Freelance Saga: Learning Curves

by Scottie Futch

  After a half hour of wandering, a new message screen popped up. It congratulated him on successfully navigating the entire dungeon. He gained twenty EXP, and an additional point of faith. Why he gained faith from wandering in a shopping mall was anyone’s guess. Still, it was not bad. He’d gained two new weapons, a little money, and light spell from the corpse outside. The inside was empty, but the trip was not a total bust. The weapons were only a rusty knife and a battered baseball bat. Neither seemed to be worth much, but they were loot.

  He left the Forgotten Mall and went back to the cabin. He ate dinner and rested for a few minutes to completely recharge his mana. Normally that would take much longer, but the nature of the cabin and the tutorial sped the process up greatly.

  “Lessee, I could go learn about survival skills. There is also the magic tutorial, the pet tutorial, mapping skills, and capturing monsters.”

  Scott considered the choices then chose to learn survival skills first. If he was going to be living in this game world soon, he would need to be able to survive.

  The arrow led to a small clearing. Message screens began to pop up. They instructed him on the basics of starting a fire, first aid for minor injuries, foraging for edible plants and insects, and simple weapons or armor maintenance. He also learned how to fish, set traps for small game, and cook. There were many minor things that were also mentioned such as purifying water, and blazing a trail. When he was done he was granted the skills: survival lore, first aid, cooking, fishing, trapping, and camping.

  “Man that was a lot of stuff to learn.” Now that he had the skills, though, he remembered everything that he had been taught. That was weird but useful.

  The mapping tutorial was fairly straight-forward. He acquired a mapping skill that automatically generated a map for him to call up. Whenever he entered a new area, the map would automatically fill-in as he wandered around.

  The magic tutorial was interesting, but very short. He followed the arrow to the proper location and read a book on magic. Rather, he started to read the book and it dissolved into a stream of light that pierced his body then automatically uploaded the necessary basic skills. He now had a mana manipulation skill to work with, and understood the basics of magical energy usage.

  Roughly two hours had passed and he had nearly finished the available tutorials. The only ones left were pets and monster capturing. He chose the pet tutorial.

  The pet tutorial arrow led him to yet another clearing. However, in this one there sat three pedestals. Each pedestal had a book sitting upon it. He read each book when instructed, and learned how to tame, train, and increase the level of pets.

  A new message popped up asking if he would like to summon a pet from the monster world. Scott shrugged. The information seemed a little odd to him regarding pets, especially the part about intimacy levels. Still, he could use a little furry mascot. “Yes.”

  The arrow popped up and led him to a small altar nearby. “I have to place an item on the altar that is of the family of monster that I wish to summon?”

  He did not really have anything from a monster except for that piece of dragon-turtle shell. Uncertain if it would work, Scott placed the shell onto the altar. A new message popped up. He read it aloud. “This item will require four levels of experience to be expended in order to summon a pet.”

  “What? Are you serious? These things are only supposed to require a small amount of experience!” The information he had learned, claimed that the power level of a summoned pet would be based on the amount of experience required. Most required one hundred experience points or less, but four levels worth of experience, was many times that amount for him at present. Four levels… what kind of monster would this thing summon?

  “Yes, go ahead.” They were only levels after all. He could gain them back. He might not have a chance to get a strong pet again for a while.

  He could feel the strength rapidly drain from his body. His attributes dropped by four points each. He felt weaker, less substantial. It would have been hard for him to describe it beyond that. At least he was still at a low-level. The cost was not that high.

  When the experience drain stopped, the scale began to glow. Soft, whimsical music began to play in the background. It shifted then transformed into a small spherical crystal with a strange runic design floating in the center.

  Scott reached out and took the little marble. “What’s this?”

  He used his identification skill and discovered that it was a monster capture sphere that was designed specifically for dragon type monsters. “Wait, it’s empty? I just used up four levels for an empty ball!”

  He was all set to start a tirade about the idiocy of such a system but a new message screen popped up. After reading through it he understood what had happened.

  Scott raised the sphere then nodded. “I guess I know what my beginning class will be, then.”

  The spheres could only be activated by monster trainers. They were people who specialized in capturing and training pet class monsters. He would have preferred a more direct combat oriented class, but it was not like this one would prevent him from developing those skills. If anything, bonding with monsters would increase his stats.

  “You know, it’s kind of weird, though. It was like this tutorial was set up to herd me toward this class. Ah well, I’m getting paid to be here and it’s fun anyway.”

  Scott went back to the cabin and chose to take the monster capturing course. After following the arrow to an open field outside the forested area he was greeted to the site of a large number of dragon-turtles. A new message screen popped up. “I see. If I defeat enough monsters of a similar race a boss monster might appear. It might not always happen in the actual world, but here it will work without fail.”

  He stopped talking to himself for a moment then felt mildly embarrassed. Speaking his thoughts aloud was a nervous habit. Scott had spent a lot of his time alone in one way or another. During his tenure in the army he was stuck on staff duty frequently. He’d often be the only one awake since the lieutenant and the other soldier on duty would often find a way to take a nap. Honestly, even when other people were around he had felt alone most of his life.

  Talking to himself was a way to vent his frustrations and work out ideas. Some people had thought he was not quite right in the head, but he liked to hear his thoughts spoken aloud.

  The world was too real, though. He did not mind hunting or fishing for food, but killing random wild animals for fun and profit disturbed him. Scott knew on an intellectual level that he would have to get over that sentiment. This was only a game right?

  Dragon-turtles were slow monsters. They did not seem very aggressive either. This was good for Scott since he was unarmed and wore no armor. He did not want to risk damaging the few weapons that he had acquired since they were all fairly close to breaking.

  He heard a hiss to his left. Scott turned quickly and saw a dragon-turtle that had somehow snuck up on him. He needed to pay attention.

  The turtle monster lunged at him, but it was even slower than the one he had fought before. He missed his first opportunity to flip it onto its back, but the next time it attacked he succeeded in knocking it down. These turtles were not very strong opponents at this point.

  Scott picked up the handful of coins that it dropped and stuck them into his inventory. There was no piece of shell to retrieve this time.

  Slowly, he moved beyond his indecisive and passive nature and began to lure turtles toward him one or two at a time. His timing was not perfect. Sometimes a lunging monster would manage to tag him on the shoulder, or they would only jump a short distance and lash out with their tails. Scott learned to move out of the way during short jumping attack sequences. The tails hurt quite a bit despite their small size. It was like being whipped with a leather belt.

  Several hours passed and he gained two levels in the process. After a rest period he went back to work. He lost track of the number of dragon-turtles he had defeated, but it didn’t matter. He
would only be able to force a boss monster to spawn if he killed enough of them.

  He still did not know how that worked. Where did they spawn from? Were they created from thin air? He knew they respawned after being defeated, but the mechanics of it escaped him.

  Scott defeated one more turtle then started to collect his loot. A bright light suddenly erupted a few feet from his location then coalesced into a surprisingly human form.

  He stared openly at the new arrival. She was stunning! She had glossy red hair, bright green eyes, and a body that could not have been the product of nature. Scott could not believe what he saw. No woman could look that perfectly fit and yet have curves like that!

  She looked at him then smirked. “Seriously? You’re the idiot who’s got these little guys in a snit?”

  “They’re in a snit?”

  “Well, yeah. You keep killing them and forcing them to respawn! How would you like it if they went to a human area and killed your people willy-nilly?”

  Scott felt sick to his stomach. He knew it was a game, but this was ridiculous. How could he allow himself to act like that!

  She stretched then twisted her head back and forth. “So, the way I see it… either you’re just an asshole, or you had a reason to do this.”

  He didn’t trust his voice so he just took out the sphere he had earned earlier and showed it to her. Her eyes widened and her demeanor changed instantly.

  “Oh! Why didn’t you say so! You wanted to fight me, huh?”

  He shuddered at how casually she said that. Why would he want to fight with a girl, any girl?

  She laughed then ran her hands seductively down the length of her body. “It’s understandable. I’m a good catch, don’t you think?”

  Scott blushed then nodded slowly. What was he supposed to say right now! Why had he become a complete idiot in front of this random beautiful girl?

  The girl tapped her chin lightly then grinned. “You know, you’re the first human who didn’t just rush toward me like a perverted idiot. It’s almost too bad that I have to brutally murder you now.”

  He immediately tried to find a better way to deal with this situation! He did not want to fight her if he did not have to, especially since he had a strong feeling that she would beat his ass.

  After a brief few seconds of performing mental gymnastics the only thing that came to mind was the food he had stuck in his inventory on one of his trips back to the cabin. “Wouldn’t you rather have a nice picnic?”

  “Picnic…?” She looked at him in confusion.

  Scott pulled out a basket of fruit, some bread, and a large chunk of ham. “Sure.”

  The girl shook her head then her cheeks tinged pink. “Don’t try to fool me into that. It’s a sweet gesture, but I refuse to take food from a human I don’t know.”

  Scott tore off a piece of ham and started to chew on it. “But… it’s so good.”

  “It is?” A hint of drool began to escape her lips. Was she hungry for real, or did she just like to eat? He did not know, but this was a good sign.

  Dragon-turtles began to make whining noises. She looked down at them then sighed. “You’re right. He did pick on you. Even if he’s being nice to me, he was an asshole to the rest of you.”

  “Do they want something to eat? I have apples and bananas?”

  She asked the turtles and they began to drool too. He had never seen a turtle actually drool before. Was that even possible? This was beyond bizarre.

  Scott began taking out all the food he had packed. The cabin always restocked with food whenever he went outside and returned so he had stocked plenty of it in his inventory.

  By the time he was done, there were at least twenty turtles and one absurdly attractive girl sitting in a semi-circle around Scott. “I’m sorry that I was being such an ass to you and your friends.”

  The girl swallowed a large piece of ham then smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Fighting is something monsters do all the time. They were just mad that they couldn’t beat you.”

  “I’m glad that they aren’t mad. It feels weird for me to just attack random creatures, especially cool looking ones.”

  She grinned at him. The turtles looked at him and flashed toothy smiles. Apparently they understood human speech just fine. Food and flattery had won them over quite easily. Scott looked at the jagged, carnivorous, smiles of the turtles then grinned back.

  The girl spoke up. “My name is Scarlet. I’m the queen of these whiny turtles. Did you really want to capture me?”

  “I’m not sure how to explain my purpose. I’m foreign to these lands and was just following instructions that I was given.”

  “Instructions given by whom?”

  Scott called up a menu screen and showed it to her. She blinked. “Oh, you’re an outlander!”

  “Outlander?”

  She nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, people who come from another world. They are picked to come here for various reasons.”

  “People here know about this?”

  “Of course. Most people just think of your kind as foreigners wandering the land.”

  “What do you think?”

  Scarlet smiled. “I don’t know, yet. I’ve only met a few foreigners and they were all perverted assholes that wanted to have sex with me. As if! That’s reserved only for someone who I can trust.”

  “Yeah, I hear you. You’re incredibly pretty, but come on guys. Have some tact.”

  Her cheeks tinged pink again. “You think I’m pretty?”

  “Incredibly pretty, yes.”

  She looked down at the ground then sighed. “You’re so nice. You’ve fed us, and apologized even though you didn’t have to.”

  “You seem like a nice bunch. I didn’t actually want to hurt anyone; it’s just that I keep getting told that I need to do things. For instance, I was supposed to fight and defeat the turtles here until a boss monster appeared.”

  “Yeah, that’s how it works. Prove your strength against her people and the queen will appear so that she can kick your ass.”

  “Well, you certainly look like you can kick some ass.”

  She giggled at him then shook her head rapidly. The pink tinge on her cheeks turned bright red. “Yeah, I’m strong. I’m a dragon after all.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I find odd about this. Growing up I always had a fascination for dragons. They were mostly mythological back home, but they were cool.”

  “Really? You like dragons? Most humans hate us!” She leaned forward and looked at him excitedly.

  “Why would they hate you?”

  She sighed. “Humans hate monsters in general, but dragons are very strong. We’re highly intelligent and only get stronger in time. A lot of the older dragon monsters will take up residence somewhere and demand tribute from humans and other monsters alike.”

  “Do they protect the area from outside aggression?”

  “Usually, yes.”

  Scott smiled. “Well, depending on what the dragon demands, wouldn’t that be a good arrangement?”

  “You think so?” She looked at him curiously.

  He nodded. “If the dragon isn’t being too demanding, they are essentially just offering their services to everyone living in the region. Sure, they might demand to be seen as the lord of the area or something, but if they provide stability and a place for all people to grow and become stronger then why hate them?”

  The dragon-turtles looked at him strangely. Their eyes began to shimmer and then to Scott’s astonishment they began to cry. “What…?”

  Scarlet stared at him open mouthed for a moment then took a deep breath. “Wow, you really think so?”

  “Sure. Essentially it’s no different than someone taking charge and defending a territory. It keeps out foreign invaders and allows people to build a better life. It might piss people off at first, but if the one ruling the area is a good ruler and largely leaves people alone it does more good than harm.”

  The dragon-girl looked away. She began to chew on h
er lower lip a little and gripped a hunk of her hair. While she did this, the turtles gathered round their queen and simply looked at her.

  Finally, she looked at Scott again and said. “Why did you want to capture me?”

  “Like I said, I was instructed to capture a boss monster. Ultimately, I suppose this means that I am meant to become a monster trainer. I’m still learning about this world.”

  Scarlet sighed then sucked in her lower lip again. The turtles nodded at her then she looked back to Scott. “What would you do if you did capture me?”

  “I’m not sure. Fight, train, and get stronger. Maybe conquer the world. I really don’t know.”

  “You… want to capture me so you can conquer the world?” She girl began to breathe heavily, her chest heaving up and down.

  “Sure, why not? At the least, maybe someday I’ll start my own fortress city or something. I really don’t know what this world has to offer.” It was all just a game, so why not, right?

  She grinned at him then blushed even more deeply. “That’s an interesting proposition. If you did take over the world or start a fortress city, would you let dragons visit?”

  “If they can behave in public, I would be fine with it. Anyone who isn’t being an asshole could visit, or even live there.”

  Scarlet’s eyes widened. “You would build a city where monsters can live like humans?”

  “Sure, if they can behave themselves. Of course, humans could live there too but they would have to behave as well.”

  She whispered, “A city of our own?”

  “You really mean it?”

  “If it’s at all possible, but it would take a long time. Something like that would probably cost a lot of money, time, and effort. This is literally my first time visiting this world. Besides, I would want to travel for a long time and see a lot of the world before I settled into one spot.”

  Her eyes began to water and her lip quivered. “Would… would you promise to let my turtles come live there?”