Chapter Eight
Alex woke at the decomposing log, curled in the fetal position with a lingering ache from where the bloats had sucked away her blood.
"That was unpleasant," said Alex, wanting a shower to scrub away the death.
When she looked down to find her sheath empty, she was reminded that her first kill had taken her dagger away.
"Great, I need a new weapon," she said.
Part of her wanted to log out and get her bearings, but she hated sucking at anything. Better that she grind for a while and figure out how the game worked. So far it'd been a one-way ass kicking.
Before Alex set off, she tried her fire spell twice, both times accomplishing nothing more than a spritz of sparks. But it used up her faez, and maybe she would get a skill increase if she kept at it.
Alex headed in the direction she'd run from the rhinoboar, hoping she might find a broken tree limb that would serve as a makeshift weapon. But as she followed the path, the only branches she found had been pulverized into splinters.
When she reached the bramble patch, Alex looked for a way around only to feel a sharp sting in the back of her calf.
You have taken 1 damage!
A foot-long rat with a tail full of spikes hissed at her from a fallen log behind her. Its tail rose above its head and whipped forward to send a volley of needles at her, which she sidestepped.
Raticore, Warped Animal, Level 3
Alex quickly surveyed the area. If there was a group of them, she was doomed. But it seemed like it was only the one, which would be challenging enough without a weapon.
She searched around, spying a section of bramble that had been dug up from the charging rhinoboar. She grabbed the base of the thorny plant and yanked it from the soil, spilling dirt over her hands. She held the three long lashes of thorny plant material that hung limp from her grip.
You have taken 2 damage!
"Ouch, you little bastard," said Alex, rubbing her leg where the needles had pierced her skin.
The raticore hissed gleefully as it prepared another strike, its tail hovering seductively behind it as if it were a cobra. Alex hit first, bringing the thorny tri-whip down upon the critter in an overhead blow, but only one of the lengths hit the creature.
You deal the raticore 3 damage!
You have gained a skill point: +1 Devious Device
The raticore, suddenly sensing that it was outmatched, squeaked and tried to scamper from the log, but Alex kicked it before it could move.
You deal the raticore 1 damage!
The kick flipped the critter on its back, so Alex brought the tri-whip down on the raticore, and since she was much closer, she hit with two of the whips.
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You deal the raticore 4 damage!
You deal the raticore 3 damage!
You have slain the raticore!
You have gained experience: 10 XP
Breathing heavily from the fight, Alex surveyed the damage. Though the battle had been brief and her opponent tiny and fierce, she felt like she'd taken down a boss. Adrenaline coursed through her body, leaving her a little light-headed.
Victory meant a lot more when each hit felt real. She was beginning to understand why Professor Marzio had said this was the hardest game in the world. Overcoming the pain during battle was a challenge in itself.
When Alex touched the body of the raticore, she was presented with a loot pop-up.
You have received: Rat Meat
Yum, yum, yum, in your tum, tum, tum.
"Haha, very funny," said Alex as she hit accept, which moved the rat meat into her Handysack.
At least Patron Dimple had a sense of humor, which helped lessen the horror of the inflicted pain in Gamemakers Online.
When Alex checked her experience bar to check how far her kill had gotten her in the level progression, a stone formed in her gut.
XP: 10/20,000
The magnitude of the challenge became abundantly clear in that number. She'd have to kill a metric tons of raticores and bloats to hit level 2. While she wasn't opposed to grinding, the amount of times that she would have to take damage to achieve that was daunting.
If it were a normal game, she'd expect to level up to max in a few weeks, or months at the most. Since there were five years at the Hundred Halls, she wondered if each year was broken down into twenty levels, or if the gap grew exponentially.
"One thing at a time, Alex," she said, blowing out a breath.
First things first. She wanted to work on her new weapon. It'd hit harder than her Nicked Dagger and had a longer reach, which was important for not taking damage—an important distinction due to the realism. But the three branches made it hard to be accurate and the root system was slippery with fresh dirt. She needed to find a better way to grasp the weapon.
When she was younger, her dad had taken her on camping trips in the Daniel Boone National Forest. He'd taught her survival skills, which she hoped would translate to this game world.
Alex found good sturdy fibrous grass that she could use to weave around the roots to create an easier hilt to grip. She used longer strands to bind the three lengths together, making them into a thicker thorny whip. As soon as she tied the last loop, the item shimmered with a brief transformation.
You have gained a skill point: +1 Devious Device
You have received: Vicious Thorny Whip
The whole weapon looked sturdier than what her grass loops could provide, suggesting that the game had translated her actions into an actual item. She examined her new weapon.
Item: Vicious Thorny Whip
Dmg: 5-15 ? 20/20 Durability
Special Attribute: Bleed (10% chance of 1 dmg/sec dot)
An essential tool for the BDSM druid
"Now that's more like it," she said, after adjusting the sheath to hold her whip rather than the dagger.
Being able to create an item gave her more confidence that she would be able to make progress in the game.
Alex left the bramble area, headed towards the chasm. She wanted to travel down its length to see if she could find a bridge or other way across. A 5,000 XP reward for completing the quest would go a long way towards getting through level 1.
After what she estimated as about a mile of travel, Alex stopped to eat another traveler's food when her stomach grumbled and her fatigue % had grown too high. While she'd been hiking she'd been casting fire spells in hopes of gaining a skill increase.
A few times she'd seen signs of larger creatures in the deeper woods, but had declined to investigate, knowing that it was unlikely she could beat them.
When she'd first logged in, she'd expected a newbie area to level up in, but it appeared Gamemakers Online didn't pull punches when it came to starting areas. She wasn't opposed to a challenge, except that if there weren't a lot of small critters like the raticore or bloats, it'd be impossible for her to reach the higher levels to challenge the Brutal Rhinoboars of the forest.
Quests were a good way to supercharge leveling, but she'd only encountered a few so far and it seemed like a longer-term goal rather than an immediate challenge.
And after she ate the jerky and drank another water, she realized she was going to quickly run into another problem—food and water.
As the shadows grew long, Alex decided she didn't want to test the forest during the night when she'd be at a major disadvantage.
Log out? [Y/N]
I knew you were a quitter.
"I'm not a quitter, I just need a little rest and to think about how I'm going to attack this game," she said, before she remembered it was just a text box.
When she swiped "Yes," another box appeared.
Are you sure? [Y/N]
Log out costs 10 XP. The following log out will cost 100 XP.
And you thought you could just come and go whenever you wanted.
"Balls of fire," she said, hissing the words out through her teeth.
Suddenly the empty Gamemakers Hall and the hastily vacated rooms made sense to Alex. She was beginning to dislike the flavor text on the pop-ups.
What would happen if the penalty for logging out grew too much and you couldn't pay it? Would you be stuck in the game forever?
"Maybe there's been a mistake," she said.
Alex hated the idea of using up her experience to log out, but she needed answers before she continued playing Gamemakers Online.
She hit YES.
You will log out in 30 seconds...29...28...
