Chapter 3: Once a Hero, Always a Hero

I looked at the paper. Six roofing projects, another chicken coop, three porches, some minor interior work, and, at the bottom, complete the general store for Elice Teeraj. An entire building.

I accepted the quest and would worry about it tomorrow. Gwen led me to the house I was to live in. It was quaint and dusty and attached to the abandoned mill. There were a few tools with a little rust I could use, but someone had obviously picked through the house already.

Simba went to the kitchen area and hopped on the counter before settling down. I felt no fatigue or need to sleep, so I started cleaning. Well into the night, I cleaned. The game offered me the skill maid, but I declined to acquire it. It was a nice building, two bedrooms on the second floor, a large dining/kitchen area on the first floor, and a common space as well. As soon as the sun rose, I went outside to inspect the mill.

The equipment was rusty and needed work, but a fair amount of lumber had already been cut. I cleaned the mill for a little while before grabbing my tools and heading out. I spent the day introducing myself to families in town. The village was mostly women and children. Only fifteen adult men still lived here.

The single women were definitely interested in me as a potential husband. Some were subtle, others not so much, and I was not into having a relationship with a computer program, so I ignored their advances, but their mannerisms were very realistic. I focused on my tasks and completed seven of the easier ones on the first day, as well as a few side projects I came across. I fixed some furniture, repaired two fences, and reinforced some doors that were not on the list.

Woodcraft 3 Tier 3 Unlocked, +1 Channeling, +2% health to structures

Woodcraft: Carpentry 5 Tier 4 Unlocked, +1 Luck, +2% quality to structures

Woodcraft: Furniture 2 Tier 2 Unlocked, +1 Charisma, +2% quality to items

Woodcraft: Furniture 3 Tier 3 Unlocked, +1 Charisma, +2% quality to items

That evening, I spent time in the mill cleaning to get everything operational. My skill had given me the innate knowledge of cleaning and preparing everything in the mill, as it was all very basic. The knowledge I was lacking from my real-world base was somehow imprinted into my head by the game. I could even go into a sort of autopilot state and have my avatar work while I watched. I even had time to build some basic furniture I was missing in my temporary residence. The furniture was all very simple but functional, and I could always upgrade it at a later time.

Woodcraft: Furniture 4 +2% quality to items

Nature: Plant 2 Tier 2 Unlocked, +1 Channeling

I was using meld wood every time I had enough magic pool to cast it, and it paid off. Unfortunately, I did not have access to anyone to purchase new spells. Simba informed me that to access the global auction house, I needed to build an auction house structure. Even then, the building’s tier would determine the radius at which it could interact with other auction buildings. Since only players could put items up for sale and there were only a few thousand players spread out over a world with a billion square miles, it probably was not worth my time. I needed to go to the big cities to shop at the vendors if I wanted anything. I was content to work in Malcum for now, though.

I built the other chicken coop the following day and completed the roof in the afternoon. I was constantly getting food from the village women, and the various minor buffs helped me stay on task. Ignoring their advances was becoming a full-time job. The day’s work yielded three increases in my skills and unlocked a new skill which I accepted.

Woodcraft 4 +2% health to structures

Woodcraft: Carpentry 6 +2% quality to structures

Masonry 3 Tier 3 Unlocked, +1 Strength, +2% health to structures

Masonry: Foundations 1 Tier 1 Unlocked, +1 Constitution, +2% health to buildings

I felt a little mentally exhausted but not physically exhausted that evening, so I went to the bedroom, lay down, and started carving with a small knife. I was trying to make a likeness of Simba and failed miserably. I eventually was able to fall asleep.

When I woke, I found Simba sleeping on my chest, rising and falling. He stretched and extended his claws, digging into my chest. The cat spoke, “Finally awake. Time passes four times quicker in Open World. So you will probably only need to sleep every fourth day. Playing the game is similar to REM sleep, so you would only need to sleep 8 hours in-game or two hours in real-world time to rest every fourth day.” This was good news. It also meant that hard-wired testers like me had a huge advantage.

It was early morning, and I had a lot of work to do. I left my house and headed into town, picking up a prepared breakfast from a townswoman. It was a loaf of herb bread with some marinated grilled chicken. I went to the general store’s site. It was a large pile of stone and a big hole. I had no plans for the building but assumed this hole was to be a cellar. I then went to find Elice, who was to be the owner of this structure.

She was living with her aunt and uncle. She was using the main living area as a pseudo-store. I sat down with her and talked about her vision for the store. Then, I purchased all her stock of paper and pencils. I put them into my inventory and went to finish all the other projects I was assigned in town. Tonight, I will draft plans for the town store.

The day passed quickly, and I improved my skills again and finished all the other projects. Now, I could focus on the big project.

Woodcraft 5 Tier 4 Unlocked, +1 Channeling, +2% health to structures

Woodcraft: Carpentry 7 Tier 5 Unlocked, +2 Luck, +2% quality to structures, New Title Unlocked: Novice Carpenter

Masonry: Foundations 2 Tier 2 Unlocked, +1 Constitution, +2% health to structures

Nature Magic 2 Tier 2 Unlocked, +1 Magic, +2% damage with nature spells

I also gained very little experience from each project I completed, and I was halfway to level two. I retired my house with a large bowl of donated beef stew to my residence. I sat at my kitchen table and pulled out the paper and pencils. I started drafting the town store while I consumed dinner. I worked well into the night and was prompted with a new skill.

You have discovered the skill of Artistry: Drafting. Do you wish to learn it?

Simba informed me that all artistry skills were primary skills, and there were no secondary skills for artistry-based skills. I looked up the benefits of artistry: drafting. It was intelligence-based and gave +2% to speed on all construction! Hell yeah. I selected yes. I knew I could power level this skill too, as I had spent three years of college to become an architect after all. And my parents thought I should focus my efforts on a more marketable degree, ha.

Artistry: Drafting 1 Tier 1 Unlocked, +1 Intelligence, +2% faster construction

I managed to level my drafting skill to level 3 by morning. I also came up with two new building plans.

Item Crafted: Plans for Common Town Store, Health 2500, Requires Masonry: Foundations 7, Woodcraft: Carpentry 11

Item Crafted: Plans for Common Baker’s Oven, Health 500, Requires Masonry: Structures 7

The plans followed a brick pizza oven I had built in high school, but I would use rock and mortar for this design. I made them because I knew I was eventually going to have to provide food for myself. I only knew one bread recipe from the real world, salted rosemary, but it was the bread I used on my favorite roast beef sandwiches.

My masonry and carpentry skills were too low to build the buildings, which worried me a little. I decided to spend some time fixing up my place in my mill. The next three days, I built furniture, a chicken coup in my backyard, reroofed both the mill and the house, resided both the mill and my house, hauled up hundreds of buckets of small stones from the river to create walkways, then hauled up large flat stones to pave the walkways. At night, I worked on drafting a massive inn. I hoped to build this three-story inn with 25 guest rooms and a large common room for two hundred people! I was dreaming big.

I gained a new skill called laborer, which I accepted. I guessed all the mindless hauling of stone and rocks in the wheelbarrow is what triggered the skill. It also increased my carrying capacity by 2% per level. My mill and house were shaping up nicely, and I was able to sell some furniture I had made to keep myself fed. The villagers didn’t have a lot of money, so I sold it cheaply. I was no longer getting any free meals as I was not working on the projects Gwen had assigned.

I had raised my laborer skill to 3, woodcraft to 7, carpentry to 9, furniture to 7, nature magic to 3, plant magic to 3, masonry to 4, foundations to 5, and drafting to 8! The best part was that I got plans for the inn from three nights of intensive drawing.

Item Crafted: Plans for Uncommon Traveler’s Inn, Health 12000, Requires Masonry Foundations 23, Woodcraft: Carpentry 23, Masonry: Structures 7

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It was a beautiful building with a large central oven for heating and cooking. A large kitchen and a basement for cold storage. The common room had a high ceiling of 20’, and the upstairs rooms were comfortable, with five rooms being larger suites. I was impressed with it but knew I was a long way from being able to build it.

My primary skill in woodcraft was holding back my carpentry skills. It developed slower, and I think this was a mechanism that regulated growth in the game. I would be forced to spend my skill points on leveling the primary skill. I asked Simba how to focus on increasing my woodcraft skill, and he said working the mill would help the skill grow. Unfortunately, I didn’t have many trees, and I was not high enough level to brave the woods. I took a short nap that morning before heading over to the hole in the ground for the general store.

I pulled out my plans. I had to enlarge the hole for the cellar and deepen it by four feet. Then, I had to set up drainage and haul up twice as many stones as were already there. I built a temporary wooden ramp down into the pit and got to work. It took two days to get the hole dug and the stones up. Amazing what you can do in a game working at a steady pace. The food was also free again, and the minor buffs really helped. My laborer skill hit six and suddenly slowed its development. Guess it had caught up with my real-world bonuses.

In the evening, I had taken to carving again. I wanted to draft more plans, but unfortunately, I was out of paper, and there was none left to purchase in town. I unlocked the artistry skill: carving and accepted it. I had no real-world experience but was able to get it to level 3 in two nights of focus. Carving allowed my mind to wander and relieved stress, which is why I accepted it.

My wooden “Simbas” actually started to look like Simbas in shape. Simba didn’t agree and attacked and shredded them. The carving skill was charisma-based and gave a bonus of 2% to the value of wood constructs. This actually transferred to my buildings even if they had no carvings. I liked this game’s crossover skill system. I was already at 13 skills and still had to unlock masonry: structures. I could see getting to 23 skills pretty quickly in the game. In real-world time, I had only been playing for over two days.

The next morning, I went to work on the store’s foundation. I had a simple mortar I could make and a waterproofing system I had learned innately from the skill. It took six days in the game to finish the basement. And that was working 16-hour days! My masonry skill was now 9, my masonry: foundations was 11, my masonry: structures was 7, my laborer was 8, and my carving skill was now level 6!

My stats had grown with my skills, and I brought up my page on my screen to admire them.

Strength 17 Carry Capacity, Small Hit Point Increase, Damage Increase on Physical Attacks

Constitution 11 Hit Point Increase, Hit Point Regen

Stamina 9 Stamina Pool Increase, Stamina Pool Regen

Agility 3 Improved Defense Rating, Ranged Attack Bonus

Speed 2 Movement Speed

Intellect 10 Learning Speed, Small Mana Bonus

Magic 4 Mana Pool Bonus

Channeling 11 Mana Pool Regen

Charisma 11 Interaction Bonus with NPCs

Luck 8 Improved Random Generated Items and Quests

Hit Points 360

Stamina 245

Magic 120

My poor magic stat was killing my nature magic growth. While working on the cellar, I only used it a few times for the large support beams. I planned to drop all my stat points into magic when I leveled. I was really close 892/1000 experience. My body was well-muscled now, too. I was able to do the work of two men. We also had a trade caravan come into town while I was working on the cellar. Unfortunately, the elf trader had no paper. I did buy some spices for cooking with my meager coins and traded him some of my carvings and furniture for my first magic items!

Basic Copper Magic Ring, +1 to Magic Stat, Durability 20/20

Basic Copper Magic Ring, +1 to Magic Stat, Durability 20/20

It was not much, and my friends in the village said I had overpaid. I didn’t care as I had magic rings! I was probably way too excited, but it would allow me to cast my meld wood an additional time when I had a full magic pool.

The next day, I was working on the town store when a scream rang out, and the alarm bell sounded. The village only had 14 rotating militia and no walls. I knew it was a relatively safe zone in the game and wondered what was happening. I grabbed my axe and ran west toward the commotion. A woman was crying, and one of the children was bleeding from a gash on her arm. Drava, one of the guards, told me a plains cat had attacked two of the children who were playing too far outside of town. The girl’s brother was grabbed and taken away, indicating the bleeding child.

New Quest: Vengeance against Plains Cats, a boy has been taken by a plains cat, track and slay this beast to avenge the boy. Rewards: 250 experience, a gift from the mother of the child

I had no tracking skills and didn’t want to bring another villager to his doom by going beyond its borders. Since I was level 1, I would not lose any levels if I died. Simba informed me all my skill advancement would go back to 0%. A few skills were close to leveling, too. Oh shit! I had to be the man here.

“Stay here. I will do what I can.” I started off at a light jog. The attack occurred 200 yards outside the village center. It was not difficult to find the area with the blood and the tracks with blood leading away. I steeled myself and increased my pace, hoping this was a small cat. I noticed Simba was not with me, and I did not know that he could help anyway.

I caught sight of it ten minutes later. It was hauling the boy away in its mouth. The boy was large enough, and it was slowing the beast. I ran the remaining 300 yards to it, but unfortunately, I was not too quiet, and the beast heard my approach. It turned and prepared to leap at me, waiting for me to close the distance. I prepared my only attack, heavy swing, but more importantly, I was planning to roll left once the cat was in the air, figuring it couldn’t change direction once it leaped. The damn cat was fast, though, and I barely rolled away. My swing was more of trying to get my axe into the path of the beast and not heavy swing.

Hit: Two-Handed Axe Strike vs Level 6 Plains Cat, 27 damage

Hell yeah, take that, you bastard! I got to my feet quickly and turned. I was very disappointed at what I saw. The cat had a small gash on its right shoulder. Its fangs were bared, and it roared at me. The beast came up to my waist. It started to circle me, and I returned the favor. It was looking for an opening, and I knew this battle definitely favored the beast. I swore to practice my axe combat after I resurrected. The cat shifted its weight back on its haunches, and I deduced it was going to leap again. This time, as I rolled to the left, I activated a heavy swing.

Hit: Heavy Strike, Two-Handed Axe Strike vs Level 6 Plains Cat, 38 damage

Before I could get out of my roll and celebrate my second strike, the cat quickly recovered and clawed me.

Damage: Plains Cat Claw Slash, 11 damage

I moved away as I felt the damage of the slash on my ass cheek. I was now hopeful that I could outlast the cat with my large hit point pool.

We stared each other down again. This time, I made the move forward and tried to use another heavy swing, but I missed leaving my side exposed.

Damage: Plains Cat Claw Slash, 17 damage

Damage: Plains Cat Claw Slash, 10 damage

Shit, I was not so confident again. I managed to separate before I could take more damage. My best hope was to wait for another leap. It was vulnerable then. The boy stirred, and it drew the cat’s attention. I lunged forward and activated heavy swing again.

Critical Hit: Heavy Swing, Two-Handed Axe Strike vs Level 6 Plains Cat, 68 damage

Well, it was good that the boy was alive, but that made this battle all the more important to not lose. The last attack had dug in deep to its hide and knocked it briefly off its feet. The cat eyed the boy and started circling around me toward him. It was going to try to take its prize and run. It roared in defiance and as I put myself between it and the boy. I wished I had an analyze skill. Another thing I should rectify. I glanced at the boy; and he was covered in blood and barely breathing. The cat took my distraction to leap at me. It knocked me over, but I managed to block its attack with my axe and kick both my feet into its ribs.

Hit: Kick vs Level 6 Plains Cat, 5 damage

The cat flew over the boy and landed ten feet beyond. I scrambled to protect him again. The cat recovered and lunged for the boy, but I met the cat with my axe.

Hit: Two-Handed Axe Strike vs Level 6 Plains Cat, 28 damage

The bastard turned and bit into my thigh.

Critical Damage: Plains Cat Claw Bite, 52 damage, bleed 1 HP/minute for 20 minutes

Son-of-a-bitch. That actually hurt. But it also allowed me to swing my axe straight down into the beast’s back with a heavy swing.

Critical Hit: Heavy Swing, Two-Handed Axe Strike vs Level 6 Plains Cat, 66 damage, movement penalty -15% 1 hour

The beast was looking rough, with a chunk of its hindquarters gone, but it was still moving. It backed away with a noticeable limp. It was obvious that the cat was not going to give the boy up. A yellow flash caught my attention in my active display. My stamina was 31/245. I had forgotten that running out here would drain my stamina. The cat came at me again and managed to pin me for a second by bowling me over before I could push it away.

Damage: Plains Cat Claw Bite, 27 damage, bleed 1 HP/minute for 20 minutes

Damn, the bleeding must be a special ability with its bite attacks. I still had over 200 health, so I just waded in and started swinging away; it took three hits before the beast fell, and I took another 58 damage from claw attacks, but it was over.

I sagged down and moved to the boy. He had bite marks on his shoulder and a small slash on his legs. The wounds looked to be closed, and he was still breathing. I had no way to heal him or myself. Another thing I needed to remedy. I moved to the dead cat and pulled my backpack off. The opening was just big enough to squeeze the cat’s body into my dimensional storage. I pulled out my leather vest, damn, I should have worn this in combat. I used it to wrap the boy up as I picked him up. I started walking back to the village.

I had been gone perhaps two hours. I was relieved when I saw the village. The guard yelled, and a few villagers came to stand next to the guard to watch me approach. I was stoic and did not say anything as I walked up to the small group. They saw the boy in my arms, and some villagers were crying. As I got to stand before the group, I spoke, “The boy lives, do we have a healer?”

There was a pause from shock, and then one of the women came forward to inspect the boy. She screamed and ripped him from my arms, yelling for the healer Amos as she went to the central buildings. The guard, Marcum, looked at me and nodded in respect. I left the small group and went to my house. As I was walking, I checked my notifications.

Axe: Two-Handed 2 Tier 2 unlocked, +1 Strength

You have killed level 6 Cleardusk Plains Lioness, 150 experience

You have killed your first creature in one-on-one combat, Accolade: Hunter I, 100 experience

You have killed a creature three levels above you, Accolade: David vs Goliath I, 100 experience

You have killed a creature five levels above you, Accolade: David vs Goliath II, 200 experience

You have completed the quest Vengeance against the Plains Cat, 250 experience, see the boy’s mother for Skill Book

BONUS: You have saved the boy taken from the Plains Cat, 500 experience

Congratulations, You have reached level 2, you earned 6 stat points and 2 skill points

Congratulations, You have reached level 3, you earned 6 stat points and 2 skill points

Huh, I closed the notifications, shoved a bunch of food in my mouth, went upstairs to my bed, and fell asleep in my bloody clothes.

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