Hero Page 10

  Shield – Level 1

  Your chance to block a blow with an equipped shield increased by 1% from an enemy at or below your level. Your chance to land a blow with a shield increased by 1% against an attacker at or below your level. Each enemy level above yours reduces the chance to block and hit by 5%. Agility increases chance to hit and block with shields.

  Blessings

  Apollo’s Light

  +2 to Agility

  +2 to HP regeneration (5 per minute)

  +2 to Stamina regeneration (5 per minute)

  Time remaining: 14:25

  He was relatively pleased by his progression. The combination of his weapon skill and his strength meant that not only was he hitting over 9% more damage per hit, but his chance to hit was increasing as well, so that he hit more often. His overall damage output was going up.

  His health pool was also going up, with 17 HP now instead of 10, along with his stamina (which allowed him to be in combat longer) and his rage capacity, which added damage when he reached full rage, something he had yet to accomplish.

  Looking at his XP, he noticed that he had gotten 200xp per wolf, which is how he had gotten level 4. He also noted that he needed a total of 1200 to reach level 5, and assuming the pattern continued, he would need 3800 to reach level 6. The system rewarded the player who tackled harder enemies and quests, it seemed, but leveling too fast would stagnate his growth quickly if he stayed in the same area as well. Good incentive to keep moving onward and upward in the game. Jaxx approved of the system.

  He began moving again, slower than before, now brutally cognizant of the need to avoid groups of wolves. He knew he had been lucky. As he moved, he kept an eye on his map, which slowly revealed more territory as he moved through it. He was still moving in an Easterly directly, moving clockwise with the village in the center.

  Four hours later, he had covered about 5 miles and killed 3 more wolves, this time solitary ones. Each attacked in the by now predictable way, coming straight at him when they saw him. He noted that he was only receiving 150 XP per wolf now that he was level 4 – that put him at 910, with 290 left until level 5. “Two more wolves will do it,” he thought.

  He was congratulating himself at almost reaching Level 5 when he heard a loud howl coming from the forest ahead of him. Instantly, Jaxx dropped to the ground and froze. “That was LOUD,” he thought, and despite himself he felt a thrill of excitement go through him. “That must be the Alpha Wolf,” he thought.

  Slowly, he began creeping through the forest towards the sound, spear held low and ready in his right hand while moving branches slowly out of his path with his left. His speed was slowed to a crawl, but he definitely did not want to expose himself now.

  New skill – Stealth! You move slowly and silently.

  +1

  1% increased chance to move undetected

  This skill is affected by Agility.

  “Nice!” Jaxx thought. His buff from the Priest of Apollo was instantly helping him stay undetected.

  Although he kept feeling the need to rush ahead, he steadied himself to stay smooth and keep crawling. His stealth level went up twice during the time it took to reach a small clearing. Easing up behind an oak tree with large exposed roots, he peered into the clearing.

  The late afternoon sun did not penetrate the canopy, instead lighting up the top branches of the trees surrounding the clearing. The reflected light showed his quarry: the Alpha Wolf.

  The Alpha was large, about 50% larger than the other wolves, which put him in small horse sized category. It was silver, with a white patch visible on its chest and underbelly. He was lying on his stomach, with 3 smaller wolves in attendance. Jaxx realized that the 3 wolves were female, and likely the Alpha’s mates.

  Concentrating, Jaxx identified the levels of the beasts – the 3 lesser wolves were his level, Level 4, and the Alpha was a level 7. “Damn,” thought Jaxx, “I’ll never be able to fight them all together.”

  Pulling back slowly about a hundred yards from the clearing, Jaxx considered his options. A straight up fight was out of the question: he had to do this by somehow keeping the Alpha out of the fight until he could eliminate the rest of the wolves.

  He sat there thinking. “Pit trap? No, nothing to dig with.”

  “Snare? No, not enough cords or rope that would be strong enough.”

  It slowly came to him. Terrain! He would need to pick a spot to fight that the smaller Forest Wolves could get to him but the Alpha could not. If he could eliminate the smaller wolves, that would bump him up to Level 5, giving him that much more damage and health.

  He began scouting the area, slowly, as the light faded. His stealth went up another couple levels before he found a place that he thought would work. A large tree had fallen, and the strong upper branches of the tree had kept the trunk suspended off the ground. Crawling underneath, he found a small space that he could stand in and, more importantly, swing a spear. The opening was small, and he judged that only one of the smaller wolves would fit at a time. A perfect bottleneck from which he could fight and, hopefully, survive while he killed the wolves.

  The sun had continued to fall towards the horizon and it was getting quite dark. Jaxx resolved to sleep in the concealed area and hope that the wolves did not notice his scent during the night. As he settled in, he blessed the game world that did not include the need to relieve himself – that would have released scents that almost assuredly would have gotten the wolves’ attention.

  With that thought, he bedded down inside the downed tree and quickly fell asleep.

  As he slept, the giant shadow of the Alpha wolf circled the tree. It sniffed, smelling the scent of human but unable to pinpoint it. After a few minutes, the silver giant shook his head and loped off through the forest.

  The next morning Jaxx awoke with the dawn and the sounds of the forest coming awake. A few rodents jumped through the branches of his tree; birds began chirping to greet the dawn. Jaxx shivered – it had been a cold night without a fire.

  Jaxx stood and stretched. Sleeping on the ground was never fun, but his game body lacked the aches and pains that a normal person would have felt in the real world. A quick breakfast of meat, cheese and bread washed down by water made him feel better, and he silently blessed Hwiksos for providing the rations.

  Jaxx snuck out of his hide and made his way back to the clearing. The wolves were sleeping in a pile, with the bulk of the Alpha noticeable in the center.

  “Okay,” Jaxx said to himself, “how am I going to get their attention with enough time to get back to my hidey-hole?” A few options ran through his mind and were just as quickly dismissed. Throwing a rock from the edge of the clearing was out: so was challenging them outside of his hole.

  His solution seemed risky, but it was the only thing he could think of at short notice. He retreated a few steps from the edge of the clearing, and then ran his forearm over the edge of his spear, causing him to gain a bleeding debuff. Blood dripped down his arm in steady drops, and he walked through the woods, brushing his bloody arm on the leaves of the plants he passed. He had to pause twice and re-cut himself: the wounds healed quickly and the blood would stop flowing.

  He reached his tree and steadied himself, allowing his stamina and HP to recover to full. This was the riskiest part of his plan. With a quick breath, he roared a loud yell into the forest. In the quietness, the sound was much larger than he had anticipated. For a solid day he had been endeavoring to be silent: the sound shattered the quiet like a breaking window, clashing with the hushed atmosphere. Almost immediately heard a howl come from the direction of the clearing, and at that he dashed inside.

  Turning around, he readied his weapons. Sweat poured down his face, unnoticed except for when he blinked it out of his eyes. He was desperate to wipe it away, but both hands were clenched on his spear in readiness. His pulse started to pound in his ears, and he felt the first thrill of battle as endorphins were released in his brain.

  Less than a minute later, h
e heard the sounds of large animals moving through the brush towards him. “Yes!” he thought. “They are following my blood trail!”

  The Alpha was the first wolf to enter the small area in front of his hide. The wolf was sniffing, following the blood that Jaxx had left. It hesitated, allowing its senses to determine what it was facing as it looked at the small entrance. Its eyes advertised that this was no stupid creature – intelligence lived inside that beast.

  Jaxx cursed at the hesitation: He needed the wolves to attack! He was well aware that this spot was not impregnable – he could not afford for an intelligent enemy enough time to figure out a way to reach him. Finding a small rock at his feet, Jaxx quickly grabbed it and threw it out the entrance, hitting the wolf in the face. Immediately it snarled, lowering itself as it prepared to attack. The Alpha rushed the entrance: behind it, Jaxx noticed, were the three smaller Wolves, waiting.

  The Alpha slammed into the entrance, causing branches to break as it forced itself inside the tree. Jaxx was caught off guard by the speed and power it showed as it barreled towards him. Jaxx scrambled backwards until he hit the trunk of the tree, holding his spear in front of him with white knuckled hands. His heart was pounding and he felt the first stage of fear and doubt. “Was I really ready for this,” he wondered.

  Then conscious thought left him as he saw the Alpha finally get caught on the branches and stop moving towards him. It bucked and snarled, trying its hardest to reach him, but the thicker branches held it. “For now,” Jaxx thought.

  He steadied himself and thrust the stone headed spear towards the Alpha’s face. The beast twisted its head aside, and the point made a long, narrow slash on its cheek and jowls, not quite penetrating the neck. It howled, and the rage and fury hurt Jaxx’s ears. He kept a strong grip on the spear, withdrew it, waited, then thrust again. This time the Alpha saw it coming and backed away, avoiding the point, then thrusting forward to snap at the weapon.

  Jaxx pulled it back just in time to avoid the massive jaws as they tried to snap the spear. Aware that he was dead if he lost the weapon, he brandished it while the Alpha remained out of reach, studying him. The intelligent eyes of the massive wolf ranged around, looking for a way to get to Jaxx and rend him limb from limb. Outside the tree, Jaxx heard the smaller Wolves howling as they jumped back and forth behind the Alpha, clamoring in a cacophony of yips and snarls.

  With a sudden movement, the Alpha retreated, and a smaller wolf instantly darted into the tree. The lesser Wolf easily fit inside. Jaxx was waiting. Having killed 6 of the beasts by now, he knew that they were not intelligent enough to avoid his spear. The first she-wolf died on his spear, embedding it in her chest and causing her HP to plummet to zero.

  Almost instantly, another wolf came barreling in behind the first. Jaxx tugged at his spear, but it was caught between two ribs of the first female and so he fell backwards, avoiding the slashing jaws and using his body weight to pull the spear free. Unfortunately, in doing do, the second wolf fell on top of him, pinning his spear beneath its body.

  With his left hand, he grabbed the wolf’s neck, keeping it away from his face as its jaws snapped towards him. “Now would be a good time to have a knife,” he thought in panic, as he tried to get the spear out from under the wolf.

  He managed to pull it free enough for the blade to be laying against the wolf’s rear leg – he pushed it outward, drawing the spear ahead along the wolf’s flesh enough to cause a small cut. Very little damage was done, but the shock of pain was enough to cause the wolf to jerk its head around to see what was hurting it. With the pressure suddenly off his body, he pulled the spear out further, enough so that he could angle the blade towards the wolf’s side and thrust it home. Immediately the wolf howled in pain, snapping at the spear and catching his right hand with its teeth.

  Luckily, the smaller wolf’s jaws were not strong enough to break the 2-inch-thick oak shaft of the spear, and Jaxx took advantage of the wolf’s mouth being occupied to get some leverage. Using the shaft and his left hand, he left the point imbedded in the wolf’s side and pulled the shaft up and towards his left side. This caused the spear to rotate inside the belly of the wolf, causing it to howl in pain again. The pressure of the shaft pushing up and backwards kept the jaws of the wolf locked on the spear shaft. Unfelt until now, his right hand was bleeding and causing the shaft of the spear to become slick with blood along with the wolf’s saliva.

  Jaxx pushed with all his might, hearing a crack sound as the wolf’s jaw broke. “Damn, that extra strength is coming in handy” he though.

  As he pushed the wolf back, he was able to get to his feet and while keeping the pressure on the shaft and the spear locked inside the mouth of the wolf, he began punching the wolf’s skull with his left hand. Immediate pain radiated up his arm as he hit bone, but at that point his rage meter hit full.

  Utilize Berserk? Yes/No

  Jaxx grinned. Finally! With a “Yes” thought he felt his body grow hot. His vision grew a tinge of red and he felt his muscles growing stronger instantly: at the same time, his conscious thought evaporated and pure bloodlust took over. His left-handed punches, which before had done superficial damage, started breaking bones whenever he struck. All pain from his wounds evaporated. Later he would recall that his rage meter had begun ticking down, while his yellow stamina meter remained full while he was under the effects of Berserk.

  Roaring, he put both hands on the shaft of the spear, and simply ripped it straight towards him. The spear head embedded in the wolf’s side was brought straight through the torso and front left leg of the wolf, causing massive damage and immediately killing the second Forest Wolf.

  As the triumph of the kill resonated, a loud snarl made him look up to see the third wolf, until now blocked by the body of the first and the second, leaping towards him through the entrance of the tree hide. Reaching out, he caught the wolf in his left hand by the neck, holding it effortlessly in the air. Jaxx stared into the furious eyes of the wolf, and disregarding its fangs, reached down into the mouth of the wolf with his right hand and gripped the base of its tongue. Instantly its snarl turned to choking as its air was cut off, and it began to writhe in panic.

  Jaxx gripped the slimy muscle, and pulled its tongue right out of its mouth, causing a jet of blood to hit him in the face that he barely noticed in his fury. He hurled the wolf straight back out of the tree, where it rolled on the ground and came to a bloody, gargling stop as it choked on the blood pouring down its neck and throat. It kicked feebly as it writhed on the ground before stopping as it died.

  At that moment, Berserk ended, and Jaxx collapsed on his ass. The pain of his various wounds slammed into him, and he felt exhausted as his stamina meter went to 1, instantly. His HP had dropped during the fight, unnoticed by Jaxx during the Rage, and was sitting at 8/14.

  “Wow, Berserk really increase my damage output, but I have to be careful!” he thought. “I could be on the brink of death and I wouldn’t realize it while going Berserk.” Despite these drawbacks, Jaxx was incredibly pleased by this ability of his Barbarian class. Once his rage meter filled, he was a rampaging beast in combat. Properly supported by a healer, he would be unstoppable.

  As he sat there, Jaxx saw the Alpha standing the edge of the small clearing. Its eyes were hate filled as it took in the three dead forms of his mates. A low growl vibrated the entire tree, and Jaxx stood, brandishing his spear. He hoped that it wouldn’t attack him while he was still wounded and low on stamina, as he would not be very effective in this fight. Jaxx was relieved when he saw the still snarling Alpha back away into the forest and slip away.

  Jaxx collapsed again, knowing that the Alpha wouldn’t go far and would be waiting for him to emerge from the tree to attack. He also knew the Alpha wouldn’t attack him again while he was inside it – the beast was far too intelligent to fall for that twice.

  Jaxx’s stamina and HP recovered quickly, still under the influence of the buff he had gotten at the temple of Apollo. As he sat and reco
vered, he reviewed the results of the fight.

  Forest Wolf x 3 defeated! 400 XP gained!

  Level up! Level 5 Achieved!

  +2 2H spears

  +2 Dodge

  +1 Unarmed Combat

  +1 Improvisation

  +1 Fortification

  Ok, so the first two wolves had given him 150 XP each, leveling him to just over level 5. The third wolf only gave him 100 XP since he was at a higher level.

  The upgrades to his skills were welcome, as well, and it looked like he’d picked up two new skills.

  Name

  Jaxx

  Name

  Jaxx

  Race

  Human

  Race

  Human

  Level

  5

  Level

  3

  Total XP

  1310

  XP to Next Level

  490

  XP to next level

  100

  Strength

  9

  Strength