Chapter 5: Chapter 5
Chapter 5
"Patience is the name of the game"
There he was, staring at it. This was no rat, it was a monster! Five feet tall, hollow eyes encircled by purple haze glowing around them, dagger-like fangs, yellow ribs sticking through its rotten flesh - the scene was as frightening as it was disgusting. This thing could not possibly be a low level monster, which meant Will could not be on a lower Floor. +10000 XP seemed appropriate for this kind of abomination, but fighting it with bare hands, with no skills or armor, seemed rather stupid. And suicidal.
"Unique gaming experience, my rear end," thought Will. "It must have something to do with that error…"
He could have asked the administrators to send him to a lower Floor, or he could try and hack it out here on his own keeping in mind that "…a level 1player could kill a level 50 or level 100 enemy."
He examined the room, and the monster within, through the open door.
"Cursed Rat: level 46.
HP: 5100."
"How is this possible?! I'll be poking it with my toothpick for a week! Maybe I could run some simple errands, make enough money to buy a bow, find a higher ground, where it could never reach me, and attack? Perhaps I could search for an exploit? Except I won't be able to do that from the inside - this thing's aggro range must be around 50 feet, which is the distance from the center of the room to the door. Stealth won't help either. I better go see if there are windows in this warehouse."
RAVen skirted around the building, but it was useless - the warehouse had no windowless.
"Course not. That would be too easy," Will returned to the entrance for another glimpse at what was going on inside. This time, he noticed an unusual construction under the ceiling near the back wall. It looked like a room, but he couldn't understand why someone would build a room with no doors or means of access in such a weird place. The roof could be the only place leading inside that room…
Will knew that if monsters this tough were within the village, going outside the village would be idiotic. So, instead of wasting his time, he would do what all newbies who couldn't grind mobs did - become an errand boy. But first…
The carpenter's ladder, built in a hurry, didn't seem sturdy at all. Nonetheless, Will thought he would give it a try - the fall wouldn't be lethal anyway. He spent twenty minutes atop the twenty-three-foot-high warehouse searching for a hatch, but to no avail. Seeing no other option, he decided to stick with the plan.
The plan turned out to be incredibly hard, and left RAVen feeling exhausted. He had been doing a variety of small quests for ten hours, which only netted him twenty-four silver coins. He was definitely on the wrong Floor. Based on the simple logic of "the higher the Floor, the tougher the monsters", he figured he was on the seventh or eighth Floor. Thus, the first three Floors must have monsters below level 30; and the fourth, fifth, and sixth would be crawling with monsters below level 65 or so. This was, of course, a rough assumption, but there was no way to know for sure.
Will decided to break and grab something to eat. He opened the capsule door and stepped out, rubbing his temples. While chowing down on a sandwich, he checked the forums to see if anyone had posted anything interesting, but nothing worth reading came up. A check of his e-mail box revealed a message from Pak:
Sup, Will! Hope you're already playing Ascension, just like the rest of the world. Have you seen those trailers? Anyway, just wanted to let you know that our entire clan has moved from the Gates of Darkness to Ascension, so, if you're interested, join us. We are the SoulCrushers. Talk soon.
Will felt lucky to be friends with such a guy. Pak was a good person - trustworthy, open, and sincere. He was a weirdo, but not a sellout.
An idea occurred to him. He could get skill books via the in-game mail system! Since it could be used to communicate between the Floors, Will could make arrangements with Pak and get stuff from him on the cheap. He sent a quick reply:
Hey, Terror =D. Thanks for the invitation, but I decided to play solo, if you recall. I'll let you know if I'm up to something big. My nickname is White RAVen. Which Floor is your clan on, by the way?
Will hit send and checked the clock. It was nine in the evening, early enough to play a little longer. In the next three hours, he made ten silver coins, after which he logged off and went to bed. The regime was important, and he didn't want to overstrain himself.
Tomorrow is another day. Maybe it won't seem so bad," thought Will.
He could have not been more wrong.
Getting paid in peanuts for cleaning backyards, working the land, delivering mail, searching for lost cats (or dogs, or hares, or bears), keeping an eye on someone's cattle, picking fruits, helping an old lady (or a boy, or a blacksmith, or every single one of them) was insanely difficult. This adaptive virtual reality was full of small quests. It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it, and that someone was keeping his eyes on the prize.
Will was in the middle of yet another moral strength test, helping a hunter to skin animal carcasses, when he got a message.
"Player Light Terror sent you a friend request."
Confirm.
Another message followed. "Wow! Is this name super cool or what! I love it! We are based on the second Floor right now, but we have branches on the first and third Floors. Which one are you on?"
Will was hesitant to reveal the whole truth regarding his whereabouts, so he kept that detail vague.
"Glad you like it. I'm on the third right now. Listen, I have a favor to ask. Do you guys have any Rogue skill books I could buy? I need Stealth and some other active skills. I'd be grateful if you could send me a couple. I'm low on cash, but I'll pay you back as soon as I can. I always pay my debts, so you can rely on that."
He sent the message and continued his work. Twenty minutes later, three books arrived in the mail: one for Stealth, one for another active skill, and the third for a passive skill.
" Wow, that was fast," he whispered to himself.
"Skill Book: Underhand Blow.
Active skill (Apprentice).
Damage dealt to the target off-guard is increased by 20%.
Energy required: 30
Cooldown: 20 seconds
Class requirements: Rogue."
"Skill Book: Gunman.
Passive skill (Apprentice).
Increased firearm mastery level.
+2 Fire rate
+2 Fire range
+1 Level neglect when using firearms
Class requirements: none."
Will learned the skills and read the message that came with the books,
"Here, these set me back two silver. They ain't cheap, but consider them a gift. Let me know if you need anything else."
"Two silver?! For crying out loud, what Floor am I on?" thought Will, "I can get everything I need at reasonable prices from Pak now, can't I?"
He wrote Pak asking him to procure a crossbow, a dagger, and some other goods under thirty silver. Having sent the money, including what he owed for the books, Will had ten more silver coins left.
"I thought you said you were low on cash, and that you were playing solo. Where did you get this money? Did you find buried treasure or something? I made only six silver and forty three copper coins in the last thirty-six hours! What the hell?! Our dudes on the third are going all out trying to make some coin too. Either way, can't do anything about the weapons, the clan doesn't have that since we're just starting out, but I'll see what they have in the stores. What exactly are you looking for?"
"Preferably something without class limitations. I really need a crossbow and a couple dozen quivers with bolts, magic enhanced, if possible. As for the rest, I need class specific stuff with good damage dealing capacity. If you can find cheap potions, that'd be great too. Thanks!"
Somehow, Will felt better- everything seemed not as bad as before. All that remained was to find a way to kill those monstrous rats. Considering the level difference, he was bound to be handsomely rewarded.
The young man had almost completed his last assignment, when a message popped up.
"Level Up!"
He smiled, gratified. One thing had become clear to Will after all his hard work - you couldn't amass a significant amount of XP for it. The most he got for a single quest was 21XP, and he needed 300XP for level 2.
"You worked hard for the good of Skiavra villagers. Their attitude toward you has improved.
Current attitude status: 32/100 (Neutral)"
Leveling up automatically upgraded a class specific Attribute: +1 Agility for Rogues; +1 Wisdom for Mages; +1 Strength for Warriors; and so on.
Having distributed the points, Will looked at the skills he could learn.
"You learned a new skill.
Picklock. Passive skill (Apprentice).
You can pick simple locks."
He logged off to grab a bite. An hour later, a message came.
"This is all I could find. See if it works for you, and if it does, I'll buy it. Oh, and you can forget about the potions, the cheapest ones are, like, two gold a vial."
"Dreadnought's Crossbow (Bronze).
Damage: 12-16
Attack range: 108 feet
-9% Chance to miss
+4% Chance to stun the target with the last bolt when burst shooting (4 bolts at once)
Class requirements: none
Other requirements: none."
It came with six quivers with standard bolts (one thousand pieces each), five with +2 holy magic extra damage, three with +2 fire damage, and one with +1 light damage, all for the price of three silver and six copper coins; nine silver and eighteen copper coins together with the crossbow.
"Red Eye Ring (Bronze).
+3% Accuracy
+1 Dodge
Class requirements: Hunter, Rogue, Stalker.
Other requirements: none."
- One silver and twenty one copper coins.
"Gale Greaves (Bronze).
+2 Speed
+3% Chance to dodge unexpected attack.
Class requirements: none
Other requirements: none."
- Two silver coins.
"Vagrant Jacket (Bronze).
+5% Stealth
+3 Dodge
+1% Chance to find rare item when looting chests.
Enter Ambush Mode faster when in shadows.
Class requirements: Rogue.
Other requirements: none."
- Ten silver and fifty copper coins.
"Not bad for my level. These would cost a fortune in this location. I'd have to buy the same crossbow for at least three gold coins here," he mused. Will gave Pak the go-ahead and sent two more coins for his trouble. He also asked to keep him posted in case more skill books he sought turned up.
The answer, with the items attached, came right when Will was about to log off.
"I gotcha. Thanks for the tips. I don't know what kind of deal you have going on, but it's not normal. Yeah, I'll keep you posted."
Equip all. Log off.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone