Chapter 9: Monster ExterminationTurning time back, around the time when Lucas joined a party and went to hunt for the first time, a certain person has also just started playing.
Standing in the square plaza that Lucas was a few minutes ago were a player named [Rice].
He had silver hair and red iris, above his head was a wolf"s ear and behind him was a tail, the rest was humanlike. Why? Because he is a werebeast, to be more precise, he was half-human half-wolf.
First, let"s talk about the character selection. When creating the character, you choose a race that you want.
Human - they are normal, very normal, they have no special features whatsoever. They are mostly known for being adaptive.
Half-Elf - they are half-human half-elf. If chosen, INT and DEX has an additional 5 points each no matter what the randomized stats are.
Werebeast - they have good instinct, hearing, and sensing ability. If chosen, additional [Heighten Senses] pa.s.sive skill. Fighter jobs are mostly Werebeasts for the skill.
Orc - they are strong and buffed beings. If chosen, DEF and VIT have 10 points increase no matter what the randomized stats are. They are known for their endurance on taking hits and from their hideous appearance.
Earth - Gnome
Water - Undine
NameRiceLevel1GenderMaleMoney1 G 20 S 50 CJobNoviceRaceWerebeastHealth155Mana110STR23INT2SPD12DEX10VIT11LUK2Pa.s.sive Skills
[Heighten Senses] Beginner LVL 1(00.00%)
Active Skills"Ohh, looks like I can become a Warrior with these, I was worried what I"ll do if my stats will be too far off from a Warrior."
With that, he looked around first.
He had two objectives for looking around, one is to look for equipments, from the stands or from what others wore for future references. Two, is to look for comrades, someone to form a party with.
While he was looking, he noticed that most of the players are checking him out and most of them were females. Since his type is rare after all and somewhat attractive or cute to some. Not only that, he was already a pretty boy even in the real world so, coupled with the wolf ears and tails, he was most likely one of the handsome avatars in the game.
"Fufu, I"m a sinful man."
He kept his cool appearance on the outside and was grinning wide on the inside.
But then, he noticed that the players" attraction was suddenly diverted.
Following the players" gazes, he saw a woman at the end. The woman had black short hair, limbs that seemed fragile and fierce eyes that looked like it"s looking for a prey. She was at Rice"s shoulder height and with her flat
Do you want to accept the quest?YESNO
"Yes!"
Geeves immediately accepted the quest instead of consulting with Rice first which made Rice"s cheek twitch.
"W-what are you accepting it immediately for idiot! Why didn"t you ask me first?"
"Are you gonna decline?"
This cool voice coupled with Geeves" cool glance that seemed to stare deeply in your soul made Rice step back a little.
"N-no…anyway, at least ask for my opinion first next time!"
"Suuure~"
Geeves"s att.i.tude immediately did a complete 180 degrees after getting Rice"s confirmation and went back to his easy-going mood.
"Geez, this guy…I guess he"s the type that can be count on at the moment of need…still, is there a need to give me that cold look?"
Again, Rice can only sigh at Geeves" unpredictable att.i.tude.
Monster ExterminationThe town guards have asked for your help in defeating the neighboring villages" monsters.
Requirement: Eliminate 10 [Blue Slimes], 10 [Red Slimes]
Difficulty: F
Reward: 2 Silvers
"Oh, looks like it"s just slimes."
"See? What were you getting so worried about?"
"Yeah yeah, but 2 Silvers huh…"
Rice muttered as he looks at the reward.
For beginners, they were given 1 Gold, 20 Silvers, and 30 Coppers.
1 Gold is equivalent to 100 Silvers.
1 Silver is equivalent to 100 Coppers.
Rice had wanted to know how the prices work in this world so he won"t get careless and buy expensive items with poor qualities. So he had to know how hard it is to earn money, then look around the shops later and estimate their value.
So with just 20 slimes, they can get 2 Silvers. That means 1 Silver is about 10 slimes worth of hunting.
"Hmm, I guess we weren"t given that much of starting money huh?"
Aside from being a pain in the neck, earning 20 Silvers shouldn"t be that hard. By that conclusion, the good weapons and item"s prices would probably in the Golds and normal weapons or items as well as consumable items are either in Silvers or Coppers.
Well, if it"s only earning 20 Silvers then it"s still fine. But 100 Silvers to get 1 Gold? Rice can only sigh on how hard it"s most likely to be to get money.
"Well, we"re still a Lvl 1. The stronger we get, the harder the monsters, the bigger the pay. Let"s just think of that."
"Where"s this village at?"
Geeves asked the guards hoping to start soon.
"Yes, once you exit this east gate, just follow this path leading north. If you follow the path, you"ll be able to see the village soon. Also, you can get the reward from any of the guards stationed there."
"Gotcha, we"ll be going then."
With that, Geeves and Rice began their journey.
By the way, Geeves" current status is this.
NameGeevesLevel1GenderMaleMoney1 G 20 S 50 CJobNoviceRaceHumanHealth100Mana190STR0INT18SPD10DEX30VIT0LUK2Pa.s.sive SkillsActive Skills
+ + +
"Well, that was rather quick."
"Yeah, though I was getting worried when slicing attacks won"t work, simple punches and kicks would do it anyway."
After defeating the required number of slimes and then some, Geeves and Rice approached a guard in order to get their reward.
"Ah yes, thank you for your time. Here"s the reward as promised."
"Thanks."
After receiving the reward, they had planned to go back in town to search for another quest with a higher pay when the guard continued his words.
"Actually, there has been sighting of a bear loitering about around here. Can I trouble you again by confirming it? And if it"s true, I want you to eliminate it if possible."
*ting*
Do you want to accept the quest?YESNO
""A chain quest!!!""
Geeves and Rice"s mind were in sync.
To trigger another quest after finishing a quest is what a chain quest is.
Chain quests usually have some kind of story in it. That"s why it was explainable as to why the both of them were surprised to be able to activate a chain quest with only monster extermination.
"C-calm down Geeves, this might end after this one so it"s too early to make an a.s.sumption."
"Either way, we have to try!"
The two accepted the quest hoping something good will happen in the end.
This time, they were asked to find [Young Bear] in the [Pliht Forest] that is a few minutes" walk north of the village, on the quest that labeled [Monster Extermination II].
The rewards this time were 10 Silvers. And if the [Young Bear] is to be eliminated, the reward will be more, or so they were told. Quite the escalation from the 2 Silvers before with the slimes. Just goes to show how dangerous this quest might be for them.
Though they had both acquired the skill [Bash] after leveling up to 5 as well as [Punch] and [Kick] from repet.i.tive action, since they know nothing about the enemy, they can"t help but be nervous about it.
Also, [Wolves] is different from slimes in many ways. First of all, its appearance, the slimes actually look cute with their jelly-like substance that kept wriggling so it wasn"t that hard to confront it. [Wolves] however, look like actual wolves. Vicious, strong, and fierce. The way they growl deeply and their stares that overflows with killing intent, it"s not surprising one would get scared just looking at them.
But there are times where you must face your own fear for the sake of something. Be it for your loved ones, your family, your friends, your pride, your goal, or in their case…money.
"Alright, let"s restock our potions first before hunting."
"Can"t wait for it! For the sake of making more money!"
Finished buying potions, the two of them went to find the [Young Bear].
"It"s all good and all but…how the h.e.l.l are we supposed to find a bear…wait, do bears even appear here?"
Not even five minutes after they sent off, Geeves was already complaining.
It"s true though, in the [Pliht Forest], the only monsters supposedly found are plant-like monsters that can"t move as well as slimes and is actually a forest that is more popular from the many herbs you can harvest here. This is why the villagers can safely walk in and out to get the herbs needed.
Until some claim of a bear residing in it. They had of course asked the village guards to take care of it, however, every time they sent out, they can never find them so the bear sighting was deemed as nothing but a rumor.
However, the villagers that claimed to see them was still uneasy on entering the forest again, as a result, the village"s stock of herbs was declining.
Also, the [Pliht Forest] has a neighboring forest called the [Sleolst Forest] where Lucas and his party entered from the north gate walking east. After discovering the Lvl 60 boss [Blood Werewolf], Lucas kept running and running that he didn"t notice he had already entered a different forest and fell.
"Well, you"re the one who said that it won"t hurt to try so shut up and look around."
"Boooo"
Walking for another 10 minutes, they finally saw an anomaly.
A tree in front of them has a branch broken away, looking more closely, there"s a slight footmark that resembled a bear beneath it as well as claw marks on the broken branch.
"Looks like it"s real."
"Yeah, be on your guard."
The two switched to serious mode and drew their [Beginner"s Dagger].
After walking for a while, just when Geeves was about to get bored again, Rice felt something. To be precise, he heard something.
"Haaah, there"s still no sign of mgh-!?"
"Shhh! I can hear something…"
Because Geeves was too noisy, Rice forced his hand on Geeves" mouth to shut him up and closed his eyes to focus and search the sound he heard.
………………………………………..*suuuu*
"There!"
"Wha- hey, wait for me!"
Having located the direction of the sound, Rice immediately ran towards it ignoring Geeves as he can"t lose this chance.
Finally reaching a small clearing in the forest, there, a bear was resting in the middle of it. And the sound he heard came from none other than the bear"s breathing.
"Hey! I said wait up!......................eh?"
"You idiot! Do you have to shout!?"
A large shadow covered them, when they look up, the bear had already stood.
The bear had a size thrice that from an average male"s height, shiny black fur, bulky limbs that seemed fat yet firm as well.
Geeves" and Rice"s face twitched as they look up.
"H-heeyyy….l-l-let"s t-talk about this yeah?"
Geeves tried to talk it out.
Needless to say, the bear didn"t respond, instead, it raised its humongous arm overhead and glared at the two of them.
*RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!*
*BAM!*
The arm swung down towards the two and repelled them by roughly three meters back while leaving a dust cloud behind.
"D-d.a.m.n, no choice for it. Geeves, let"s bolt!"
"T-tch! Fine!"
Since the blow from before just reduced both their HPs by 70% due to the STR difference, DEF difference, and having beginner armor, they had left with no choice but to run and think of a strategy.