Item:
Ball of Pine Sap
Durability: 10/10
Rarity: Common
Weight: 0.01 kg
Slot: Crafting Ingredient
Traits: Pine sap is a commonly occurring substance produced by pine trees. There may be uses for this substance.
Excited that the world recognized part of his intent, he set to work. The damaged area was pretty large, and he checked his log for the update.
You have gained 600 experience in Herbalism for harvesting a Ball of Pine Sap (x60).
One more thing that Arthur could check off his list. Rowan gave him an odd look when he was done.
“Why were you digging into that tree anyway? It didn’t look like you had gained anything useful.” He said.
“It may not look like it, but that is vital to one of my ideas. I need that sap to make a type of resin used as a glue. It will help make bows and arrows.” Arthur told him.
“Well, I am no bowyer, but I guess it sounds reasonable. Each craft tends to be a little protective of its secrets, so it is no surprise I hadn’t heard of it.” Rowan responded.
“That is understandable, I guess. To make a common resin, you only need three things. You need the sap, some charcoal, and either poop from a plant-eating animal or beeswax. Those two options make two different types of resin. The resin with the poop will be a bit more brittle, while the resin with the beeswax will be more malleable. I would like to find a honey bee hive to try and collect some beeswax. It would be the best candidate for laminating bows since it is more flexible. If we can find a good sturdy yew wood, though, we wouldn’t need to laminate anything. It is still useful for attaching the arrowheads and the fletching regardless.” Arthur informed him.
“Thank you for the information. I am glad you know what you are looking for. I would have never spotted the garlic you found earlier. I knew what it was as soon as you harvested it, but I didn’t know what the plant itself looked like by sight.” He told Arthur.
“I spent a lot of spare time doing some gardening myself, so I am familiar with most of the common plants as well as some less common ones.” Arthur let him know. “Let’s keep moving and see what else we can find.”
They took off again, and after a few hundred yards, Arthur pulled up to a stop. He looked at the ground and noticed some deer poop in the middle of the game trail. The small pellets still had steam coming off of them, which told him it was close. He signaled to Rowan to stay as quiet as possible and to follow at a distance. He didn’t want the cart to creak and spook a deer away.
He crept along slowly, trying to maintain silence. His attempt wasn’t terrible, but his low level in Stealth was showing with the occasional crunch of leaves and cracking of twigs. He followed the trail for a few hundred yards and came across a small pond under a large tree. The large puddle was a deep blueish-green color, and the edge was covered in smooth stones. It looked like a mixture of natural and man-made, but it was hard to tell for sure. He saw two other items that excited him, though. One was the deer that was standing by the pool and drinking from the water. The other was the large tree next to the pond. The tree looked like a web of smaller trees smashed together, and then the tops started bending down and out away from it like spider webs. This tree was precisely what Arthur needed because it was a yew tree.
Arthur smoothly pulled up the bow, drew it back, and sighted on the deer. He decided it was time for a shot to the head to preserve as much meat as possible. Hoping the arrow was up to the task, Arthur took his customary slow and steady breath and then released it. He felt a slight twinge as he released and knew he had jerked a hair at the end. It wasn’t enough to avoid the deer, but it was enough to drive his aim off and hit the animal in the neck, directly behind its head, instead of the head itself.
You have dealt 75 damage to Deer (Level 6) with Simple Iron Arrow (Sneak Attack)(Critical Strike)(Mortal Strike).
The animal fell and started thrashing. Blood was leaking out of the wound quickly, so he was sure he hit a major artery. He didn’t want the creature to suffer, though, so he pulled out his sword and chopped into its neck right at the base of the skull. The blade bit most of the way through and stopped after is penetrated halfway through the vertebrae. The creature stopped thrashing and went silent.
You have dealt 15 damage to Deer (Level 6) with Steel Longsword of Minor Beastslaying.
He heard the chimes and let the combat information roll over him and took it in again.
Deer (Level 6) has died.
You have gained 60 experience in Stealth for successful use against Deer (Level 6).
You have gained 90 experience in Archery for killing Deer (Level 6).
Congratulations, you have progressed to Level 4 in Archery. You are granted a 6% bonus to accuracy.
You have gained 35 experience in Swords for killing Deer (Level 6).
You have gained 75 experience for killing Deer (Level 6).
Arthur watched as Rowan came up behind him and waved him over. Gaining another level in Archery was thrilling. Hopefully, that would help him with the bad shots he was suffering from. He was also happy with the results of his notifications. They appeared to be working as he intended and rolled over him as the event happened. It didn’t even distract him. Rowan caught up to him and had a massive grin on his face when he saw the dead deer.
“We need to get this thing field dressed and on the cart so we can keep moving. It would be nice to kill at least one more animal before we leave the forest. We also need to chop some of the lower hanging limbs from that tree by the water. That yew will be a good candidate for some bows.” Arthur told Rowan.
“If you want to get started on your glorious kill, I can run over and select some of the better-looking wood and get to chopping. I do have the hatchet anyway.” Rowan said.
“Sounds good to me. If you can cut a dozen good pieces of the wood that are each close to five feet in length, it would be great.” Arthur told him.
He nodded and headed toward the tree. While he was handling that, Arthur went to the deer and started the slow process of gutting it. The blade quickly cut into the belly and sliced up through the ribcage and into the neck. He then continued skinning back down until he made it to the asshole on the animal. The best way to clean one effectively was to skin to the bottom as he did and then take the blade and cut around the asshole so it could be pulled out with the guts. He completed the task and ripped the guts out of the interior bit by bit, trying to ensure he didn’t accidentally rupture any of the organs that held the smellier items in it. He managed to get the guts out without too much trouble. He dragged the deer carcass a little closer to the pool and splashed some water into the deer to help wash some of the excess blood and hair out. He proceeded to rinse his hands off as best as he could to get rid of as much blood as he could.
He dragged the deer closer to the cart that Rowan had left near him and eyed the carcass. It shouldn’t be too much trouble for him to load the animal by himself. He managed to lift the front of the deer and set it on the cart and followed that with the ass end of the animal as he slid it onto the cart. He walked around and grabbed the handles, and moved to where Rowan was going to town on the tree. It looked like he was using the opportunity to blow off some steam, but Arthur would never begrudge the man for that.
By the time Arthur got over to Rowan, he had already finished getting seven of the pieces Arthur had requested. He looked at one to see what it stated.
Item:
Yew Log
Durability: 50/50
Rarity: Uncommon
Weight: 2.0 kg
Traits: Yew logs are commonly prized for their uses in making bows.
It was nice to find something that wasn’t a common ingredient for once. While Rowan finished chopping the last of the logs, Arthur went ahead and started loading the chunks of wood onto the cart and packing it around the deer where needed.
They headed out again and made it less than a mile before they heard a shr
ill cry followed by a bunch of odd noises that neither of them could identify. They gave each other a nod and started toward the noise. As they got closer, the sound got louder. They slowed as they approached to get a better look before being seen. The sight that greeted them was something neither had expected.
They peeked out between two trees and saw five rather ugly, green creatures, who had backed a person against a tree and had them cornered. The creatures were rather hideous, and all stood around four feet tall with mottled green skin and rather long, sharp, teeth sticking out at all angles from their mouths. Their skin looked rough and bumpy in most places, and their joints were rather large and knobby.
The creatures themselves were not what drew their attention, though. The person they had trapped did. She was not like anyone Arthur had seen. Her skin was a dark purple hue, and she was a little over six feet tall. She had a rather slender build and reminded Arthur of some of the long-distance runners back during track in school. Tall and lean, with well-defined muscle, pretty much described her look from head to toe. She had a dull gray hair that looked almost silver, and she appeared to be frightened. She was holding a small dagger, swiping it toward any of the creatures that got too close.
Arthur did a quick scan of one of the monsters to see what they were dealing with.
Name: Goblin
Level: 6
Type: Creature (Sentient)
Rarity: Common
HP: 120/120
Stamina: 120/120
Strength: 4
Agility: 6
Intellect: 1
Wisdom: 1
Endurance: 2
Charisma: 1
Luck: 2
Experience: N/A
Skills
Combat Skills:
Ferocious Bite: ? (???/???)
You have gained 75 experience in Scan for successful use against Goblin (Level 6).
Well, that explained the ugly. Arthur thought to himself. He looked to Rowan, who had fear in his eyes.
“You can stay back and not get involved in this fight. I am going to see what I can do to help the young lady with her goblin problem. You may want to backtrack a bit to avoid any confrontation.” Arthur whispered to Rowan.
Rowan just gave Arthur a fearful look and nodded almost imperceptibly. He slowly started backing up toward where they had come from. This was not going to be an easy fight. There were five of them, and he was only one person. He didn’t imagine the girl would be of much help, and he had already sent Rowan away.
He would have to go for the surprise attack and try and take as many out as quickly as possible with well-placed arrow shots when he started firing. Luckily, they were all facing the girl and not paying attention to anything around them. They were also making a large amount of noise, so it would add to the confusion. Arthur was a good sixty yards from them, causing the shots to be a little tricky until they started to close the distance. He was getting ready to take his first shot when he froze. Remembering that he had leveled Archery to level 4, he would be able to unlock the Talent Tree for it at level five and may be able to get a useful skill out of that. Arthur decided to use some of his saved skill progress from leveling and bump the Archery skill up to 5.
Congratulations, you have progressed to Level 5 in Archery. You are granted an 8% bonus to accuracy.
He quickly checked the skill, and when concentrating upon it, another box appeared.
You have 2 unused Talent Points.
Talent
Description
Tier 1
Aim Shot (0/1)
This ability allows the user to slow down the moments, while being able to see farther and more accurately, to pick the perfect shot.
Cost: 25 Stamina
Steady Fire (0/5)
This ability allows the user to fire faster. Each level adds 4% to rate of fire. Maximum of 20%.
Arrow Straightening. (0/1)
This ability allows the user to use a small amount of mana to ensure arrows are perfectly straight and true.
Cost: 5 Mana
Arthur scanned over the options and was in awe. It would be fantastic if he could just have all of them. It was a bit confusing that it said he had 2 Talent Points, though. Daniel told him you only get 1 Talent Point per level, starting at five, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He made a quick decision and put one of the points into Aim Shot.
Congratulations, you have learned Aim Shot, a Subskill of Archery, for a 100 experience bonus.
He was happy with that purchase, but now where to spend the other point. He looked back at the chart and noticed it had changed.
You have 1 unused Talent Point.
Talent
Description
Tier 1
Aim Shot (1/1)
This ability allows the user to slow down the moments, while being able to see farther and more accurately, to pick the perfect shot.
Cost: 25 Stamina
Steady Fire (0/5)
This ability allows the user to fire faster. Each level adds 4% to rate of fire. Maximum of 20%.
Arrow Straightening (0/1)
This ability allows the user to use a small amount of mana to ensure arrows are perfectly straight and true.
Cost: 5 Mana
Tier 2
Sustained Focus (0/4)
This ability decreases the Stamina cost of using Aim Shot by 5 per level, maximum of 20 Stamina reduction.
Sharpened Arrowheads (0/5)
This ability increases the likelihood that critical strikes will also cause mortal damage. Each level increases this chance by 5% for a maximum of 25%.
Arthur was happy to see that his purchase had revealed some more talents in the next tier. He hadn’t been sure if the different lines were level based or if they were based on what had been unlocked, but it was apparent now. The current scenario made him decide to put his second point in Steady Fire. He needed the extra speed to try and kill these things before they got to him. He didn’t bother rechecking the tree to see if anything else new showed up because he had a woman to save and no more points he could use.
Arthur lifted the bow and drew back his arrow while activating his Aim Shot, and his view zoomed in as he looked down the shaft. The sight made him feel five feet from the monster, which was a little disorienting, but he managed to get a hold of the sensation. Aiming directly for the creature’s back, where its heart should be, the arrow was released. He scrambled to grab another projectile as quickly as possible. He had just snatched it and was pulling it from his bag when he heard the goblin howl. The others looked to him and had a confused stare on their faces.
You have dealt 80 damage to Goblin (1)(Level 6) with Aim Shot (Sneak Attack)(Critical Strike)(Mortal Strike) for 25 Stamina.
Their fellow Goblin stumbled around and had started coughing up some blood. The goblins surrounding the injured one couldn’t see the arrow in its back from how they were positioned, though. The Goblin collapsed onto his side, still coughing up blood. Arthur got his next shaft up onto the string and activated Aim Shot again. His vision flew forward, and he aimed at the next Goblin to the right of the one he had just hit. Releasing, Arthur watched the arrow fly while scrambling for another shaft. This shot wasn’t perfect, but it hit pretty close to where he had aimed. Instead of impacting where he wanted, it hit a little closer to the spine in the lower middle of the back.
You have dealt 80 damage to Goblin (2)(Level 6) with Aim Shot (Sneak Attack)(Critical Strike)(Mortal Strike) for 25 Stamina.
It howled in anguish and hunched over. The other goblins saw the arrow this time. The Goblins looked around and quickly spotted Arthur as he fitted his next shaft to the string.
He pulled this one up as well and noticed the Goblins were charging for him at a dead sprint. He activated Aim Shot once again, and this time was distinctly able to see that not only was his vision zoomed in, but they also moved at a much slower pace. The skill was not exaggerating that it slowed down the surroundings when it
was used. He chose the next Goblin in line and fired directly into its heart. The creature pitched face first in the dirt and stopped moving.
You have dealt 120 damage to Goblin (3)(Level 6) with Aim Shot (Sneak Attack)(Killing Blow)(Heart Strike) for 25 Stamina.
Goblin (3)(Level 6) has died.
You have gained 75 experience in both Archery and the Subskill Aim Shot for killing Goblin (3)(Level 6).
You have gained 125 experience for slaying Goblin (3)(Level 6).
He tried to reach again for another arrow and pulled it from his bag. He got the shaft to the string, but before he could raise it to aim, the two remaining goblins were on top of him. He dropped the bow and pulled his sword clear of its scabbard just in time to block a blow headed for his head.
The Goblin had swung a nasty looking wooden club that was studded with sharp pieces of metal. The other Goblin had a small dagger in hand. Arthur reached down and quickly grabbed his blade from its sheath and held it in his left hand while maintaining a grip on his sword in his right hand.
The small dagger was the next best thing since he didn’t have a shield. He only hoped it wouldn’t come back to bite him later. The Goblin with the dagger was dancing around but not getting any closer while Arthur was facing off with the club-wielding one. Arthur was thankful for that, but, at the moment, he couldn’t sit around and wait long.
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