Somerset
Page 3
Duration: H 5: M 58: S 31
Sam closed his status with a groan.
With his health , mana , and stamina stuck down at 10 points each, he wouldn’t stand a chance if a butterfly decided to attack him, let alone another bunny.
“I’m going to die,” He said, falling to the ground and staring listlessly up at the sky.
“Do cheer up. Your chances of dying are high, but you might just survive.”
“Yeah, and how would you recommend I go about doing that Sherlock Bones?” He asked, snickering to himself at the clever nickname.
“You can survive, Samuel Edward Silvers the Third, by listening to my advice.”
Sam visibly flinched when Gordon used his full name.
His mom had chosen it, and he’d been the butt of so many jokes because of it, that he’d sworn never to tell it to anyone again.
“Lesson learned,” He said, getting slowly to his feet, and noting that they were now just a bit steadier, though it was still taking some effort just to remain upright.
“Good,” Gordon said, tail flicking back and forth. “Now, if I remember correctly, you still have a quest to complete.”
Sam nodded and was about to follow him, when he noticed the corpse of the bunny still lying on the ground. Its fur had been blackened, and it was giving off quite a pleasant smell. Then, as though reminding him that he hadn’t eaten in hours, his stomach clenched and a wave of hunger hit him.
“Just a second, Gordon,” he said, leaning down and lifting the small creature.
Even lifting the relatively light animal was a strain, and Sam actually saw his Stamina bar begin to drop as he pulled the fur away as best he could.
Better get this over with quickly , he thought, closing his eyes and trying not to think too hard about what he was doing.
Sam grimaced as the first, fur-covered piece of half cooked meat hit his tongue. It was nasty! He forced himself to chew, swallowing the furry piece of meat and taking another bite.
“Are you quite alright?”
Sam opened his eyes to see Gordon, looking up at him with a concerned expression.
How the hell was this dog so expressive!?
“Fine,” he choked out, ripping off another huge chunk of meat, and getting some bones with it this time.
That was the final straw. He leaned to the side and retched, vomiting up the few meager mouthfuls of meat he’d gotten down.
“On second thought, why don’t you have this, buddy,” Sam said, holding the rabbit carcass out to the dog.
Gordon sniffed at the animal for a moment, then shrugged and snapped it up. Sam wiped his hand across the back of his mouth, eyes tearing up at the corners as he watched Gordon’s happily wagging tail.
At least someone would enjoy that furry devil meat.
Straightening back up, Sam set out after the dog, being forced to stop every few minutes to recover his Stamina. Before, he’d only been forced to stop every few minutes, because he’d been running. Now, even walking was too much for him.
Sam grumbled to himself, hearing the crunching of bones coming from Gordon as the trees ahead loomed larger and larger. Soon, the grass underfoot became sparser, replaced by patches of brown dirt studded with small stones.
“Well, looks like we made it,” Sam said, looking around at the tall trunks now surrounding them on all sides.
“So. Which stick do you want?”
4
“It cannot be just any old stick,” Gordon immediately replied, licking his chops and catching a tuft of rabbit fur that had been clinging to his teeth in a very distracting manner.
“Okay, what kind of stick are we looking for?” he asked, leaning down and attempting to lift a fallen tree branch, momentarily forgetting about the divine curse.
It was a struggle just to budge it, and he’d only gotten the branch halfway off the ground, when his Stamina hit 0 and he flopped to the ground, cracking his head on said branch and taking -5 blunt damage.
“Shit!” Sam yelled, just before his face hit the ground.
He lay there unmoving, inwardly seething at that damn bunny for getting him cursed. Sam knew he had no one to blame other than himself, but he still couldn’t help it. It took a full minute for his Stamina to regenerate enough for him to get up, and when he did, he was not happy.
“Who the hell makes these damn rules!?” he half-asked, half-yelled while spitting clumps of dirt from his mouth.
“I am afraid that I cannot provide you with that information,” Gordon replied, watching him with his head cocked to the side. “I do wonder at your foul mouth, however. Do all simians on your planet speak that way?”
“Pretty much,” he said, getting to his feet and attempting to brush the dirt off his pants.
He grimaced when all he accomplished to do was staining the tan material a deep brown color.
Oh well.
Sam was now very aware of how thirsty he was, as he spat out another mouthful of dirt.
It felt as though he hadn’t had a drink in days.
“Do you think there’s any water around here?” he asked hopefully.
“Why, yes. I daresay that there is,” Gordon replied, his ears perking up and swiveling around. “The best sticks are often located near a source of water, so if fortune shines upon us, we will find both.”
Sam nodded eagerly, already imagining the sweet taste of water running down his parched throat. He set out after the dog, carefully picking his way of the lattice of tree roots and being careful to keep an eye on his Stamina bar.
After a few minutes of walking, he began picking out the telltale sound of running water, and a few seconds after that, a long, clear stream came into view. He was about to run to the stream and jump in, when Gordon raised a paw.
That was just too much. Dogs didn’t do stuff like that.
“What is it?” he asked in a lowered voice. He didn’t know why he was whispering, but this entire forest was just so oppressive that he couldn’t help himself.
“It would appear that we have company,” the dog answered, nodding his shaggy head to an area downstream.
Sam squinted his eyes, trying to make out what the dog could clearly either see or smell. After more than thirty seconds of staring, a small figure seemed to materialize from thin air and Sam got a new notification.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Through sneaking around and spying on people, you have gained a new skill.
Stalker: By sneaking around, you spot things no one else does Level: Novice 1 (18%) Effect: +10% Chance to spot hidden details
“Oh, fuck me,” Sam said, actually face-palming and letting out a groan.
That was one skill, he didn’t want to have.
“What was that?” Gordon asked. He sounded distracted, which would explain why his keen ears hadn’t picked out what Sam had said.
“Nothing,” Sam replied, squinting through the trees and locking onto the small figure once again.
It was a small humanoid creature, with green warty skin and long drooping ears. It was naked, aside from a small dirty rag tied around its waist, into which a thick, smooth stick was thrust through.
“That one.”
“What?” Sam asked as Gordon spoke up.
“That stick is the one I want.”
“Are you crazy!?” Sam hissed, “I can’t take on a goblin…?” Gordon nodded, “…goblin with all of my attributes stuck at 1. No matter how weak it is, that green bastard will fuck me up!”
Gordon completely ignored him, however, waving a paw once. There was a small ping and an updated quest flashed before his eyes.
QUEST UPDATE
Gordon’s new stick: Gordon has destroyed his favorite stick, but has discovered a much better one in the possession of a goblin.
Difficulty: Hard Objective: Take the stick from the goblin Reward: 350 XP
“Holy shit, you’re not messing around!” Sam exclaimed as the notification vanished.
“What?” Gordon asked, still too distracted
by the shiny stick.
Sam blew out a long breath. Clearly, the damn dog would be no help until he got that stick. The only question was how to get it. The system had labeled the quest as Hard, which meant that in his current state he probably stood no chance of succeeding. He quickly checked his status and groaned when he saw that the timer on his divine curse still had nearly 4 hours.
“Alright, then. Guess we’ll have to set some kind of trap,” he muttered to himself, and began quickly formulating a plan.
He didn’t know the first thing about trap-making, but he did know that heavy objects caused a lot of damage. The only question was how he could rig something with his attributes slashed to 1.
Casting around for an idea, Sam’s eyes landed on a long vine snaking down from a tall tree, then his eyes slid over to a heavy looking log lying on its side next to it. Would it work?
Quickly making his way over to the fallen log, Sam attempted to roll it, only to give up a second later when his meager Stamina began to plummet. So that wouldn’t work, he thought. Next, he tried pulling the vine over to the log, this time having some small success, actually managing to slip the vine under the log and pulling it through the other side. The problems began when he attempted to pull the log over to the tree.
It took a lot of effort to budge the heavy log with his minuscule Strength, not to mention that each time he pulled on the vine, the log would only move an inch or so and his Stamina dropped by half.
If he kept on going at this rate, the goblin would be long gone by the time he managed to hoist the log off the ground.
Grinding his teeth in annoyance, Sam suddenly came up with a brilliant idea.
“Hey, Gordon,” he said, plastering his best smile onto his face.
The dog was predictably still watching the goblin. Or rather, the stick stuck through its belt.
“Yes, Sam?” he distractedly asked.
“You want that shiny stick, don’t you?”
“Yes. I thought that I had made that quite clear,” Gordon said, turning his head to give Sam an annoyed look.
“Well, I’ve got a bit of a problem that you might be able to help me with.”
“Sorry, I cannot help you,” Gordon said, turning back to stick-watching.
“What? Why the hell not?” Sam yelled.
The goblin looked up, its large, bat-like ears perking up and its baleful yellow eyes scanning its surroundings.
Sam froze on the spot, not even daring to breathe as the small creature’s eyes ran over the spot in which they were hidden. After a few tense moments, the goblin’s ears drooped again and it went back to… well, Sam wasn’t entirely sure what it was doing. Drinking? Bathing? Peeing?
He shrugged to himself and turned his ire back on the dog.
“Is helping me against your boss’ rules or something?”
Gordon seemed to think about that for a moment, before slowly shaking his head.
“No. It is not against the rules for me to assist you in any given quest, or battle.”
“Then why not help me? I get my XP , and you get your stick. Everyone wins.”
Gordon stared at the goblin for a few more seconds, then turned reluctantly away.
“Very well. What do you have in mind?”
There was a light ping, and Sam shoved aside the notification that he’d gained +1 to Intelligence. It wouldn’t do him any good now anyway, so why bother?
“Alright. Here’s my plan…”
Ten minutes later, Sam emerged from the tree cover and walked purposefully up to the stream. Bending down, he dunked his head straight into the stream, feeling the cool water wash away the dirt and grime that had collected there. Pulling his head from the water, he began taking huge gulps of the clear liquid, swallowing them down like he’d never tasted anything so good in his life.
It only took about thirty seconds for the goblin to notice him, but by then he’d already gotten his fill. The goblin let out an angry screech, shaking a bony fist at him. Then, it drew the shiny stick from its waist and charged, splashing through the water and waving it around.
“Catch me if you can, you green turd!” Sam yelled, bolting for the tree line. He made it about ten feet before his Stamina was nearly gone and he was forced to slow to a crawl. He looked back, seeing that the goblin had made it out of the stream and was now charging straight at him.
“Shit! That fucker is fast!” he yelled, watching his Stamina bar slowly restoring itself. When the goblin was nearly on him, Sam abruptly sped up, making a mad dash for where Gordon was hiding.
“Coming in hot!” he yelled, making a desperate run for the small open area where they’d set their trap.
He heard an angry screech and turned to see that the goblin was right on top of him. It took a swipe at him with the shiny stick and his Stamina hit 0 . Sam abruptly flopped to the ground, causing the stick to go wide and the goblin to neatly trip over his body. Sam winced as his HP was knocked down by -8 and the goblin was sent tumbling right into the cleared space.
“Now!” he croaked out, hoping that Gordon could hear him.
The goblin stood, brushing itself off and glaring at him. It raised its stick and took a threatening step forward. Then there was a loud crashing sound from up above. The goblin froze, looking up in comic horror. Then, the massive log that he and Gordon had hoisted into the tree, came crashing down on its head. There was a loud crunching sound as the goblin’s body was flattened, and a spray of blood shot out from under the tree.
You deal: -188 Damage to gray-flecked goblin (Crushing).
Goblin grunt dies. +72 XP
LEVEL UP!
Congratulations! You have reached level 2! You have 5 new attribute points to distribute.
Would you like to distribute them now?
Yes/No
Mentally selecting no, Sam forced himself back to his feet, marveling at how well their trap had worked. Gordon then padded out from between the trees, the long trigger vine still clutched between his jaws.
Sam gave him a thumbs up, pointing to the stick now lying near the fallen log. Gordon dropped the vine then, and ever so dignified, walked over and scooped up the stick. A moment later, Sam got a new notification.
QUEST COMPLETE
Congratulations! You have completed the quest: Gordon’s new stick!
Reward: 350 XP
LEVEL UP!
Congratulations! You have reached level 3! You have 5 new attribute points to distribute.
Would you like to distribute them now?
Yes/No
Sam swiped away the notifications, watching as Gordon sat down on the ground, and began happily gnawing on the long piece of polished wood. Walking over to the dog, he sat wearily down next to him and placed his back to a tree.
He idly wondered why he didn’t get some sort of trap skill, for setting that whole thing up, but just shrugged to himself.
This word might be like a video game, but some things were very much like the real world.
For example, in video games, one wouldn’t have to deal with horrific stench now coming from the deceased goblin, nor the gnawing hunger clawing at the inside of his stomach.
“Can we go to a town now?” Sam asked, pinching his nose against the horrible smell.
Gordon paused in his stick-gnawing for a few moments, then his nose wrinkled up as well. It must have been a thousand times worse for him, as a dog’s sense of smell was much keener than that of a human’s.
“Yes. I should say that it would be a very good idea.”
5
The divine curse lifted off Sam just as they left the woods and emerged onto a long dirt road.
“And about time, too!” Sam yelled, pumping his fist in the air.
He hadn’t wanted to look over his status as long as the damn curse had been on him, but now that it was finally gone, he was excited to do so.
Sam quickly opened his status to assign his attribute points. He had a bit of a hard time deciding, but eventually made up his mind. H
e already thought he knew in which direction he’d be going, so the decision wasn’t really a difficult one.
CHARACTER STATUS
Name: Sam Race: Human Level: 3
XP: 84/700
AP: 1
Class: None HP: 80/80 (Regen 0.8 Per Second) MP: 170/170 (Regen 1.5 Per Second) STA: 70/70 (Regen 0.7 Per Second)
ATTRIBUTES
Strength: 5
Constitution: 8 +1
Agility: 6
Endurance: 7 +2
Intelligence: 17 + 3
Wisdom: 15 +3
Charisma: 11
Luck: 8
ABILITIES
Mana Shot: Novice LV - 1 (66%) Mana Burn: Novice LV - 1 (33%)
SKILLS
Sprint: Novice LV - 3 (28%) Stalker: Novice LV - 2 (11%)
EQUIPPED ITEMS
Wool Shirt Wool Pants Leather Boots
RULE OF THE DAY
Do not kill any bunnies or bunny-like creatures
Sam closed his status, pleased with his choices. He’d decided that putting a few points into Endurance was a must, once he saw how badly things had been going when he’d had almost none. He’d also put a point into Constitution because having more health was never a bad thing. The rest, with the exception of a single point that he was saving for an emergency, went into Intelligence and Wisdom . By this point, he was pretty sure that he would be going the Mage route when it came time to pick a class, so having high attributes in both, wouldn’t hurt.
Hearing a loud crunching sound, Sam turned his head and saw Gordon gnawing on his stick once more.
“You know, it’s hard for me to take you seriously when you do stuff like that,” Sam commented, earning him an annoyed glare from the dog.