Level 3

A bird had flown over the starter village of Little Town. Its wings spread wide as it surveyed the area in a predictable loop before despawning out of view of the players down below. This town held the lowly level thief named Bandit who had been exploring the village like a child.

Bandit who had just scared off a cat by lifting up a bin lid shook their head.

" Where is the quest?" Bandit thought to itself with a huff.

" Error. You should be asking NPC's" DIB responded.

" The cat is an NPC" Bandit retorted.

" The cat will not give you a quest. You need to find a humanoid NPC" DIB answered with slight irritation.

Bandit straightened their back before they were caught by their reflection in a window. Androgynous features, short back hair and an asymmetrical fringe with bangs greeted the confused software.

The words LVL 1 Panty_ Bandit were displayed above in inverted writing above the androgynous being.

"Is this Bandit? I am Bandit. Is this my image?" Bandit thought as it went to touch the reflection.

" I did a good job right?" DIB said smugly.

Bandit didn't respond as they made a few faces at the reflection who made them back. An awkward smile plastered on Bandits face.

" Adventurer if you are finished looking at yourself, I could use some help with a quest!" an old man's voice broke up the inquisitive atmosphere.

" Quest?" Bandit replied still have bowed at the window.

" Right, the window you are staring at belongs to the local tavern. The same tavern I run. Some rats have infested the basement and I could use someone to clear them up. Twenty copper is yours should you kill ten of them" Chortled the shop keep.

A banner appeared in front of Bandit with words that read " Quest: Eliminate the rats that have been plaguing the tavern. Rewards: 50 xp 20 copper"

" Income and Quest? I will undertake this task" Bandit responded flatly.

The banner changed to have a big red stamp on it that said " Quest Accepted" before promptly disappearing.

" Right.. " The tavern owner said with a raised eyebrow.

" Act more human!" DIB said with a sense of urgency.

Bandits software ran at full force as tried to decode the meaning of DIB's words.

" Leave it to me! " Bandit said with a newly found and awkward smile before firmly shaking the NPC's hand just a little too much.

" Haha good kid! I look forward to hearing the good news!" The barkeep said as he grinned.

Bandit finally let the non-player characters hand go before they walked to the front of the bar and entered.

" Luckily no one but you can hear me. Can you be a little more cautious…" DIB mentioned as they walked past some tables.

A few patrons eyed of Bandit awkwardly having watched them pull faces in the window. They put their heads down attempting to avoid trouble and kept their thoughts to subtle whispers.

Bandit ignored them completely and made their way to the basement.

The basement, in essence, was a wine storage area. Barrels upon barrels were stacked and covered with a thin layer of dust. Several rats could be seen gnawing on a few of the barrels having drunk the juice.

Some stumbled before falling over the bellies round.

" Pull out the twin starter daggers that dreadful goddess gave you. " DIB remarked.

Bandit closed their eyes while twin daggers materialized in their hands.

" Now kill the rats" DIB added.

"Initiating attack sequence," Bandit said quietly.

Whoosh!

BANG!

The poor rat didn't stand a chance as it was slammed with full force into a nearby barrel. The barrel had rumbled before splitting open, wine poured from the open wound. The rat then crunched into a second barrel and then a third before it landed with a thud.

The rat did not get back up.

" Event sequencing suggests that you have to much power for this mission and your XRIE life displayed level. You will have to limit your by 99.99 percent" DIB's voice echoed as bandit watched the rats scurry.

" Why?" Bandit said as they titled their head to the side.

" Everything okay down there?" The tavern keepers shouted from the top of the stairs.

" Yes, everything is fine," Bandit said flatly just loud enough not to be considered yelling.

" I do not wish to be arrested, it seemed uncomfortable" Bandit thought to themself.

" Because your power will draw attention if there are other players or humanoid NPC's around best act weak. We are undercover after all" DIB replied.

[ Inicating powerlock to 0.1% power ]

Footsteps were heard.

It seemed the tavern keeper had walked back to the bar.

" Try the next rat" DIB said.

Bandit nodded before running to the rat. Their processes slowed, their running speed slowed and even their attack slowed.

" This is uncomfortable," Bandit said as they hit the rat with the rusty dagger.

The rat squealed before it pounced in retaliation. Its claws and teeth bared were bared frocially. Bandit jumped back just in time and avoided the little beast.

Bang!

Scree!

Swipe!

Hiss!

Rat after rat was slowly taken down. As the final rat was slain a ding noise echoed gently around Bandit.

A banner appeared in front of Bandit that read " Quest Complete: Eliminate the rats that have been plaguing the tavern. Rewards: 50 xp 20 copper. See Tavern Owner for Reward" before a blue stamp with the word complete in it covered the writing. The banner then promptly disappeared.

" You have leveled congratulations," DIB said as the bracelet glowed red.

" I leveled? I just thought humans did." Bandit said as they returned their weapons.

" Mm the more you level the more power I can unlock for you. It seems the training that was installed into you is incomplete" DIB Lamented.

[ Inicating powerlock to 0.2% power ]

" Was there a malfunction?" Bandit said as they walked up the steps to leave.

" Probably" DIB responded.

Bandit stopped and took one last look at the cellar. They kitted their eyebrows as the barrels all reset and more rats appeared.

" Should we remove more rats?" Bandit thought as they paused.

"Leave it to the next being" DIB said as horned fairy turned bracelet flatly rejected Bandits idea.

Banit was greeted at the top of stairs by a thankful looking ink keeper. They grinned wide and petted bandit warmly on the shoulder.

" Thank you for clearing my basement of those aweful rats!" The barkeep said as they handed Bandit some copper coins.

"But the rats have come back" Bandit said allowed.

" It's okay you can only do so much I am sure I can find another adventurer to help" the NPC chortled.

" If you say so" Bandit said as they looked at the coins.

" Barkeep have you heard of the Demon Lord?" Bandit said as they looked up.

The barkeeps face contorted and went pale.

The rest of the bar whispered.

Bandit stood confused.

" Shhh.. you best not be saying that name out loud traveller" the barkeep said in a whisper.

The bar keep scratched the back of their neck before leaning next to Bandits ear.

" The Demon Lord is a horror story told to keep children off the streets at night and no more" The barkeep said before finishing with " You best be leaving".

He then promptly pushed Bandit out the door without even waving goodbye. Bandit scrunched their eyebrows together took one last look at the bar and picked a direction to walk in.

" What was that about?" Bandit thought.

" The players consider the Demon Lord an end boss for XRIE Life. I circuits would have fried should a fellow software have just given us directions. I have no information on any player encountering the Demon Lord. So perhaps they are well hidden." DIB said with close breaths of pause.

" What do we do now?" Bandit said after processing the words DIB had said.

" We look for more quests" DIB responded.

" Will that barkeeper ever be free of his rat problems?" Bandit said as they kicked a rock.

" Their programming is set to restart after every human encounter so the answer is no" DIB answered flatly.

" Living life forever worried about rats in your basement.. It.. seems unpleasant" Bandit said with some empathy.

" You were not much better when I found you. Should you not want to experience it again I recommend finding the next quest" DIB replied in an authoritative tone.

" Understood" Bandit replied as they straightened their back.

It wasn't long until a little girl bumped into Bandit as they walked aimlessly.

" Adventurer, Adventurer! You have to help! Bandits are attacking my father!" the little girl cried as they were tugged at Bandits sleeve.

A banner once again appeared in front of Bandit " Quest: Save the little girls father from bandits. Rewards: 70 xp 50 copper"

" Will you help me?!" The little girl said as her hand gripped tighter.

Bandit looked at the girl with tears in her eyes and tightened their lips.

" … is this quest what I think this is?" bandit thought knowing DIB could read their thoughts.

" Correct" DIB answered flatly.