by Tom Larcombe
Eddie heaved a sigh of relief knowing that a real person was going to be checking out the problem. He had no problem with AIs but the way Freyja described the problem meant she looked at it from the point of view of the goddess of a world, not that of a programmer.
Eddie was pretty sure he wasn't going to get back to sleep that night, but Freyja stared at him for a moment.
“You should return to your bed,” she said.
“I'm not going to be able to sleep.”
“Return to your bed and I will ensure that you sleep restfully.”
It didn't sound like a request and working on the theory that he didn't want to anger a goddess, even if it was only an AI in disguise, he laid back down. She muttered something and then Eddie didn't remember anything else until morning.
~ ~ ~
The first thing he saw when he woke was that he'd gotten the well-rested buff again. Then he started making sense of the conversation taking place around him. The other men were complaining that they'd had horrible dreams, and were slowly coming to realize that their dreams had been almost identical.
“Guys,” Eddie said.
They ignored him.
“Guys,” he said louder.
This time they turned to him, looking annoyed.
“Yeah, I've had that same dream every damned night since I started here. But the AIs are aware of it and they've reported it to the devs as well. So, I don't think it will continue to be a problem. If it is, one of the AIs is monitoring this zone and I'm sure she'll take care of it.”
Karl was the only one who noticed his phrasing. Eddie saw the intrigued look in his eyes, but he also saw Karl look around him at the other men. Then Karl jerked his head towards the front door.
Eddie followed as Karl walked that way, the others continuing their griping session. Once they were outside Karl turned to him.
“She? You said the AI was a she?” Karl asked.
Eddie sighed.
Well, she didn't exactly tell me not to talk about it at all.
“Yeah, she. You know the AIs are considered gods by the NPCs?”
Karl nodded.
“Someone, and I have a good idea who, dedicated this farm to Freyja. So she's the one monitoring it. She found several issues already, the biggest was that we weren't flagged as players. Check your log for overnight. It should have one entry showing that tells you you received a player flag.”
Karl looked distant for a moment, then shock registered on his face.
“Zero level? No player flag? What the fuck is going on?”
“I've got no idea, but like I said, the devs are aware of the problem now. I assume they respond quickly to reports from the AIs.”
Karl shook his head.
“Well, this is turning out to be a lot more interesting than I thought when I logged in and found out I'd be a farmer-farmer.”
“Yeah, I have to agree. But look on the bright side, at least now if you kill some bunnies you'll get full experience from them.”
Karl grinned.
“Yeah, just as soon as I put in a day of farm work anyhow.”
“I don't know, there wasn't a lot to get done yesterday. Now that all of us are here, I don't think there will be a lot to keep us busy until those crops are further along,” Eddie said, gesturing towards the fields.
As he glanced out that way, he cursed violently.
“Damn it! The bunnies are out there now. too. Go let the the boss or the guards know. I'm going to go kill some bunny rabbits.”
Eddie withdrew his two finished throwing sticks from his bag, then raced towards the fields. He could see at least three bunnies out there, nibbling at the sprouts that had come up in the rows.
As soon as he was in range of the first one, he threw. The bunny dropped and he received the message about his experience. Willing the message away, he made a mental note to adjust those so they didn't distract him in combat.
He continued to sprint forward another few steps, hurling his other stick at another rabbit. This time he missed. The rabbit saw the stick coming and hopped towards him rapidly. It launched itself into the air and struck his chest with all four legs, springing back away.
A small green bar showed up in the lower left of his field of vision, a small gray section at the end of it. Below the bar was another readout:
Health: 9/10
Eddie drew his melee staff from his inventory, giving the rabbit a chance to kick him again before he had it out and ready. Then he got a swing off, connecting with the bunny as it launched itself into the air to kick him a third time. The bunny flew off as Eddie swung and hit it like a baseball, and it stayed still once it landed.
He looked around for the third bunny he'd seen, but couldn't find it anywhere. Shrugging, he looted the two bunny corpses, before turning around and heading back towards the farm buildings. He held a hand against his chest as he walked, the soreness from the bunny strikes easing as he regenerated his lost health.
Tim was with Karl when Eddie got back.
“What's up?” Tim asked.
“The damned bunny rabbits,” Eddie said. “They were out in the fields with the main crops. I killed a couple and the other one left.”
“Well shit,” Tim said, “Ross was furious about them being in the garden, he's gonna blow his top when I tell them they were out in the fields.”
“Yeah, speaking of which, I need to grab a bite to eat, then finish that wall around the base of the garden,” Eddie said. “Good luck with telling him, he does seem the type to blame the messenger.”
Eddie quickly walked towards the garden.
“Uh-uh, no way,” Eddie heard Karl say, “not my job. I'm gonna go with Eddie there and get some breakfast.”
Eddie heard Karl come trotting up behind him.
“Tim seems like a nice guy, but I'm not taking the heat for him,” Karl said.
“Don't blame you in the least. He's got a class and level, let him deal with it.”
“So, what's for breakfast?”
“Help yourself,” Eddie said, gesturing towards the garden. “The game makes the fresh stuff out of here taste better than anything I've ever had in the real world. Grab a few handfuls and take them in for the others, would you? I'm going to have breakfast while I finish my quest. I want to finish it while I'm still well-rested and get the experience bonus.”
Eddie got back to weaving, picking up a third point in the skill before he finished the final wall for the garden. When he did, he got a message in his panel.
Success:
You have completed the quest: All You Can Eat
Experience awarded: 1000 (+100 well-rested, +250 blessing)
5 Silver Pieces awarded.
Huh, Eddie thought. Maybe the silver is in my inventory?
He pulled it up and looked, noticing that an icon on the bottom now showed a picture of a pouch. When he selected it, it showed him that there were five silver pieces currently in his pouch. There was also another interface revealed when he looked in his pouch, it was grayed out but a look at it showed why.
Currency exchange: You may not exchange currency until entering account information.
Current rate: 1gp/$21.33USD
That's cool, Eddie thought, you really can just sell directly from the game. No more third party auction site crap. If the game polices it, nobody is gonna try to screw you over on it or they risk getting banned.
Eddie had been up for at least three hours by the time Ross finally came out of the house. The boss was angry when he made it out to Eddie.
“What the hell? I got a bunch of farm workers and not a one of them was watching the crops?” he said.
“I killed the bunnies as soon as I saw them, but it's like they're everywhere. At least the garden is safe now,” Eddie said, gesturing towards his woven willow wall.
“Good, now do the same for the rest of the crops,” Ross said.
“I can't. There isn't nearly enough willow out there. That's got to be ten acres or more,” Eddi
e said. “Maybe get someone to build a fence around the whole thing? But it'll have to be tight or the damn bunnies will just come through it.”
Ross growled, then turned around and stomped back into the house. Tim came out a few moments later.
“Alright you guys, he's giving you the day to get acclimated to the game, on the condition that at least one of you is out in the fields to chase away rabbits at any given time.”
Eddie quickly volunteered to take an hour in the fields first, thinking that he could sneak away to explore more after he was done. As he was walking out towards the field, Karl caught up with him.
“Hey Eddie, what did you do with those rabbit corpses before?” he asked.
“They're right out here unless the game's gotten rid of them already. They stick around for a few hours most of the time, but I don't know how long exactly.”
“Do you mind if I grab them?”
“Nah, go ahead, why?”
“I used to hunt when I was a kid. I think I remember how to dress game out, so more stuff? Assuming the game allows it.”
Eddie tugged at a loose string on his tunic. It unraveled and came the rest of the way loose. He looked at it for a minute.
“Would that be under hunting skill or something else?” he asked.
His brain quickly flooded with the information on how to dress out a kill.
“I don't know, why?” Karl said.
“Never mind, it is part of hunting. I tried to do that before I had the hunting skill and botched it horribly.”
“Well, I know the skill in real life and I've heard that that makes it easier to learn the skill in game.”
“Go for it then. I'm going to walk the perimeter of the fields, see if I can tell where the bunnies are coming from. If we can clean out the nest, then maybe they'll stop showing up.”
An hour later Eddie still had no idea where the bunnies were coming from. He walked off the field and into the bunkhouse, announcing that it was someone else's turn to patrol the fields.
After a quick trip to the garden, where he bundled up a variety of food to keep most of his inventory slots clear, he geared up, hanging his throwing stick on a thong off of his knife and carrying his melee staff in his hand. He filled the water skin from his inventory this time, planning on being out for a while.
I think maybe north this time? I've gone south the other times I've gone out. It looks like it's a few miles, at least, to the mountains so it ought to be fairly safe.
He paused for a moment before heading out.
I haven't looked at my entire character sheet yet. Maybe I should do that now?
The thought was enough to trigger it.
Edward Hunter
Human Male
Level: 0
Class: N/A
Strength:9
Intelligence: 9
Agility: 16
Wisdom: 12
Heartiness: 10
Charisma: 8
Willpower: 11
Health: 10
Endurance: 10
Mana: 12
Luck: 13 (14)
Stamina: 25
Experience: -1061/0
Skills:
General:
Animal Handling: 1
Animal Husbandry: 1
Evaluate: 1
Farming: 2
Fire Building: 1
Herbalism: 2
Hunting: 1
Weather Sense: 1
Weaving: 3
Combat:
Staves:1
Magical:
N/A
Good enough for now, he thought. I hope I can get the rest of the experience to get to first level as easily as I've gotten the first part of it. I guess quests are the way to do it, at least at low level. Maybe higher level too, I'll find out eventually.
Eddie struck out to the north, moving with his alternating trotting and walking pace that kept his stamina close to full. He'd noticed, after fighting the bunnies in hand to hand combat, that melee combat drained your stamina and he wanted to make sure to keep enough of it to fight if needed.
He didn't see much right away. After he was out of sight of the farm he saw a few bunnies, but they weren't really worth the effort to kill since he would've had to move towards them to get in range of his throwing sticks. He'd actually tried getting close to the first one he saw, but it had spotted him and disappeared in a flash. After that he just let them be.
If I want to kill bunnies I can just hang around the farm and do that, he thought. I'm hoping I find something a little more interesting out here.
The first few miles were all more meadow with streams meandering through the fields. Most of the streams were narrow enough to just jump over so he didn't even have to get his boots wet. Finally he came to an area where the grass wasn't as prevalent. It was as tall and thick as in the meadows, but only in small clumps, not all over the place. The rest of the area was covered in gravel and rocks.
He glanced northwards, noting the slope leading up. Farther up the slope the rocks were large and, at the very edge of his sight, he could see massive boulders, easily twice his size, interspersed with the smaller rocks.
I guess this was a waste of time, he thought. I'm pretty sure that I'm looking at the edge of that mountain zone and I really don't want to go there.
He sat for a few minutes, not willing to return to the farm just yet, but jumped to his feet when he heard a cry.
That sounded like child wailing, he thought.
He tried to pinpoint the location the sound was coming from.
Of course it's coming from farther up the slope. Where else would it be but where I don't want to go?
“Hello,” he called out, “anyone there? Do you need help?”
He shrugged as the only answer he heard was the echo of his own voice, then he dismissed his misgivings and headed up the slope, trying to home in on the sound. It was growing fainter, but he was pretty sure he was headed for whatever was making the noise. He felt slightly lightheaded for a moment, but it passed almost immediately as he hurried up the slope.
Damn it, it sounds like they're not in very good shape and getting weaker, I'd better hurry.
Farther up the slope there was a long section of rope, maybe fifteen feet or more, that was stretched taut. Deciding that it wasn't a trap, since it was far too visible, he homed in on it, hoping it might be related to the sound he was hearing.
One end of the rope was tied around a branch that looked like it had been torn from a tree. That end was all snarled up around a stunted tree that grew next to one of the larger boulders. As he was examining the rope, it moved. It thrummed as though someone had plucked it. He quickly followed the rope to its other end.
The other end of the rope led into a shallow cave beneath a large boulder. The rope was definitely moving and he heard the cry once more, coming from the cave in front of him.
That's not quite a child's cry, but I don't know what else it could be. They must be really messed up to sound like that. If I can get to them, I can carry them back to the farm if need be. I'm sure someone there could help somehow.
He reached into the cave, running his hand along the rope. His fingers encountered something soft right before he felt a sharp, burning pain in his hand. At the same moment he saw a flash of golden light in the cave he was reaching into.
He pulled his hand out and found a set of four slash marks on its back. As he was examining the wound, his health counter flashed, showing him at eight of ten health.
Damn it! That hurt. What the hell is down there?
He was just getting ready to thrust his staff into the cave to try to roust whatever was in there when a different sound came from it. This one sounded almost like a soft bark. A moment later he saw a furry, feline head poke out of the darkness of the cave. The creature barked again softly and tried to scrabble up the slope. The tension on the rope was gone and Eddie realized that the bobcat in front of him must be attached to the rope somehow.
The pain
he was feeling faded slightly as he stared at the creature in front of him. It was staring right back at him, and he could swear that the bobcat was sorry for hurting him.
It must've been terrified already, and then I stuck my hand in and touched it by surprise. I'll forgive it that first attack, but if it tries that again it's history, Eddie thought.
The small cat pulled itself farther up the slope, its head darting towards Eddie's injured hand. Its tongue rasped out and licked the scratches it had given him before the cat flopped to the packed dirt beneath it.
“Are you telling me you're sorry you hurt me?” Eddie asked.
He shook his head, aware that he probably looked ridiculous talking to the animal. Then he decided that he really didn't care.
“Are you hurt buddy? Can I help?”
The bobcat just laid there, so Eddie reached towards it. Its eyes flickered open and it watched nervously as Eddie ran his hand down along its body and into the cave. He felt a leg, one that didn't seem to be at a normal angle, and then felt the loop of rope around the bobcat's lower leg.
Son of a bitch, did someone catch him in a snare and then he broke it and got away or something? Eddie wondered.
He moved his hands farther up the bobcat's body and gently pulled, dragging the animal's hindquarters into the light. The bobcat whined miserably in response. Sure enough, there was a loop of rope around one of its hind legs and that leg seemed to be dislocated.
He took his knife from his belt and carefully sliced the loop off the cat's leg. Then, looking at the bobcat, he realized that it probably hadn't eaten well for a while. Rummaging in his inventory he pulled out a portion of rabbit meat and set it in front of the bobcat. He also opened his water skin and, after using a rock to dig a little depression in the packed dirt, poured some water out for the cat.