The Plight of a newbie (III)
"Dillion!!! Where are you, Dillion?!" The voice of a worried mother could be heard over the crowd. The boy let go and ran to his mother.
"Dillion! Where did you run off to? I told you not leave my side!"
The boy pointed at Zero. "Doggie brought me home," he said with a cheerful smile.
"Oh really?" The mother's eyes were wide with fright. "Are you sure, Dillion? That doggie looks a little bit mean." She drew her son closer to her body.
"Mhmm. His fur is really soft," said the boy as he looked up towards his mother. Inching forward carefully, the mother slowly walked up towards Zero and his group.
"Thank you for finding my child. I was worried about where he disappeared to. Here. Please have this."
She gave Zero honeyed bread and tied a small collared necklace around Zero's neck. It looked exactly like a dog ID tag.
Ding!
You have returned the lost boy to his mother. The mother is grateful for finding her child, but she is still a bit wary of you. Children will more likely come and play with you in your hybrid form. You have received honey bread and a small collared necklace. +10 in fame.
"The dog's fur is really soft." The mother patted Zero's head. She gave her thanks to them and left with Dillion.
"I told you. Now that completes the set. You are officially a dog," snickered Agnis.
This infuriating woman. I swear I'm going to get back at her one day, he cursed silently.
"Identify small collared necklace."
Small Collared Necklace
A necklace that has been handcrafted by Dillion's mother. Provides the feeling of a mother's warmth. Children will trust you and will come to you when you're in your hybrid form.
+ 15 fame
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
All status points that you have gained through leveling will be automatically updated by the course of actions, strategies, and play style that you have taken.
"Huh? So you can't update the status points manually? This is going to anger a lot of people." Zero looked at his menu. It was a very unusual thing to have a game where the player did not need to boost their status.
"Actually, that's the strange thing about this game," Agnis said. "It updates the status points the way you want without you having to manually input them every time you level up. It's like it already knows where you want it to go. The game also seems to factor in your gaming style, and it changes the status around so it fits your style. So far people are saying that no two avatars are alike."
"I don't know if that's good or bad," said Zero as he trotted next to Agnis. Things like this could upset the balance of the game. Then again, it could be a huge advantage and something he didn't need to tediously manually input.
Zeraph interrupted their conversation. "Well, guys, it's time for me to go," he said as he turned around towards Agnis. "It was truly a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Agnis," said Zeraph as he gave her a wink and a dazzling smile. "I hope to see you again."
"Nice meeting you," said Agnis. She didn't seem giggly about him anymore. Maybe the flirting was getting on her nerves.
"If you guys ever want to party, just call me." Zeraph motioned his hand into a phone near his head.
Zero nodded and watched Zeraph walk off into the distance. This idiot is a lady-killer. He shook his head. He knew a lot of guys like him that got ladies really easily.
"Now to the item shop," said Zero as he headed towards the shop.
"We are actually close to the one the shop owner directed us to," said Agnis as she pointed where they needed to go. They both headed towards their destination.
The doorbell rung as the door to the item shop opened.
They were greeted by a woman with a broad smile. "Hello. Welcome to my shop. I am Sara. How may I help you?"
Zero jumped on top of the counter. "Excuse me, do you have any clothes that will fit a five-year-old child?" asked Zero as he talked to Sara. He needed clothes now; his time limit was going to be over soon, and when that time came he would be naked.
"A dog? Lady, can you please get your dog off my counter? Its paws will dirty it," Sara said, annoyed.
"Hey, lady! Are you really going to ignore me?" said Zero with an irritated voice.
"Zero! Watch it—your infamy is going to go up if you keep antagonizing her." Agnis pulled Zero back.
Zero stopped and pondered for a moment. An idea hit him. "Please, madam, do you have any clothes that a five year old can wear?" asked Zero as he showed the most adorable eyes he had ever made towards Sara. He gave a full blown attack of puppy-dog eye.
"Kyaaah! So cute!" Sara picked up Zero and twirled him around. Zero's head bobbed back and forth from spinning around.
"Ugh…I'm going to throw up," said Zero. His face was turning green from dizziness. He was trying his best not to throw up on Sara. Finally she stopped spinning them.
"Yes. I do have some." She placed Zero down onto the floor. "Would you like armor or basic wear?"
"B-Black basic wear with a bit of gold accent on it please," said Zero as he steadied himself.
"That will be ten coppers please," said Sara as she extended her hands out towards Zero.
Zero looked at his meager stash of money. He had 50 coppers, a water skin, five stale bread, and one honey bread.
I'm so broke. He looked dejectedly in his inventory menu. He wished he had more. "Here you go…" He sighed heavily as he handed the coppers to Sara.
"Thank you for your purchase," said Sara cheerfully. She handed Zero his new clothes. Zero reached into the paper bag and laid them out neatly for him to pick up when he transformed.
"Transform into human!" Zero shifted, and he changed into his new clothes.
"They're a bit baggy, but it'll be fine," said Zero, pleased. This was the best he could get for now.
"You ready?" asked Agnis. "Today you'll be helping me level up."
"I'm a level three. How am I supposed to help you?" Zero stared at her in disbelief. He didn't know if she was crazy or was trying to use him as a meat shield. Either way he didn't like where this was going.
"Well, I want to try something out. I'll meet you just outside the gates on the South side. If you've got anything else to do, do it now." Agnis turned towards the door and left the store first.
Zero sighed.
#####
Zero arrived in front of the southern gate and saw Agnis leaning against the wall.
"What took you so long?" asked Agnis, looking peeved.
"I went to get some extra bread. I didn't know potions were so expensive," said Zero, slightly annoyed. He had shopped around the item stores, weapon stores, and even the herb store just to see what the prices were. Everything was ridiculously expensive.
"They're not easy to make and there are only a certain number of them. Players and residents eat food in this game. Now, I'm going to grab a horned rabbit and aggravate it so it focuses its attack on me. I want you to go in for the kill," directed Agnis.
"What? Wouldn't it be faster if you did it?" asked Zero, confused.
"No. We are not in a party together yet. I wanted to see what this new companion contract is all about."
Agnis pulled out her wooden bow, focusing on a horned rabbit grazing on the grass. She nocked an arrow. She carefully aimed at the horned rabbit and let the arrow fly towards it. With a whoosh, the arrow impaled itself into the rabbit's foot.
Squeaking loudly with pain, the rabbit's eyes glowed red, and it charged towards Agnis.
"Well, it's better than nothing. Okay, now!" yelled Agnis as she stepped back into a solid stance, waiting for the attack. As the rabbit jumped in the air, Zero rushed from behind and attacked the back of its neck with his bare hands. The rabbit was stunned for a few seconds.
"That didn't do much damage," said Zero as he looked at the horned rabbit's health bar. His attack had only chipped away 10% of its health.
"Hurry up and aim again!" shouted Agnis from the back.
With a rapid seven-hit combo strike, Zero aimed at the same location, and he finished it off with a crescent ax kick. From training, he had gone through grueling task of honing his body, repetitively aiming for precise areas so his attacks would be ingrained in muscle memory. In the virtual world, his avatar could perform almost identical movements.
"Nice form. I'm a bit surprised though that your attack is weak. Did you really get an increase in stats?" said Agnis. She skinned the rabbit and put the pelt in her bag.
"Yeah. Let me check. Status Menu."
Name: Zero
Race: Hybrid Human unknown
(Form Human)
Level: 3
Main Job: None
Secondary Job: None
Health points: 700
Mana Points: 650
Attack: 15
Defense: 15
Agility: 10
Endurance: 20
Luck: 5
Leadership: 0
Magical Attack: 8
Magical Defense: 8
Wisdom: 8
Intelligence: 7
Dexterity: 5
Fame: 25 (+15)
Skills:
All:
+ Transform beginner level 1 (25%)
+ Keen Hearing beginner level 2 (50%)
Human Form Specialties:
+ None
Hybrid Form Specialties:
+ Stink Bomb beginner level 3 (7%)
+ Keen Nose beginner level 1 (50%)
Origin Form Specialties:
+ Stink Bomb beginner level 3 (7%)
+ Keen Nose beginner level 1 (50%)
Info: A hybrid human that is born from an Egg. No data of the species is known. A small bounty is placed on your head. The bounty will not be active for a month in game time.
"What? My status got cut in half?!" He stared at it, dumbfounded. He didn't expect to see such a huge disadvantage.
"That's some serious handicap." She looked upon him appalled. "Sadly you can't change what you are born into, but on the bright side, whenever you kill something, I automatically get experience points. It's also the same way when I kill a monster. You should at least get 10% of it." She paused for a moment as she pulled up her menu, "It also states here that we need to be within five miles of each other for it to be in effect," said Agnis, reading from her skills menu page.
Zero was completely exhausted. He took a seat on the ground next to her. "Whew. That actually put a strain on my body. I forgot how limited it is to be a kid. Give me a second to catch my breath." He wheezed heavily. This was a bit more difficult than he'd thought. His stamina was low, and he tired out easily.
"I'm going to go kill some more. Just stay close to me and you'll be able to leech off me," said Agnis as she puts her hands on her hips.
"Eh? You're okay with that?" Zero eyes became wide with surprise.
"For now, yeah. If you push yourself too hard you can die of overexertion. That's kind of a pathetic way to die if you ask me. I'll be close by. Catch your breath and follow after." Agnis walked off towards a group of horned rabbits.
She actually has a kind side to her, thought Zero. He didn't expect to see this side of Agnis and thought she was always so stuck up. Huh. I have a different opinion about her now. Zero waited for a couple minutes and then followed after.
Over the next five hours, Agnis and Zero found a strategy to dispatch the rabbits as quickly as possible. Agnis drew in as many as she could handle, and Zero attacked them from their blind spots. Most of the time Agnis got the last kill, but either way Zero still gained experience.
Finally, Agnis called for them to stop. "I've got to go for now," she said. "Try to level up so we can go after stronger monsters. We need to be stronger to complete a C-level quest, so it's best to go a bit longer. Game time is a lot faster than real life. I'll see you around," said Agnis. She waved goodbye and logged out.
"Finally some peace and quiet. I can do what I want to do for a while." The game was already growing on him. He didn't mind playing such games. Usually he enjoyed first-person shooters more than role playing games.
Zero looked around and saw an herb with a question mark. He walked up to it.
"Identify!"
You have identified Tulip.
This plant's tubular roots are very poisonous if eaten. High doses may cause death.
"Not bad." He pulled out the plant and stored it in one of his two bags. Zero searched around for more plants and trees, but behind one of the bushes a large, long-horned, pure-white rabbit jumped out. Following right after were seven small, brown, horned rabbits.
"Oh crap," Zero said, jumping backwards away from the rabbits. He dashed off but was chased by the mini boss Lucky Horned Rabbit. This mini boss was usually for players who were above level 50, and Zero was not even close to level 15. The small horned rabbits attacked in zigzag motion as Zero attacks missed, while the Lucky Rabbit attacked him head-on. One of the rabbit hit his legs, making him stumble, and in this brief moment the Lucky Rabbit attacked. It decreased his life points by half.
I can't keep this up or I'm going to get killed. Am I able to transform now?
Two rabbits aimed attacks at his head, but he dodged just in time.
"Transform into Origin!" he yelled. It worked. His bones shifted and groaned as his body changed into his animal form.
"Lucky! Now let's get rid of those small rabbits first." Zero snapped up one of the rabbits in midair and crushed it with his jaws. Three small rabbits simultaneously attacked from above, and he pushed himself off the ground, a hairbreadth away from their horns.
"Stink Bomb!"
The three small rabbits got caught in the attack and were stunned momentarily. Zero sprinted forward and killed them off one by one. One after the other, the small rabbits attacked Zero from both sides, and he danced out of harm's way. He rushed towards a large black boulder and the rabbits pursued. Off in the distance, some newbies were watching. It must have been a strange sight: a doglike/foxlike creature being chased by rabbits.
Zero smacked one of the rabbits in the face with his tail and caught it with his mouth. He slammed into another one, crushing it under his weight. At the same time the last rabbit got stunned with his Stink Bomb breath. In one fell swoop he got rid of the last small rabbit, just before he was rammed into by the white horned rabbit and was sent flying towards the black boulder.
"Oppf!" His breath escaped his mouth. "This game can be too realistic," Zero grumbled.
Even though the small rabbits were gone, he was still struggling. A horn attack come flying towards him at a lightning speed. He pushed himself to the right. As his claws ground against the black boulder, they let off a small electric spark. At the same moment, he used his abilities.
"Stink Bomb!"
KABOOOOOOM!!!!!!
A huge, fiery explosion blew the two back.
Thud!
"OPPFF." Zero's breath was knocked out of him. He lay splayed out on the ground.
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
Lucky 7 Rabbit Scarf was obtained.
New Skill Exploding Breath was learned.
For defeating a Lucky Rabbit your fame has increased by +50
"Oww." He sat up. He was badly battered. There were large scrapes and couple missing patches of fur. Here and there, he had burnt fur. It hurt, but he ignored the pain.
"A new ability and a scarf? Nice!" said Zero excitedly. He hadn't expected new abilities so soon.
"Identify Lucky 7 Rabbit Scarf."
Lucky 7 Rabbit Scarf
1/7 chance to obtain a very rare items through a dice roll. A dice will appear for you to cast.
1-6- lose
7- a rare item
+10 Luck
Level Requirement: 50
Zero pulled out a piece of bread and ate it slowly in order to restore his health.
"Identify Explosion," he said as he chewed.
You have learned a new ability! Exploding Breath Beginner level 1 (0%)
An ability that causes an explosion when the Stink Bomb ability and the flint stone are used simultaneously. Be careful or you might be caught up in the blast as well. Cannot be used in human form.
"Flint stone. Hmm." He looked around, confused. He looked down. Underneath his paws were small black rocks.
"Identify."
You have identified Flint.
A special type of rock that can be used to make weapons or to spark a fire.
"I'm guessing I created a spark to detonate it. I should go gather some more. It might be useful later on," said Zero.
He put the small piece of flint into his bag. Looking around, he saw more black rocks scattered around him. He quickly zigzagged from one location to the next to pick up the small pieces with his mouth to store them away. As he was picking up one of the larger flint rocks, something moved in the bush. It startled him to the point of crushing the rocks into thousands of smaller pieces. A small frog jumped out in front of him.
You have learned a new ability! Crush Beginner level 1 (0%)
Your jaw will be able to crush through rocks. Increasing it will allow you to crush different things. Cannot be used in human form.
"Oh my god…I thought my jaw would break." With a small puppy-like roar he frightened the frog off. He was a bit annoyed that something so small had startled him.
Throughout the day he collected plants and flints, and he fought horned rabbits in both his forms. When his bags became full, he went into town to store them away.
Zero walked into a storage facility pulling behind him two heavy bags. A young women with red hair looked down from the counter.
"Oh, it's a kid. How may I help you?" she said with a smile.
"I would like to rent a storage space, please," said Zero in a whisper. He did not want to draw attention.
"Our smallest unit rents for ten coppers a month. Where's your mom, kid? Isn't it too dangerous to be running around by yourself?"
Zero pulled out ten coppers and slid them to her. He gave her his best child-like voice.
"I don't have parents. Can you please store these?" He dumped the flint stones onto the counter.
"Are you sure? These are rocks." She looked at him with wide eyes. Rocks were not something she expected to see being stored away.
"Yeah, I know. I'll be bringing more later," said Zero, who didn't notice her surprise.
The women stared stunned. No words escaped her mouth as she looked upon him in disbelief.
"Please hurry. I have a time limit."
She nodded and continued to store it away.
For a week Zero killed rabbits, mice, and snakes. In his Human form he collected as many flints as possible to level up his skills.
"Just one more rabbit for today," said Zero in a happy tune. He could not wait to try out a different experiment when he finished collecting the flints.
Zero caked himself completely with mud to dampen his scent from the grazing rabbit and slowly snuck up behind it. He noticed that even in this game real life hunting applied as well. With snake-like precision, he hit the rabbit in the back of its neck with a hand chop. In one hit it snapped the neck clean, giving it a critical damage.
You have learned a new ability! Precision Point Beginner level 1 (0%)
After countless hits on pressure points of different creatures you have honed the ability to direct your attacks on points that can kill. Critical bonus +10% of every attack that hits a pressure point. Repetitive attacks on one point increase the damage exponentially. Can be used in all forms.
You have learned a new ability! Camouflage Beginner level 1 (0%)
Using the natural surroundings to create disguises you have learned how to cloak your scent and presence, but it will become ineffective if your smell has been caught by the enemy. Your location could be revealed.
Your agility will be increased. Can be used in all forms.
You have learned a new ability! Hand Mastery Beginner level 1 (0%)
You have great control of your hand in combat. Able to wield multiple weapons.
Your strength will be increased. Can be used in all forms.
"Not bad. Three new skills and they're all things that I use in real life. Does this mean that whatever you know in real life can be used here if certain conditions are met?" Zero wondered. Happily whistling, he skinned the rabbit with his sharpened flint knife. It was a gruesome sight to see a kid's hands covered in blood, gutting a rabbit for its fur and meat.