant, although the boa’s disposition did not change, Will’s did. He hunched down, and prepared to fight it bare-handed. He was not a picky fighter. If he could incur more damage this way, this is what he would do.

The boa didn’t seem to mind.

However, someone else did.

“W-, Will! What the hell are you doing?! Just run away! You’re a weakling, you can’t beat that thing!” Tin cried, poking her head out from her hiding place. For some reason, she actually seemed somewhat worried.

“I’m not fighting to win,” Will calmly told her, avoiding a vicious strike from a reptile with no manners. “I’m fighting for the sake of it.”

Which was… a first.

“You-, you…” She evaluated him for a moment. Glanced away into the woods. Scowled. Glared at him. “Fucking-, fine! You know what? I’m coming in there. Make room for another one!” Will barely understood what she meant by that before she hopped over the boulder and appeared at his side in a flash. She had two daggers raised while he only had his two clenched fists. She looked at his empty hands. “Wow. No inhibitions. Are all adults like this? Just-, just take this,” she said, handing him a sword she retrieved from nowhere. The design and make were as plain as they came, but it wasn’t rusty. Perfectly ordinary.

Will accepted it. “Thank you,” he fell back into a stance. “I’ll use it carefully.”

She grinned back at him. “You’d better!”

Then, they attacked. Together.

They died after about two minutes of fighting, reappearing back in town with a “Dead-Man-Walking” penalty.