Reaching the southern part of the forest which surrounded Acron required players to walk across the small river that ran about the back of the village's farm. Lucy moved her feet, dragging them through the soft dirt beneath the rushing waters.
Unlike last time she came here, there were no players, it seemed, so she reached the other end—three meters away—only with the mooing of the cows to cheer her on. She embarked upon the shore, trees scattering her sight. As the game followed physics realistically, her black shorts and legs were now wet. As the game was a game, they would be right back to normal within the next few minutes.
Immediately, looking down, the first thing she noticed were tiny footprints that belonged to ducks. She supposed there were 5 of them, not based on being an expert tracker, but simply because the last quest required her to find that many eggs She slowly followed the tracks and entered the forest.
The trees were tall and rather sparse. Looking up, she could see the afternoon's sun peering through leaves of emerald. The soles of her shoes crunched and postered against soft grass as she followed the muddy prints of ducks.
In time, she came upon a commotion, a clanking, and quickly hid behind a tree, head peeking out to take a small peek.
[Goblin Sword Scout]
—read the name.
". . .a goblin cooking?"
There, a goblin was crouched before a pot that sat upon a campfire. Its small, green, head stared inside the item as it moved a wooden ladle to steer what she suspected was a concoction akin to soup. Besides its feet, Lucy squinted at a net of squeaking duck chicks.
". . .the darn thing is trying to make lunch out of my quest items!" She gnashed her teeth.
It swerved its head in her direction. It growled and stood, hand reaching to grasp a shoddy short-sword by its side.
"Drats," Lucy realized her cover was blown.
The goblin charged at her, sword raised, shorter than even her 5'2 self.
Having spent a bitter hour finally becoming familiar enough with the game to track down and kill 12 constantly hopping rabbits with her fists, however, Lucy was no longer someone who would be taken by a tactic as simple as rushing.
She jumped out of hiding and dodged its slash, barely escaping an abdominal cut. A thunk rang as its blade embedded itself in the wood of the tree she had just left. It struggled to pull it out, mouth growling and snarling, and she took that chance to grab its head with both hands.
"Finally, now this feels like a game world!" She grinned and twisted her form.
It tried to turn as it struggled but she gripped and tore, spinning the creature then slamming its head against the bark of the tree as leaves shook and fell. It looked disoriented for a moment, eyes blinking, and she took that chance to grip a fist and punch.
A noticeable crunch rang and it snarled in pain, slammed against the tree, trying to bite at the hand which kept its head at bay. She shook her head and punched again. And again. And again. It wasn't until she had thrown ten punches did it explode into blue particles.
[Goblin Sword Scout killed!]
{Drops: 50 exp, 10 Gild, Cracked Bronze Short-Sword}
[Congratulations! You gained 2 Souls!]
[Congratulations! You reached level 4!]
So killing something higher leveled than yourself would net you the number of souls that made up the level difference, while killing something lower leveled than you would get you none? Lucy figured.
The first thing she did was take the net of ducks and stuff them into her inventory by holding and wishing them to enter her Traveler's Book. Since they were packaged as one quest item, it was possible. The next thing she did, albeit more excitedly, was summon the drop she had just gained from the poor goblin.
The Cracked Bronze Sword appeared in hand. It looked like the starter sword, though it had more of a shine, and its grip felt more firm. She focused on it and brought its info up.
[Cracked Bronze Short-Sword]
—a bronze short-sword that has been misused by the goblin which once wielded it. It might be cracked but it's better than nothing.
+5 to physical strength.
Lucy grinned as she held the weapon. Even with the asinine description, she felt elated at finally having a sword. After all, what was a swordsman without his blade?
"Sweet!" She pumped her fist.
She equipped the weapon onto its slot on her avatar screen and it naturally appeared at her waist, a black, leather, sheath of suspicious quality to accompany it. With this, she was now officially a swordsman and could use the two skills she had previously purchased! She was as happy as a butterfly.
She unsheathed the blade and stepped forward to slash. It swished within the air and chipped the bark on the tree. She stepped back then stepped forward, blade glowing faint white with the activation of a skill as her sword moved with a blazing spirit. It struck the tree with a resounding pound and bark and bits flew off—embedding itself till she tugged it out.
She whistled. "Wow. Virtual reality is impressive."
She was already getting back her rushing flames whenever she played mmos. Soon enough, she'd probably be addicted to this world.
Content with herself, she looked and spotted the goblin's pot and ladle still there. She even saw a small bag that looked as if it could crumble at any time.
[Goblin's Pot]
—a small cup you could cook with. Could.
[Goblin's Ladle]
—it matches the goblin's pot, doesn't it? What do you think?
[Goblin's Cooking Pouch]
—a pouch containing salt, pepper, and cheese. You can either keep it that way or use it for something else. Maybe an emergency inventory space?
Surprisingly, she could actually take them. Lucy, of course, stored everything in her inventory. Obtaining not only cooking items but also a free pouch with an extra 5 spaces of spaces—though three were already in use.
Putting 2 Souls into her speed stat, she turned and began her trek back to find Dafy the Duck. Yet, once she did reach the town, she changed her mind.
'I should browse the forums for a bit. . .and get lunch before Maria kills me,' She thought.
There were two ways to log off in the game. Either through the menu in the Traveler's Book, or by saying a safe word or phrase you had set beforehand in the case of an emergency. Naturally, she was surrounded by players and her safe phrase was a bit embarrassing, and this wasn't an emergency, so she merely summoned her book and logged off.
LotsChrono
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/vwKhVUR
Want more interesting stories? Check out my profile.
Reaching the southern part of the forest which surrounded Acron required players to walk across the small river that ran about the back of the village's farm. Lucy moved her feet, dragging them through the soft dirt beneath the rushing waters.
Unlike last time she came here, there were no players, it seemed, so she reached the other end—three meters away—only with the mooing of the cows to cheer her on. She embarked upon the shore, trees scattering her sight. As the game followed physics realistically, her black shorts and legs were now wet. As the game was a game, they would be right back to normal within the next few minutes.
Immediately, looking down, the first thing she noticed were tiny footprints that belonged to ducks. She supposed there were 5 of them, not based on being an expert tracker, but simply because the last quest required her to find that many eggs She slowly followed the tracks and entered the forest.
The trees were tall and rather sparse. Looking up, she could see the afternoon's sun peering through leaves of emerald. The soles of her shoes crunched and postered against soft grass as she followed the muddy prints of ducks.
In time, she came upon a commotion, a clanking, and quickly hid behind a tree, head peeking out to take a small peek.
[Goblin Sword Scout]
—read the name.
". . .a goblin cooking?"
There, a goblin was crouched before a pot that sat upon a campfire. Its small, green, head stared inside the item as it moved a wooden ladle to steer what she suspected was a concoction akin to soup. Besides its feet, Lucy squinted at a net of squeaking duck chicks.
". . .the darn thing is trying to make lunch out of my quest items!" She gnashed her teeth.
It swerved its head in her direction. It growled and stood, hand reaching to grasp a shoddy short-sword by its side.
"Drats," Lucy realized her cover was blown.
The goblin charged at her, sword raised, shorter than even her 5'2 self.
Having spent a bitter hour finally becoming familiar enough with the game to track down and kill 12 constantly hopping rabbits with her fists, however, Lucy was no longer someone who would be taken by a tactic as simple as rushing.
She jumped out of hiding and dodged its slash, barely escaping an abdominal cut. A thunk rang as its blade embedded itself in the wood of the tree she had just left. It struggled to pull it out, mouth growling and snarling, and she took that chance to grab its head with both hands.
"Finally, now this feels like a game world!" She grinned and twisted her form.
It tried to turn as it struggled but she gripped and tore, spinning the creature then slamming its head against the bark of the tree as leaves shook and fell. It looked disoriented for a moment, eyes blinking, and she took that chance to grip a fist and punch.
A noticeable crunch rang and it snarled in pain, slammed against the tree, trying to bite at the hand which kept its head at bay. She shook her head and punched again. And again. And again. It wasn't until she had thrown ten punches did it explode into blue particles.
[Goblin Sword Scout killed!]
{Drops: 50 exp, 10 Gild, Cracked Bronze Short-Sword}
[Congratulations! You gained 2 Souls!]
[Congratulations! You reached level 4!]
So killing something higher leveled than yourself would net you the number of souls that made up the level difference, while killing something lower leveled than you would get you none? Lucy figured.
The first thing she did was take the net of ducks and stuff them into her inventory by holding and wishing them to enter her Traveler's Book. Since they were packaged as one quest item, it was possible. The next thing she did, albeit more excitedly, was summon the drop she had just gained from the poor goblin.
The Cracked Bronze Sword appeared in hand. It looked like the starter sword, though it had more of a shine, and its grip felt more firm. She focused on it and brought its info up.
[Cracked Bronze Short-Sword]
—a bronze short-sword that has been misused by the goblin which once wielded it. It might be cracked but it's better than nothing.
+5 to physical strength.
Lucy grinned as she held the weapon. Even with the asinine description, she felt elated at finally having a sword. After all, what was a swordsman without his blade?
"Sweet!" She pumped her fist.
She equipped the weapon onto its slot on her avatar screen and it naturally appeared at her waist, a black, leather, sheath of suspicious quality to accompany it. With this, she was now officially a swordsman and could use the two skills she had previously purchased! She was as happy as a butterfly.
She unsheathed the blade and stepped forward to slash. It swished within the air and chipped the bark on the tree. She stepped back then stepped forward, blade glowing faint white with the activation of a skill as her sword moved with a blazing spirit. It struck the tree with a resounding pound and bark and bits flew off—embedding itself till she tugged it out.
She whistled. "Wow. Virtual reality is impressive."
She was already getting back her rushing flames whenever she played mmos. Soon enough, she'd probably be addicted to this world.
Content with herself, she looked and spotted the goblin's pot and ladle still there. She even saw a small bag that looked as if it could crumble at any time.
[Goblin's Pot]
—a small cup you could cook with. Could.
[Goblin's Ladle]
—it matches the goblin's pot, doesn't it? What do you think?
[Goblin's Cooking Pouch]
—a pouch containing salt, pepper, and cheese. You can either keep it that way or use it for something else. Maybe an emergency inventory space?
Surprisingly, she could actually take them. Lucy, of course, stored everything in her inventory. Obtaining not only cooking items but also a free pouch with an extra 5 spaces of spaces—though three were already in use.
Putting 2 Souls into her speed stat, she turned and began her trek back to find Dafy the Duck. Yet, once she did reach the town, she changed her mind.
'I should browse the forums for a bit. . .and get lunch before Maria kills me,' She thought.
There were two ways to log off in the game. Either through the menu in the Traveler's Book, or by saying a safe word or phrase you had set beforehand in the case of an emergency. Naturally, she was surrounded by players and her safe phrase was a bit embarrassing, and this wasn't an emergency, so she merely summoned her book and logged off.
LotsChrono
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/vwKhVUR
Want more interesting stories? Check out my profile.
