Chapter 3 - The Real Tutorial

The two wolves were just behind him, growling loudly. They were crouched low as if in preparation to attack, which immediately put me on guard. I drew the longsword at my waist and took a ready stance. Would this be turn-based, like a JRPG, or would it be real-time, with definitive cooldowns on abilities? Well, it's not like I had any abilities to begin with, but the wolves might.

Just as I was considering my options and wondering how the process of combat would work, the wolf on the right lunged. It took me by surprise. Normally there would be some change between aggression. The jaws of the beast clamped down on my left forearm before I could react, and I actually felt some pain as I saw my health bar drop by 4 points. That was no good.

Swearing loudly, I stabbed the wolf with my longsword. Still firmly attached to my arm, it couldn't avoid my attack either, and I ran it through with the long blade. It let out a single whimper of pain, then it's body went limp, it's jaw unclenching from my arm.

The other wolf was charging forward at once, but I was ready. Already dragged down slightly by the weight of the first wolf, I ducked lower, and the wolf sailed over my head, it's jaws clamping down on thin air. Then I put a foot against the dead wolf's flank, and shoved it off my sword, turning to face the other wolf just in time. As it darted forward again, I darted to the side and swung up with the sword as it flashed past.

I waited for a moment, expecting another attack from the wolves. But as the seconds stretched by, I realized they were really dead. Huh. That should have been harder, I thought. Apart from the shock of their speed, they hadn't been too difficult as opponents.

A quiet ding made me jump. Looking around for the source of the sound, I noticed it had come from the small square badge the bot had given me. It was shining ever so slightly as I pulled it out of my pocket. I sheathed my sword and tapped it. A screen popped up at once. It seemed to be some kind of database entry. At the very top, there was a picture of the wolves I'd just defeated.

Forest Wolf

Power Rank 6

Bio

The scourge of unwary warriors, this forest-dwelling animal is normally docile but will attack in packs if their territory is threatened. Lacking in power, their main advantage lies in numbers, speed, and flanking tactics designed to catch their prey unaware.

Diet

????

Mating Habits

????

It seemed that the game had some kind of knowledge-based system then. Indeed, now that I had this information available to me, I could see a health bar over the wolve's bodies. 0/5. That would mean that they only had 5 health, then. Interesting. No wonder it had been so easy to kill them. I put the badge back into my pocket. I'd have to find an easier way to carry that, so it was immediately accessible.

Moving down the forest path, I had to hand it to the creators of the game. They had clearly put a lot of effort into the tiny details. Everywhere I looked, there were small textures that other game developers often overlooked, but here they were rendered to perfection. Even the faint scents of the forest, with the assistance of my rather expensive helmet, registered on my nose. Needless to say, it felt like real life.

"Hey! Wait up a second!"

The voice made me stop and turn around. A short red-headed teen was running down the forest path towards me. Always cautious of PvP encounters, I put one hand on the hilt of my longsword but made no other movements.

Finally, as he drew close, I could make him out more clearly. My assumption that he was a teenager was accurate. His face was pretty young, maybe 16 or 17. He wore simple maroon robes that clashed horribly with his flaming hair, and there was a katana in his belt. He came to a stop at a respectable distance, noting my cautious reaction to his approach. He held his hands up in a sign of peace.

"I'm not looking for a fight, man." He said. "After I saw what you did to those wolves, I figure I don't stand a chance."

"You were watching me?" I asked. "I didn't see or sense anyone."

The kid rubbed the back of his head, grinning cheekily. "Yeah, well I've played a lot of stealth games. I like to think I'm something of a ninja."

I laughed in spite of myself. He did, in fact, look just like one would expect of a Japanese ninja. I released my weapon, convinced now that he posed no threat. I held out a hand in greeting.

"My name's Senso," I said. "Pleasure to meet you."

He shook my hand eagerly. "Nice to meet you Senso. I'm Taka."

And as soon as he said his name, a screen of information appeared next to him.

Character Name: Takamori

Rank: Novice (Power Rank 20)

Maximum Hit Points

15

Armor Class:

3

Strength:

4

Agility:

5

Constitution:

3

Magic:

6

Handling:

2

Luck:

8

"Wow," I said before I could stop myself. ���You think they'd keep that private."

He seemed to know what I was talking about, as his eyes were focused just to the right of my face, as I was his. His eyes widened at something, then he released his grip. For a moment, I was annoyed that he'd seen my stats, but then I shrugged. I'd seen his too, so we were even in that sense.

"It seems that you can only see another's stats if you shake hands," Taka said. "I met another person who shook my hand, and the same thing happened. But it doesn't reveal everything. We can't see each other's skills, for example."

"Skills?" I hadn't even thought to check for skills. But as soon as I said the word, another screen appeared in front of me.

Available Skill Slots: 1

Learned Skills: 1

Counter-strike (Reaction): When injured by an attack, your next attack against that opponent does extra damage. Cooldown of 10 seconds.

"Oh damn, I learned a skill already?" I said, incredulous. "That was fast."

Taka nodded. "It seems the first encounter you have gives you one skill, based on what you did."

So that was it. Because I'd stabbed the wolf only after it had bitten me, I'd been given this skill. I could already see a few uses for it in combat, but it wasn't the best result I could have hoped for. The skill required me to be hit, which, in combat, wasn't really a good thing.

"Here, let me show you my skill," Taka said, moving forward.

He placed one hand on my injured forearm and closed his eyes. Bright green energy surged from his hand and around my wound. It was alarming, but I held still, amazed, as the wound began to close. Even the blood on my arm faded, leaving nothing but smooth skin. Looking up at my health bar, I noticed it was once again full.

"Thanks," I said. "That's a handy skill to have, especially in this game."

Taka grinned. "Well, it's useless in combat, but it's nice to have. I got it because I tended to the wounds of another player, after running away from my own encounter."

"I see," I said. "Well, something tells me there's a city or town nearby. Wanna travel with me?"

Taka's grin widened. "Sure! It sounds smarter than risking more wolves on my own."