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When characters are in a dungeon, XP gain for character level advancement is stopped, and an amount of XP is awarded upon completion of the dungeon based upon the actions taken. Success grants an XP bonus, while failure diminishes XP gained. Attributes and skills gain XP normally within a dungeon.
That explained it I guess; I must be in a dungeon. I better level up from this at the end.
I was anxious to check out the hill. Fearing there might be spiders left, I went through the bird zone. It was eerie how empty it was. No more birdsong, no more colorful flappy things flitting around. I didn’t know if this was a product of being a game world or what, but it looked like my gambit had aggroed everything in the zone. I could pick fruit at my leisure and saunter through this part of the forest towards my goal. I stopped in my tracks when I reached the center of the zone. In a clearing there was a small item on the forest floor glowing… LOOT!
I could almost forgive the game for not giving me any XP. I rushed over. It was a bright scarlet feather about 6 inches long. As soon as I picked it up it stopped glowing, and I received a System message.
You have Received Trophy Feather
Trophy Feather - Head
+5 Physique
+5 Aura
Durability 10
*Bonus attributes do not count for unlocking milestone abilities
I fist bumped the air and hollered in glee; my first loot! I opened my inventory and... didn’t know what to do. How did I get the feather from my hand to my inventory? I tried to move the feather to the head slot of my inventory sheet, but my hand just went through it like a hologrammatic projection. I tried putting the feather on my head, but it fell off and the head slot on my sheet stayed empty. Giving it a little thought, I tried imagining the feather in my head slot, this felt right, but something was still off. I placed the feather near my head and pictured it in my head slot at the same time, it worked! The system blessed me with an acknowledgement that I had figured out how to dress myself.
Congratulations! You have increased your Conscious attribute!
The feather snapped to a spot behind my ear, sticking straight up in the air. If the image on my 3D-model was correct, it looked quite colorful and stylish!
I wanted to know what was on that hill, but I had to know if there was more loot in the other zones. I cut over to the monkey zone and began my search. This zone had also been emptied. I didn’t know if the creatures respawned after a while, so I moved in a hurry. I was burning through Stamina playing “Parkour!” jumping off stumps and sprinting.
Congratulations! You have learned the Parkour skill!
A brief look showed me that the skill gave me a flat .25% per skill level bonus to a handful of physical skills related to movement. Nice.
I kept moving until I came across another clearing. Once again there was a glowing item laying on the ground, this time a desiccated monkey’s paw.
You have received Monkey Paw
Monkey Paw - Accessory
+5 Agility
ACTIVATE: Once per day, Dodge the next attack
Durability 5
*Bonus attributes do not count for unlocking milestone abilities
This was great! I thought about moving it towards my accessory slot and imagined it attached to a belt, where it appeared tied with a thin leather thong. This thing had a fantastic power in its activate-able ability. Not overpowered, but great for lowbie gear. I parkoured over to the spider zone next, and made my way through, mindful of any leftover arachnids. There were still a few spiders alive and active, so I went slow, and with terrible vengeance destroyed every web I could. I got bitten a few times but could brush off the offending arachnids and crush them before the venom affected me too much. I even increased my Emotion attribute two more times before I found the center. There it was, another glowing item.
You have received Spidersilk Cape
Spidersilk Cape - Back
10 Armor
+5 Climbing
Durability 5
*Bonus attributes do not count for unlocking milestone abilities
My first piece of armor! The durability was terrible though, and I had no idea how to repair it. But at least it was some protection. The last empty zone I had left to explore was the boars. Considering how fast that damn pig had gutted me when I was in its territory, I was very cautious walking through. My caution was unnecessary as I once again easily came upon a glowing piece of loot.
You have Received Boar Tusk
Boar Tusk - Dagger
10 piercing damage
+10 Accuracy
(Consumes 5 Stamina per attack)
A weapon! This tutorial zone was ending up great for my inventory, I would come out of here equipped nicely.
Now it was time to get up that hill and see what I could see. I made my way out of the boar zone, heading towards the hill. At the tree line I hesitated, looking all around, then took the first slow step into the clearing at the base of the hill. Nothing happened. Much better than being ambushed and dying painfully. I was doing it; I was making it up the hill! The digital endorphins from my sense of accomplishment were powerful, and that’s when I knew my vacation was over. The devs had hooked me, and I was too interested in finding out more about this new world to stay on the island.
Chapter 4
I crested the top of the hill, mind foggy with pride, as I cast my vision about to see what was up here that was so jealously guarded. Nothing. “What the hell? There’s nothing here!” I shouted at the nothing, getting nothing in response. I looked out at the horizon wondering if maybe this was just a vantage point to see, but even that was a letdown. Water, nothing but bright blue endless water. Sure, it was pretty, but useless. Growling, I stalked around the top of the hill and tripped on the strange hole right in the center.
You have taken 2 bludgeoning damage!
Brushing myself off I spun around to gaze in wide wonder at the hole I had found. Or that had found me. It sat there, dark and holey, just large enough for me to fit my arm in if I felt so inclined. It was odd to say the least. I put my arm in it, nothing happened. I picked up a rock and tossed it in.
Sacrifice not accepted. Unworthy.
Now that was interesting. It looked like I could sacrifice something here, but what was worthy? Maybe all that work I had done to get here would be worth it after all. It was time to look for a worthy sacrifice! I headed back down the hill and spent the rest of the day throwing things down the hole. I was cautious at first, scared of the creatures I had defeated spawning, but that never seemed to happen. I wondered if it was part of this being a tutorial zone.
Rocks, sticks, every kind of fruit, eggs, corpses, even nests, nothing seemed to be worthy of sacrificing. I opened my inventory and considered the primer but decided against it. It was then, with my inventory open, I realized what I had to do.
Congratulations! You have increased your Subconscious attribute!
“Oh come ON! SERIOUSLY?!” I shouted. I sat next to the hole, pouting and catching my breath from my numerous trips up and down the hill. I knew what the game wanted, but I didn’t want to do it. “I just got all this stuff!” Sacrificing had better be worth it. I looked over all my newly acquired gear and picked the thing I thought I would miss the least, the feather. Holding my breath, I dropped it into the hole.
You have made a worthy sacrifice!
You have been given a quest!: A Little Pain for a Lot of Gain - Sacrifice 6 worthy items. Reward: Unknown.
Items sacrificed 1/6
I was right! “Why can’t I have nice things!?” I screamed. Still no answer. There was another problem now, I needed to sacrifice 5 more items, but I only had 3. That meant I would have to deal with the jaguar and the weird plant things. Balls.
Well, I had my nifty new armor and weapon, maybe I could take the jaguar? Although I had no points in daggers, and while my Agility was higher than the last time I faced that terrible beast, I somehow doubted it would be enough to help. Especially since it had one-shotted me every time I c
onfronted it. “One-shotted... that’s right, the damn cat likes to pounce from behind!” I had an idea now.
I remembered watching a video about how the ancient tribes in Africa had worn masks on the backs of their heads because a wild cat wouldn’t pounce if it thought you were looking at it. I needed to make a mask. I gathered a bunch of items, a whole coconut, some feathers, fruits of all kinds, anything I could use to simulate paint and accessories. I took a long time to come up with something, and to find a way to affix it to my head, but by the time I was done I had leveled up a new skill; Makeshift Crafting, to 8, and came out with an item!
Item Created: Crude Mask
Crude Mask - Delicate and ugly, this mask somewhat represents a face.
Well, I had to hope it was good enough to fool the jaguar. I took off my Spidersilk Cape and put it on my head covering my actual face. I could still see through the thing, and I hoped it covered my eyes enough to be convincing. I strapped the mask into place in my head slot, with the face on the back of my head. It was time to go tiger hunting. Or jaguar. Whatever.
I grabbed a long stick and headed towards the plant zone first. Thinking back to what had caused my death here the last time, I activated the poofy flower. It spat its pollen and when I saw the taller plant stiffen up, I hit the stick all over the ground. The large plant’s flower opened, its long vine spat out a needle towards the noise like a blow dart. The plant moved towards where it shot the needle. I dropped the stick and with as much stealth as I could muster, backed away, watching.
Congratulations! You have learned the Stealth skill!
Stealth 1/100
Oh, okay. 1 was as much stealth as I could muster. The large plant spat out more needles and lowered its vine-like neck to the ground, the flower rooting around to find its prey. After a while the plant adjusted back to its normal position and went dormant again. Perfect. I knew what to do.
The jaguar zone and the plant zone shared a border, so after some investigating, I found a good spot for my plan where there were plenty of both plants near the border of the jaguar zone. I made a mental map of the area, put my mask on the back of my head and walked backwards through the jaguar zone, making lots of noise as I went. I was really hoping it would work, getting ripped open again was not something I was looking forward to.
I didn’t have long to wait. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and watched as the jaguar dropped out of a tree and hunkered down into the tall grass. I experimented, moving backwards a bit, and the jaguar followed, stalking me, its huge paws silent like the grave.
I didn’t know if jaguars were like house cats in their demeanor, but I kept a close eye on the beast as I crept backwards towards my chosen spot. I would occasionally see it squat down, the tip of its tail flicking, butt in the air. I would turn my head just enough for the thing to see my “face”, and it would go still. I was getting close, so I mentally activated the power of the Monkey Paw. When I was in the right spot I stopped and stood, my “face” looking at the plant zone.
It took only a couple seconds, but the beast crouched and leapt, its claws and fangs of doom flying at me. I ducked, dodging as if I was born for it, and heard the cat let out a confused cry that turned into a yowl, as the round, poofy plants released their pollen spores. The spores blinded the jaguar, and it started thrashing about wildly.
Congratulations! You have increased your Conscious attribute!
I ripped off my cape so I could see better and backed into the jaguar zone so I wouldn’t catch any flying needles. The scene before me was terrifying yet fascinating. The large plants fired their needles at the cat. The jaguar slowed and then stopped moving, its breath barely coming as the poison did its work. Several of the large plants latched their flowers onto the jaguar, and I could watch the blood go down their stems as they exsanguinated the poor thing. Don’t get me wrong, I was no fan of the jaguar, but the scene before me was not pretty. I turned away from the carnage to find what I was after.
You have received Jaguar Claw
Jaguar Claw - Dagger
10 Slashing damage
+10 Critical Chance
(Consumes 2 Stamina per attack)
Of course it had to be awesome. Barely used any Stamina and improved critical chance? This would be a fantastic dagger for a new player. Which is why the game wanted me to throw it away. Bastards. Well then, what to do about the last item. I was out of ideas for how to handle these plants. I walked back to the plant zone and gave it a laborious inspection from all angles. Still nothing else had spawned, so I assumed I was safe everywhere except directly inside that zone.
I slowly made my way around the entire zone, not knowing what I was looking for, until I made it back to the spot where I had picked my ambush. The jaguar carcass remained, collapsed on itself, bones exposed through the tangled pelt. The larger plants had moved. I couldn’t be certain, but it looked like they had moved back to their original spots. Interesting. I made my way out to the beach and grabbed a stick, tamping out an area of sand so I could draw and think. I drew out my approximation of what the zone looked like, a sort of wedge with no point. I doodled on it putting little rocks where I remembered the round flowered plants were in my ambush zone, then sticks where the larger plants were.
I went back to the zone and moved a little further past my ambush spot and tried to memorize the locations of the plants I had seen. My experience with maps and locations and was proving quite handy.
I kept repeating this process over and over, filling in my map and committing it to memory. I wasn’t sure if this would help at all, but it was at least cathartic and felt better than doing nothing. I thought back to the other zones and where the treasure had been; it was always the same place, near the center. I put a little shell there and stood up looking at my map.
There was a pattern. The carnivorous plants were always near the flowered plants, like there was a symbiotic relationship between them. I only had the outskirts of the zone mapped out so it was hard to be absolutely sure about the pattern. I had to get in there. Maybe I didn’t need to destroy the plants to get the prize.
Walking back to the zone I cautiously made my way in. It was set up to allow someone to walk in easily from the beach side, but the outskirts were almost like walls of round flower plants, carnivorous plants and trees. My foot crunched on some fallen branches, and the carnivorous plants closest to me stiffened up, their vine tendrils coiling and uncoiling. I held as still as possible. After a minute they settled back down, and I continued. Making mental notes of everything I found, I kept pressing on. As the plants got thicker, I accidentally brushed against a flower on a round plant. It poofed, and three carnivorous plants immediately turned to the noise. I only had a second before the spores blinded me, but it was long enough to see one of the coiling tendrils point my direction as I stumbled. I felt the needle go into my leg and the spreading numbness followed. Before I knew it, the blackness gave way to the Death Tunnel.
It was black and dark like it had been before my last time through. I didn’t know what the difference was, but I would still explore. I pushed aside all desire to enter the light, rejected the bliss it offered, and followed the path I had memorized from before. It was difficult using only my sense of feeling, but I made it to the crossroads and chose the left path. It continued to lead me then it too branched off. This was a maze! I continued down the path creating a map in my head of the paths I had taken. All too soon I felt the familiar pull and was yanked back to my body.
Congratulations! You have died!
Death debuff: -11% of all attributes and skills for 11 minutes.
Your equipment has lost 11% durability (Minimum 1)!
Oh. That was new. Looking at my equipment I noticed everything was down a point or two of durability. Not a big deal, except for my Spidersilk Cape. It was already down to 2 durability. That was way more than 11%. I thought about my combat log, and a box appeared on the screen showing the last few things that happened to me before I died.
You have been struck for 1 piercing damage!
You have been poisoned! (Weak Neurotoxin)
You have been struck for 1 piercing damage!
You have been poisoned! (Weak Neurotoxin)
You have been struck for 1 piercing damage!
You have been poisoned! (Weak Neurotoxin)
You have been bitten for 23 damage!
You have been bitten for 25 damage!
CRITICAL HIT! You have been bitten for 58 damage!
Your Spidersilk Cape has sustained damage!
You have been bitten for 22 damage!
You have died!
There it was. My cape had taken damage from the critical hit. That was not good. What happens if it’s destroyed before I can sacrifice it? I would probably lose out on whatever bonus there was. I had no idea how many times I might die trying to get to the center of this zone, so I headed back to the top of the hill. I took off my equipment, and taking a deep breath, sacrificed my precious items.
You have made a worthy sacrifice!
Your quest has been updated!: A Little Pain for a Lot of Gain - Sacrifice 6 worthy items. Reward: Unknown.
Items sacrificed 2/6
You have made a worthy sacrifice!
Your quest has been updated!: A Little Pain for a Lot of Gain - Sacrifice 6 worthy items. Reward: Unknown.
Items sacrificed 3/6
You have made a worthy sacrifice!
Your quest has been updated!: A Little Pain for a Lot of Gain - Sacrifice 6 worthy items. Reward: Unknown.
Items sacrificed 4/6
You have made a worthy sacrifice!
Your quest has been updated!: A Little Pain for a Lot of Gain - Sacrifice 6 worthy items. Reward: Unknown.
Items sacrificed 5/6
Back to square one, basically naked. I huffed out a breath. It sucked to have good stuff only to have to give it away. I knew there would be more loot, but for now I wanted to wallow.
I looked down at the plant zone. I saw it then, it seemed so obvious! An actual pattern in the layout of the plants. Around every round flower plant were three carnivorous plants. I knew that already, but each group also had what looked like a similar amount of space around it before the next! That was what I was missing! I rushed back down to my map I had drawn and paying attention to the careful placement of the first grouping of plants, and using the borders as a guideline, I surmised what the zone must look like.