The Curse of Hurlig Ridge_World Tree Online_1st Dive

by M. A. Carlson

  One-Handed Polearms

  Level: 31

  Experience: 45.88%

  Current Damage Modifiers

  Damage: +15.50

  Critical Strike Chance: +1.55%

  Subskill: Jab

  Damage: +15.50

  Skill Stamina Cost: 41

  Subskill: Rapid Striking

  Damage: -10 Strikes: 13

  Skill Stamina Cost: 81

  Subskill: Hamstring

  Reduce Enemy Movement and Attack Speed: 50% Target Receives Increased Damage: +7.75% Duration: 15 Seconds

  Skill Stamina Cost: 46

  Subskill: Impale

  Damage: 15-16 Bleed Effect: 2 Damage per Second Duration: 10 Seconds

  Skill Stamina Cost: 51

  Subskill: Power Thrust

  Damage: +31.00 Chance to Stun: 10%

  Skill Stamina Cost: 81

  Well, spells and one skill, ‘Justice Strike’, which I needed to level as much as I could. I simply rotated through them, ‘Justice Strike’, ‘Lesser Holy Shock’, ‘Holy Smite’, ‘Lesser Holy Fire’ and ‘Boar Charge’, until I was out of mana. I sat, drank mana infused water and started again. Eventually, I ran out of water and called an end to my training for the day. I was only able to cast ‘Boar Charge’ a few times given its 30-minute cooldown, but it still gained a few levels. Everything else though gained several levels each, but ‘Justice Strike’ and ‘Lesser Holy Shock’ had the biggest gains, 12-levels each, which made sense as they were my weakest spells, still are, but they are getting steadily stronger.

  Justice Strike

  Level: 18

  Experience: 4.51%

  Current Damage Modifier

  Damage: +9.00

  Skill Stamina Cost: 68

  Skill Effect (Active): A righteous strike in the name of Justice. Increases damage or healing of next spell cast by 28.

  Lesser Holy Shock

  Level: 18

  Experience: 4.51%

  Spell Damage: 28-33

  Spell Cash Speed: Instant Cooldown: 30 seconds

  Spell Mana Cost: 136

  Spell Effect (Active): A shock of holy energy attacks the nervous system of your target stunning it and increasing physical damage received by 38 for 5 seconds.

  I looked around to see my friends were gone, probably already off to see Trinico. Given, I had been training here for almost 4 hours, I figured they had another 2 until they were done at Trinico’s. I decided I was overdue for a trip to Ned’s sundry. My mana canteens were tapped, I was out of rations and still hadn’t bought a better bag. I also needed to look into buying a sleeping bag and maybe a tent, if the price was right.

  Ned’s sundry was much the same as the first time I visited though, considerably busier than the last time I had seen it. There must have been 10 fresh level 1 adventurers in there. Poor Ned was drowning in demands and requests.

  “Bye-bye, save me,” Ned cried out upon seeing me. Suddenly all eyes were on me.

  “Hey, he’s level 6, I bet he can help us,” said a young man, probably only eighteen or nineteen years old, if I had to guess. , I read his name. He also appeared human. There were two young men and two young women with him, probably around the same age.

  “Yo, bruh, hook us up,” said one of his companions, a , also human looking.

  “I’m sorry?” I replied, not sure what he was saying.

  “Sorry for my idiot friends,” stepped up one of the young women, . She was a pure elf if the ears were anything to go by. “We were hoping you could help us out. The forums are abuzz, saying this province is a safe place for people to start playing. Could you give us some pointers?” she asked politely.

  “Oh,” I was shocked. I couldn’t believe what she was saying. I was more confused by who on the forums was saying this place is safe to level. “Well, nothing is completely safe, get that out of your head now. There are still Player Killers roaming the wilds, but the village is safe, I suppose. As for giving you some tips . . . I suppose I could help out a little. First things first, get a room at one of the inns, you’re going to want a safe place to sleep at night unless you want to camp outside of town. Second, go introduce yourself to Sergeant Butters, he can be found around the back of the barracks. He can offer you weapon training. Third, meet the mayor in the townhall. You’ll also find the job board there with some basic quests to get you started.” As I was explaining, it dawned on me as I looked around, I suddenly had the attention of everyone in the shop, including Ned. “And fourth, this is the most important part. It will help you more than anything else. Get to know the people, the citizens as they are called, talk to them like they are normal people, you’ll be amazed by the results. For example,” I paused to look at Ned. “Ned, how’s business been lately?”

  “Oh, me, well Bye-bye, I have to tell you, things have really picked up lately. I have had so many requests and even some odd ones. Would you believe, someone came in here the other day asking for a submachine gun? I do not even know what that is, but it had the word gun in it, so I sent him to see Giggle-Ana. He had the nerve to get all huffy with me, saying he had already visited her then stormed off. Some people are just so rude. But, the gods and goddesses do not put anything before us, which we cannot weather, for that is the eternal test,” Ned rattled on.

  “Sounds rough, say, I don’t suppose there is anything these new adventurers could do help you out?” I asked.

  “Well, as a matter of fact, I’m running low on Adventurer Jerky. Rita said she’d be happy to make some, but she needs salt. I have plenty of salt, but I’m so busy, I just haven’t had time to run some to her. If any of you would be interested, I would appreciate the help,” Ned requested, spawning a low-level quest.

  “And there you all go,” I said, declining the level 1 quest. “One last thing about that, don’t expect to talk to a citizen, demand a quest and get one.”

  “Wow, that was so realistic,” said Arial. “Hey, what else do you know?”

  “Figure out what profession you want and find out how to get it. Don’t trust anything the forums told you, they lie. High Priestess Trinico can help you with a number of healing spells if that’s the path you want to take. The town mage, I can’t remember his name, anyway, he’s the local mages guild representative, he can teach you elemental spells. I don’t know if he charges or not, you’ll have to talk to him,” I instructed.

  “What about crafting?” asked another young man, this one a dwarf named .

  “What do you want to learn?” I asked.

  “Blacksmithing and mining,” Hammer replied.

  “Go see Kirlan Dunkirk, he can teach you Blacksmithing. For mining, I think you have to go see the mining foreman at the mines to the southeast of the village. If there are any other crafting question, go see the mayor in the townhall, he can direct you, same with any class questions,” I tried to get ahead of being bombarded by more questions.

  “Any other tips?” asked Arial.

  I answered, “Buy yourselves a few canteens, fill half of them with the mana enriched water Ned sells, and the other half with the stamina water from the barrel behind the barracks. Other than that, I can only emphasize, talk to the citizens. They will give you hints when they talk to you if they need your help with something, which reminds me, don’t underestimate the value of the Charisma stat.” I didn’t tell them everything I knew as there were just some things you needed to learn for yourself. Hopefully, I gave them enough to get them started.

  “So, where are you staying?” asked Arial.

  “Dog House Inn, it’s just kitty-corner from the townhall. It’s very nice and the price is fair,” I answered. “If you choose to stay there, he might give you a discount if you mention my name. Also, talk to his wife, they have an ongoing quest to gather blackberries to make pies, and they are quite delicious.”

  “Maybe I’ll see you there later,” said Arial, her hand brushing mine as she left.

/>   It seemed most of the attention on me faded after that, as the new adventurers were now scrambling to get out of Ned’s, and off to find an adventure.

  “Well, that was intense,” said Ned. “Now, how can I help you Bye-bye?”

  “I need a new bag, something with more carrying capacity. I need a sleeping roll, and maybe a tent. And finally, I need a higher-level mana restorative and stamina restoratives if you’ve got any,” I requested.

  “I can certainly help you with all of that,” said Ned, a friendly smile on his face.

  He was quickly moving about his shop in a precise manner, moving from one shelf to the next and selecting a few items, then moving on to the next shelf. It took him a few minutes to return where he then set a line of items on the long counter, normally separating him from the rest of the shop.

  “Here are two of our best bag options, 100-lbs Traveler’s Satchel and the 200-lbs Traveler’s Satchel,” he motioned to two plain brown bags that looked exactly the same. I appreciated the bags where the typical game blackholes, where anything could fit in the bag as long as there was space or carrying capacity.

  “2-Gold and 5-Gold,” he added.

  “The 2-Gold bag is plenty for me, at least for now,” I said, happily taking the 100-lbs Traveler’s Satchel and slipping the strap over my shoulder. I handed Ned his money then transfer the contents of my old bag, which wasn’t much, to my new bag.

  As I was moving stuff over, I found the ‘Sharp Tooth’ I had gotten the previous day, and set it on the counter. “What is this worth?” I asked.

  “10-Copper,” Ned answered without even inspecting it.

  I nodded accepting the price and in one smooth move the from Ned the tooth was gone and in its place was 10-Copper.

  “Sleeping rolls are pretty standard, 25-Copper each,” Ned said, this time there was a single brown simple pad and blanket, rolled up and tied, which would work just fine. I paid the man and put it straight into my new bag.

  “You have a few options for tents ranging from 1 person triangular to a 10-person wall tent commonly used by soldiers,” he offered a wide range but only had three on the countertop.

  “How much?” I asked.

  “The single person triangle tent is 50-Copper, the 10-person wall ten is 10-Gold,” he answered.

  The large wall tent was tempting but way too expensive.

  “How about a simple 2-man triangular tent?” I asked.

  “75-Copper,” he answered.

  “That would be perfect, thank you,” I said paying the man.

  “Last up, the waters, also, do you have canteens capable of holding more without having to be larger than this,” I asked holding up one of the empty canteens.

  “Sure, I have a few higher capacity canteens around the same size,” Ned replied. He actually went into the back of the shop and returned a moment later with a few more canteens about the same size as the metal one I was still holding. These new ones were color-coded it seemed.

  “The blue canteens are made for mana water, they are enchanted to make any water put in them into the basic mana enriched water, but if you put already mana enriched water in them they will make the water into improved mana enriched water,” the shopkeeper explained.

  “Will they improve other mana restoratives as well?” I asked.

  “Absolutely, and they hold up to 20 drinks each,” Ned answered.

  “How much?” I asked, only so I would know how many I could buy.

  “5-Gold each,” Ned answered.

  Ouch, so expensive.

  “The green canteens have the same properties but for stamina replenishing,” he added.

  “How much for the next level of restorative?” I asked.

  “Another Gold per filled canteen,” he answered.

  Okay, I didn’t have enough for the canteen and the water. It was time to ‘Barter’ a better price. “That’s awfully expensive,” I started. “Let’s say 6-Gold for two canteens and 1-Gold for the restorative.”

  “And here I thought you fought against banditry. I could not let two canteens go for less than 9-Gold and the price on the restorative is fixed, non-negotiable,” the shopkeeper countered.

  “I suppose I can accept the price on the restorative is fixed, but that is still way too much for the canteens. Let’s call it 7-Gold, 5-Silver and I’ll fill up my other canteens too,” I offered.

  Ned eyed me for a moment before speaking, “Deal.”

  I paid the man and filled all my canteens include my old canteens with the next level restoratives. Manaberry Juice and Stamina Water Plus.

  I wish I had the money to buy more but for now, I had to be satisfied with one of each. I’m sure on down the road I’ll want to buy even better canteens.

  High-Capacity Canteen (20/20) - Filled with Improved Manaberry Juice, restores +125-MP per mouthful.

  High-Capacity Canteen (20/20) - Filled with Improved Stamina Water Plus, restores +125-SP per mouthful.

  Now that my business was complete, and I was down to just under 2-Gold, it was time to go meet up with my friends at the temple.

  “About time you showed up,” Rose greeted me.

  “Sorry, were you waiting long?” I asked.

  “Only a few minutes,” said Baby, cutting off Rose from giving me a hard time. “Where did you go anyway?”

  “Oh, I had to pop into Ned’s for a few supplies. You’ll never believe what happened there,” I added, not completely excited about it. Anyway, I shared my story with them.

  “How did word get out? That’s what I can’t figure,” I said, at the end.

  “We weren’t the only adventurers defending the town,” said Olaf. “Probably one of them logged out recently and put it out there. That could prove to be a mistake though. You might as well be daring a PK order to come hunting.”

  “Not necessarily,” said Baby, thoughtfully. “What if last night was a PK group testing the waters? When the rest of their guild finds out then this place will suddenly become a place for player killers to fear.”

  “If, only if. For now, it doesn’t matter, does it,” said Rose. “Let’s go turn in that corpse for our loot and then I plan to find a good seat to watch the show.”

  “I think I’ll be going back to see Giggle-Ana for more engineering training, as fun as watching Bye-bye get mauled by a house sounds,” said Olaf, chuckling at my expense at the end.

  “I’ll be going for more herbs for the same reason,” said Baby.

  “I will be going to the show,” said Micaela, smiling happily, her single eye dancing with glee.

  Great, just what I wanted, an audience.

  “Come on, let’s go turn in this lion so we can get to the fun part,” said Rose, trying to hurry us all along.

  The ‘Leather Emporium’ was empty when we arrived aside from Barnum, who was just coming from the back room when he heard the door jingle with our arrival.

  “Back so soon?” Barnum asked.

  “Yes sir,” said Olaf, approaching the counter and removing the body of the from his mining bag.

  I was surprised it could hold that much weight even with his strength, but as he explained it, he had lightening enchantments, which allowed him to carry four times his actual carrying capacity. Olaf explained it was common for miners to do this, so they could carry back more ore.

  Olaf set the large beast on the counter.

  “My word, you actually got him,” said Barnum, sounding astonished. “Help me carry him into the back, will you?”

  Olaf picked up the beast and carried him to the backroom. Olaf returned a moment later.

  “Barnum asked us to wait a bit,” Olaf explained without being asked.

  “How long is a bit?” I asked. I still had things I wanted to accomplish today.

  Olaf could only shrug.

  A bit turned out to be an hour and a half. When Barnum returned from the back room he at least didn’t come empty-handed.

  “Thank you for waiting so patiently. First, Mr. Olaf
, for you,” the old hunter said, handing Olaf a pair of gloves matching his pants.

  “Thank you,” said Olaf, sliding them on.

  “Miss Micaela,” Barnum said next. He handed her a pair of boots or rather frames for a pair of boots. “You should be able to mount a totem to these for the armoring, I’ve only provided you the framework and a padded sole, which I believe you will appreciate.”

  “Excellent!” cheered Micaela, hopping excitedly and shaking the entire shop.

  “For you Miss Babies,” Barnum addressed the fairy. He handed her a leather necklace with several claws dangling from it. “I do believe this necklace should help to keep you alive.”

  “Dodge is always welcome,” said Baby, slipping the necklace over her head.

  “Miss Rose,” Barnum said next. He handed her two things, a vial of blood and a lion-shaped charm made from the lion’s fangs.

  “Excellent indeed,” said Rose grinning, the charm vanishing from sight as she equipped it and then putting the vial in her bag.

  Finally, he got to me, “I thought you might make use of this,” Barnum said, handing me what could have been the lion’s mane dyed white.

  Quest Alert: Hunt the Elusive (Recommended Level 5-8, 3 or more Adventurers) - Completed

  Barnum has challenged you to hunt the elusive and very dangerous . Return with the body of the beast for him work the leather and you will be well rewarded.

  Reward: +1,500-Experience, Holy Lion Mane Shoulder-guards, Lion King's Pride

  I took a closer look at the Holy Lion Mane Shoulder-guards.

  Holy Lion Mane Shoulder-guards – Light Leather - +15 Armor, +5-Strength, +10-Dexterity, +5 Intellect, +10-Holy Damage, and Healing, Durability 30/30

  Equipped, so very nice. I love Good quality gear so much. Looking at myself in one of the shop’s mirrors, I now appeared to have a great white lion’s mane covering my shoulders and upper back and the white color matched my leg-guards perfectly. I just needed a new chest armor and maybe some gloves, to have a matching outfit.