• 3^rd Person POV

“So far so good… I have no problems for this month. As long as I reached my goal of 11000 gold at the end of the month.“ Evan smiles seeing the money in his account gaining additional 39 dollars transferred from the company that make the ‘Eidolon’ game.

Evan logged back in the world as he ready himself up for another hunt of ooze and possibly high-Level creatures just to check the gold difference.

But something been bugging at the back of his mind and that is his own passive skill [Mana Sense LV1]. He knew that all magic users have it since it is a beginner’s passive skill but why it irks him so much?

Because he believed there is something more to be done with that skill. As such, Evan tried something new.

After finding a secluded spot away from wild monsters and players. Evan set down his staff in front of him as he think of something.

“Mana Sense… it’s an ability to sense the presence of mana, right? What does mana look like or even smell like? What it feels to touch mana?” Those are the thoughts coursing through Evan’s mind while he’s contemplating.

Either his own sense of belief become so strong, or he’s delusional. Evan began to pick something up, through his nose he smell something that he couldn’t describe and slightly he breathes easier as if he smell fresh air.

*PING*

Before he can indulge in that, a loud pinging sound interrupting his thoughts. As he opened his own status panel, he noticed something strange…

His skill…

Mana Sense LV 2

Description:   INT+ 2 With this skill you can sense surrounding mana. All magic users have this as their beginner skill requirement for a mage class.

 

“Owh? It levelled up? What triggers it? Is it the ‘intent’ of me trying to figure out mana?” Evan mind twist and turn as he sincerely believes that it is the ‘intent’ of him trying to discern and understand mana.

Excitement bubbled up inside his belly as he silently clenched his fist in a victory pose. “Maybe if I raise it high enough, I would get awesome stuff?” Evan hopefully thought as he come out from the forest into where slimes would spawn.

Taking care not too get hit by the ranged attacker slimes. Evan now tries to attack it first using [Magic Arrow] defeating those things before finally kiting the other slimes. Gaining their loot for today’s farm.

“I don’t understand it? What would he get from slimes?” Another player looks at Evan and the Slime Field in confusion and amusement.

“I don’t know man, he kept killing them hoping to get rare items or something” She shrugged her shoulder seeing Evan killing more slimes.

“Slimes will never drop good stuff, its been proven by the forums and veteran players” A man wearing glasses and brown robes similar to Evan’s beginner robe look at him incredulously.

The other players passes by Slime Field using the west beaten path of Novitas to another city ignoring Evan farming the slimes.

He continues to grind slime drops for a total of 8 hours in-real time, with intermittently logged out in between to take some breaks. Since he got the title of slime conqueror, the efficiency of Evan grinding them is increased.

As such, he’s now gaining around 500 gold worth for an eight-hour farm with some breaks in between making a total of 10 hour. The rest time usually spent with Evan eating lunch, relieving himself, and watching MeTube.

“I’m glad that they can deliver groceries to my door rather than me going out” He smiles on himself as he took some groceries in front of his door and bring them in to the fridge.

Evan still have some time left before going to sleep, so he logged in and decided to ‘meditate’ in a sense of laying down on the soft patch of grass in nice quiet place in the forest of darkness. Not many beginner players enter the area as it is known to have higher levelled monsters.

He ‘explored’ the area or rather following the edges and occasionally sees veteran players inside the forest fighting against tough enemies. Thankfully the monsters never come out from the forest or his spot and it gives Evan comfort to rest and farm slimes.

“Sigh… there’s too many players farm in other high levelled monsters of other areas, I have already checked on them. Making it a powerful competition. No doubt more and more players entering this game would cause the slime area would be taken as well. I better hurry and find another method of getting gold” Evan dejectedly dread the day it will come for his slime field to be taken away.

“Maybe a crafting skill? But how can I get one?” Evan ponders for a while until his mind drifted to imagine what mana feels, tastes, and look like.

In Evan’s own imagination, he thought mana would look like air, invisible to the naked eye but exist everywhere, doesn’t have any specific taste, and have bland smell.

This caused Evan to scrunch his expression as it is hard to imagine it, so he used air as a way to make it more believable, but it is still not the right terms for mana. Yet he continues to do so trying to grasp the imagery in his mind.

Nevertheless, his way of breathing starts to be easier maybe due to his exposure to the environment of the tranquil forest. Minus the occasional screaming of players getting butchered by the monsters and their cusses.

*Whine*

Amidst the players voices and grouching of those high levelled creatures primarily beast type. A single whine of a dog echoes through Evan’s ears.

“Huh?” Evan broke his concentration. It is incredibly similar to a dog’s whimpering whenever he watches them in MeTube as Evan stands up from lying down position and try to find out the source.

Moving carefully to avoid detection by powerful creatures residing here. Evan found a small glade with fallen tree trunk and already rotted in making a small alcove. “Is it here?” Evan asked himself as he look around until his gaze landed on a small creature.

“A Puppy?” Realization dawned upon him. What he sees is a small puppy whimpering and shivering. Evan heart melted into a goopy mess as he look closely to the puppy.

It has deep dark blue colour with white on its underbelly if the day is night, Evan would assume the puppy would have black & white fur, but the sunlight gives him enough vision to discern it. As Evan comes closer the puppy loud whines slowly goes quiet.

The puppy looks similar to a Siberian husky breed as Evan try to look what’s wrong with the pup until he sees an injury on its hindlegs. In doing so, he sees the gender of the pup and it is a male pup.

*PING*

Hidden Quest!! [Novitas (East): Forest of Darkness] (Rank: F)

Description: A poor puppy has been left all alone in the forest of darkness. Please help him!   Reward: -          It’s a puppy!

 

“Eh? A quest?” Evan thought as he approaches that pup upon getting closer to it, Evan pulled out his (S) health potion and lathered its content to the injury.

*Yelp* The puppy yelped in pain for a second as Evan jolted away but after a while the pup expression relaxes in a comforting manner.

Seeing the pup’s expression relaxes upon application made Evan smiles for a bit before looking around the forest searching for some kind of food.

*Rustle* *Rustle*

Evan eyes widened for a second as three green small sized humanoid creature appeared from nearby bushes. They are probably around 100 cm or lower in height with serrated teeth and pointy ears. Red sclera without any pupils as they wield clubs & attached to them is iron spikes.

Raging Goblin [Level 10] (Goblinoid)

 

These goblins have higher HP compared to normal goblins that Evan knew in equal levels. ‘Ah… shit, I don’t have a lot of defence. Should I just leave?’ Those thing went through Evan’s mind but upon looking at the puppy that’s starting to whimper. He push away those things.

“I’ll fight them” Evan determined to do so as he point his beginner’s staff to the goblins. “[Magic Arrow]!!” He declares as a projectile resembling an arrow made from arcane energy hurled from the tip of his staff and hit the goblin dealing some damage as they shrieks.

Knowing that, Evan ran around casting magic arrows to each goblins gaining their ire to distract them from attacking the puppy.

“Its kind of hard… haaah… haaah… they are quite fast, but I’ll manage” Evan gasped for air as he hides behind to one of the trees. Before long, the game of tag has begun with Evan uses the trees as a way to cover while shooting magic arrows.

*HUP*

Thankfully, he’s maintaining the ‘ire’ of the goblins as the puppy is unharmed but when he glances his eyesight to the direction of where the goblins were. Evan miscalculated where the goblin was. As it comes and swung its club to Evan’s shoulder damaging him.

“Ouch!” He grunted while keep running away.

Although he said ouch, it doesn’t hurt at all in real-life sense rather in-game as Evan’s HP drop below 50% from a single hit of that goblin.

“Great… they pack a punch. Makes sense” He thought while scurrying between the trees and shoot another series of magic arrows as he drank (S) Health Potion and the mana version of it.

From a simple game of tag, this become a deadly game of tag combination with attrition as Evan continues to hide behind trees shooting magic arrows whenever its possible.

The intensity of this match makes him held his breath when concentrating his mind on aiming and continue to dash between the verdant trees.

*BAM *BAM

“Graaaaaaaaa!!!” The goblins shriek before falling down and their body dissipates away.  “Got Them!” Satisfied by that achievement but not for long as there’s one more goblin to care. He manages to kill 2 of the raging goblins as Evan try to dodge it when they try to overwhelm him.

His status panel already displayed red indicating his HP dropped below 10% as Evan chuck down 3 more (S) Health Potion and (S) Mana Potion to his throat.

“Come on! 1 more… just 1 more goblin to defeat” Dashing through the bushes and zig zagging through the line of trees.

Evan continuously spam [Magic Arrow] whenever possible to that single goblin as he run backward facing the goblin.

*Tap* Evan felt something hard resembling tree barks on his back. “Oh shit… I forgot!!” Panic settles to his heart upon feeling it.

He forgot that there will be obstacles when he ran backward facing the goblin. The goblin noticed that as it lunge and try to swung down its deadly looking club.

Evan point the staff as he cast another [Magic Arrow] hoping it would be enough as he closes his eyes bracing for impact.

“Please hit” Evan hopes as he felt the [Magic Arrow] being unleashed.

--

Opening his eyes, Evan doesn’t sense any threat or the announcement that he has died rather a ping beside him can be heard.

Hidden Quest!! [Novitas (East): Forest of Darkness] (Rank: F) Completed!!!

Description: Congratulations, you saved the puppy from being goblin food. Bless your good heart.   Reward: A puppy

 

Evan finally heaved a breath of relief after seeing that panel while stumbling to where the puppy is. He lay down for a second near the puppy, exhausted.

Not because running since he maintained his SP quite well but because its mentally tiring to continue concentrating to not getting hit while hitting skill-shots.

The puppy comes closer to Evan as he recovered then licked his cheek. The wet & warm sensation of his cheek make him chuckle for a moment as he cuddles the puppy.

“Sigh… I better check how to take care of a dog and their expenses.” Evan can imagine him searching in the net about puppy training and treats.

The puppy then vanished much to his surprise as several notification appeared on his status panel. With one panel is in right in front of him. It says to name ‘your pet’ with Evan began to think hard about for a second then type the name in.

Name your Pet Puppy!

Umbra

 

Evan’s tempted to put the name ‘Moon Moon’ but thinking further that might be a bad choice. Instead he opted the name Umbra as the colour of his fur turn black like shadow at dark with the white underbelly colour represent the moon.

The other notification showed him that he gets around 100 gold in reward, a level up, and his skill [Mana Sense LV3]. The gold he accumulated is now 600 gold which means he have around a total of 99 dollars.

Evan decided to convert only 500 gold to 50 dollars since he’s planning to use that 100 gold to help buy necessities for Umbra.

He also gain new skill!!

[Magie Magia] Gold: 100

·         HP                                : 200 ·         MP                               : 200 ·         SP                                : 200 ·         Race                            : Hyuman ·         Class                            : None ·         Level                            : 11 ·         Status; o   STR                  : 8 o   DEX                  : 6 o   CON                 : 10 o   INT                   : 39 o   WIS                  : 15 ·         Skills; o   Actives §  [Summon: Umbra] ·         Upon using this skill, summon Umbra to accompany you. You can cast this skill again to dismiss Umbra. If Umbra has been defeated, he will return to a safe pocket dimension to rest, and this skill will be unusable until Umbra’s health is restored to full. o   Passives §  [Mana Sense LV3] ·         INT+ 6. With this skill you can sense surrounding mana. All magic users have this as their beginner skill requirement for a mage class ·         Titles; o   <Slime Conqueror> (Req: Kill 1000 slimes) = Increase damage dealt to Ooze type creature by 50%.

 

[Umbra]

·         HP                                : 400 ·         MP                               : 100 ·         SP                                : 200 ·         Type                            : Magic Beast ·         Level                            : 1 ·         Status; o   STR                  : 50 o   DEX                  : 45 o   CON                 : 50 o   INT                   : 25 o   WIS                  : 25 ·         Skills; o   Actives §  [Bite] ·         Melee Attack: Deal (5 times of STR) of piercing damage o   Passives §  [Keen Sense] ·         Able to sense approaching creatures surrounding the user and its allies.

 

Doing everything he can for today. He logged out from the game and heating up left-overs he made yesterday. Just having two days of playing the game gives Evan a slight smile remembering Umbra licking his cheek.

“This game is fun” He gleefully smiles while scrolling through his phones

Evan doesn’t mind in grinding for 8 hours straight, but he worries if his slime spot is going to be taken in the far future. So, he opted to open his phone and search ‘dungeons’ in his browser about beginner friendly dungeons in ‘Eidolon’

“Ah! I found some” He opened some kind of website or a blog made by someone who’s dedicate themselves about dungeons.

Dungeons are pocket dimensions that contain challenges for the players to complete and of course a place to explore. It is various in how to complete them such as; eliminating monsters, solving puzzles, parkouring, combination of them, or etc.

After completing the dungeon, players would be rewarded either with gold or magical items for selling & crafting, and they can challenge the dungeon again and again.

Since it is a pocket dimension, it allows multiple players to enter at the same time without overlapping or competition. It is a good source of money although a bit stressful as you need to complete the dungeon.

There are numerous dungeons in the world of ‘Eidolon’ and some haven’t even been discovered yet. Once discovered it will be announced to the whole server so everyone would know. Due to this, Evan is able to find out which dungeon is suitable for him.

Scrolling his phone about screenshots of the dungeon. Evan found promising three dungeons that he could complete for rewards.

1^st Dungeon <Ice Cavern LV10>: Consisting of mostly ice & water-based creatures, they thrive on the mountains north of Novitas. You may get their [Icy Tears Category: Rare] that is used for making mana potions. In addition to armour & weapons suited to fight against cold damage. Including standard gold and experience

2^nd Dungeon <Moving Library LV10>: A dungeon that focuses on solving puzzles inside a massive library found in Novitas Library and you need to ask the receptionist there for access with a cost of 10 gold, then find the hidden path in the library through their towering bookshelves. There’s even a guide on how to complete it fast to gain rewards and the way there. The rewards are mostly gold and experience.

3^rd Dungeon <Juggling Forest LV10>: A dungeon consisting of tall trees with vines that can be used to travel in between. To complete the dungeon one need to swing themselves using the vines until they reach the end point. The dungeon lies in east of Novitas where there are forests containing beast-type creatures unlike Evan’s area where mostly slimes. Jumping through branches & swinging from vine to vine like Tarzan as he sees a video about a player speed running the dungeon. The rewards are mostly food items, gold, and experience.

Most players recommend the <Ice Cavern> since it is straight battle type of dungeon. But Evan plan to challenge dungeons by himself & Umbra so he is not confident to challenge it duo since it is recommended to enter with 4 party members. It is better to conquer non-combative dungeons due to his ‘problem’

Higher level dungeons would combine all those essence into one including adding traps so for now, Evan decided to go to the <Moving Library> a place that he would feel safer. In addition, there are no hostile monsters only constructs that would scan the area.

If you get caught, then you will be spawned back to where you came from in the dungeon. So, make sure to not get caught by the construct’s vision.

“Yeah… I’ll try the dungeon tomorrow” Evan propped himself to the soft bed of his condo

So far, he accumulated 89 dollars in his account just for 2 days of playing. Looking at that amount Evan smiled goofily as if in a dream. Opening MeTube again as he accidentally press ‘home’ button in his phone, Evan sees several news video regarding ‘Eidolon’ and their mysterious developers who made them.

Not one people have managed to see the developers as they use representatives instead of themselves during news report about the game or any problems regarding the game since its gaining attention all over the world.

The recent conflict is about how companies having their workers quit due to the game giving away money using RMT system. Although scrolling through comments most of the complaints are coming from what people said, “Black Companies” as Evan internally said, “Serves them right!”

Well… he has no experience in a working field formally only internship from his university days which is a long time ago. 5 years to be exact but judging on what people said in those comments. Black Companies are something that exploit their workers down to their bone and even try to suck them dry.

It is good for them to quit from that place… “Seemed to be a toxic environment” Evan quickly ponder as he closed his handphone after eating his left-overs.

Evan then take a nice hot shower “Sigh… I felt tired” so he opted to sat on the marble floor while enjoying the waters hitting his back. After a while, he cleaned his body and brush his teeth. Wearing his pyjamas to bed and fall asleep until tomorrow comes.

--

Waking up, Evan have cereal as breakfast before cleaning his face to start on his day playing ‘Eidolon’ before he do so. He searches through the net regarding on how to take care of a dog.

“Taking care of a puppy is a big responsibility, Umbra needs exercise and training & socialisation to help with the puppy’s behavioural development. I wonder what kind of food magic beast puppy eats?” Evan reiterates what he read on the net before making notes to himself on what to get.

Standing up and entering the capsule, Evan entered the game ‘Eidolon’ as usual. He logged out in Novitas but in an area that’s not a lot of players even NPCs would roam so he’s alone at the moment.

“I remember there’s a general store here. I should buy some stuff for Umbra” Evan rubbed his chin while walking through the streets minding his own business until he find a general store.

Upon entering the building, he found that the shop displays day to day items needed for domestic lifestyle such as grains, condiments, farming tools, and etc. In wooden shelves and it is well-maintained, its clear that the owner cherishes their shop.

Evan comes forward to the shopkeeper, a human male probably in his mid-sixties having a hunched back wearing pale green tunic and breeches with a flat cap. Coming out from the backdoor as if in instinct knew that Evan has come into his shop

“Welcome! Is there anything you want to buy?” His tone is welcoming and also curious about the figure in front of him wearing brown robes that cover his body and face.

The hood nods confirming the question as the shopkeeper have a bright expression. Evan gulped down the anxiety that’s bubbling up to his throat.

“This is for Umbra’s wellbeing! Its my responsibility to take care of him” Evan tries his best to mustered up as much courage as he can but more and more words coming into his mind.

His subconscious knew if he speaks then his words will come out in slurs, so he opted to shut it instead and changed it into writing on a paper.

“Oh I see… you want to buy dog treats?” Evan lips curved upward a little bit as the shopkeeper understood what he wrote.

*Poof*

Evan nods and as if something appeared out of nowhere, the things that Evan wanted to buy appeared on the table as the shopkeeper tell him the price.

“That would be 100 gold for a lifetime supply of dog treats, or you can buy 10 silvers for weekly dog treats” He points out each item on the table regarding the prices and looks.

Evan thinks hard on buying until the shopkeeper with his confident smile tell him something.

“If you pay for 100 gold you will have endless dog treats and not worrying to come purchase one again in a shop” The male with smooth way of speaking, attracted Evan about the part ‘not worrying to come purchase again’

Without a moment’s wasted, Evan nods and decided to purchase that 100-gold worth of dog treats. The shopkeeper smiled and gives him a bag as Evan got a notification.

You’ve Obtained [Bag of Perpetual Dog Treats]

Rarity: Uncommon Description & Effect:   A simple satchel that contains dog treats. Each day, it will produce 1 kg of dog treats, depending on the user the shape & size of the treat can be changed to fit the dog (For example; a big treat shaped like a bone with a weight of 1 kg or smaller treats that is equal in weight). If it is not being taken from the bag, the treat will remain the same weight until it is emptied then the magical effect to produce treats will occur.

 

Evan wrote the work thank you as the shopkeeper smiles and he exited the general store. One goal is in his mind right now and it is to train Umbra and help him grow to become a big fluffy dog.

“As usual! Let’s go to the slime field west of here” Evan cheerfully moved outside of Novitas as he sees the quiet and tranquil place where slimes with myriad of colours roaming about. Ranging from Level 1 green slimes to Level 10 pink slime.

Since Evan is already used to farming in this place, he finds a way where most of the green slime exist upon seeing it is a safe place, he activate a skill “Summon Umbra!!”

*Poof*

Appeared adjacent to him is a small dark blue & white underbelly fur puppy resembling a Siberian husky, his injuries have recovered well as he’s wagging his tail and Evan couldn’t help but stroke the puppy’s head and give him a lot of head pats.

Evan pointed to a green slime as Umbra gives a cute puppy bark against that slime gaining its attention as the creature moves closer.

“Bite!” Evan internally command before realizing that the dog wouldn’t understand but before he try to muster up the courage. The dog seems to move closer to the slime, and immediately bite the creature especially trying to attack their cores.

He’s thankful that his commands can be transmitted through a mere thought rather than voicing it directly. “Maybe its  only the relation between its summoner and summoned beings” Evan thought

*BARK* Umbra seemed to have killed the slime in a single bite.

“Sigh… he’s stronger than me at Level 1” He dejectedly sigh but still happy with Umbra wagging his tail seeing Evan.

*BARK* The puppy running around Evan elicit a chuckled from the male. Evan brought out dog treats for Umbra to eat. Rewarding the little puppy since he’s doing so well.

The man & his dog continue to battle the slimes with Evan fighting the higher levelled slimes for their loot as usual he spent 8 hours farming them with intermittent logging out for breaks in addition to play with Umbra after giving him the treats.

“It seems any creature that got killed by Umbra, their loot is being transferred right to me rather than the ones I killed which I need to pick up” Evan muses about it and quite happy with that effect.

That is a convenient utility to have during farms especially with additional help. Umbra also gain levels upon farming gaining 4 levels worth. The puppy is getting stronger and stronger with attacking other slime colours as well.

“Its getting quite fun farming with Umbra. His tail kept wagging each time for treats and also puppy licks. I also need to find a way to bathe him too” [Evan]

Reaching his goal of 500 gold, Evan stopped hunting and instead continue his vivid imagination of mana with Umbra cuddling beside him. Inside the Forest of Darkness a high-level area near the Slime Field there’s a spot that Evan likes to rest.

“What is mana?” He ponders while laying down.

“If the lore books said mana exist in everything. Wouldn’t the best imagery in mind would be atoms? All is made from atoms after all?” Evan ruminates while gently stroke the puppy’s back and head.

Evan tries to imagine it as it gets clearer and vivid much faster than he had done before. His breathing becomes easier as if he’s inhaling fresh air or higher concentration of oxygen.

*YAWN* The puppy yawns & stretched himself as Umbra slowly fall asleep and multitude of pings ringing through Evan’s head disrupted his way of thought. Opening the status panel, Evan look at what has just happened to him.

His mana sense skill raised to LV5 with the additional INT bonus and several new things such as; Increase maximum MP and addition in MP regen (5 MP per second).

“That’s quite good, I can spam [Magic Arrow] without worrying running out of MP. I wonder when I’ll have my class… Ah yes! I need to explore the library too after this” Reminded by that Evan look to the side.

There he sees Umbra currently sleeping so peacefully as Evan continues to stroke the puppy’s back, its quite realistic that he can feel the soft fluffy fur and the sounds that the puppy makes when sleeping.

The thought of exploring the moving library soon fades away as they enjoy the time together laying down. Since the original plan of going to the dungeon has been delayed, Evan opted to just continue his vivid imagery of mana and maybe some day he’s able to touch it.

“Like clay or threads to be woven together. I might be able to manipulate them if I continue to level up the skill” Evan chimes in with hope in that imagination

The situation is so tranquil that he fell asleep in-game, upon waking up he sees Umbra also yawning and stretching himself. The spot that the pair resides in have no enemies or easily discovered.

“How long have I been asleep?” Groggily looking around, Evan seems to be sluggish from that.

Checking the time, he’s asleep for two hours in-real life as he dismissed Umbra before giving him treats for doing the job well & hoping for him to grow into a big fluffy dog.

The reason why Evan logged out in the city is because they provide a buff whenever you’re online again. Similar to other games, it gives you increase EXP gained buff if you logged out at safe places depending on how long you’re logged out the buff stays for that long as well.

It helps for returning players to catch up, since Evan reached above Level 10 the Slime Field isn’t giving him a lot of EXPs anymore so he’s hoping the buff would help him.

Finding a quiet place without any NPCs or players, Evan converted 500 gold to 50 dollars & finally logged out and came out from the console. Inhaling large amount of breath, Evan felt his breath feels a little bit easier. No doubt its from progressing quite well and grateful that his Slime Field isn’t being taken.

“500 gold per day or even 400 gold per day will reach around 3500 or 2800 per week both options worked well. But it would be a different problem all together if other players start to come into the Slime Field” At this realization, Evan made a note of goals in mind.

He needed to explore the <Moving Library> then he will try to find a way to learn new spells in addition to figure out how to learn crafting skills. That would be a tomorrow thing as his eyes getting a bit sleepy. Evan showered, eat some snack bar, then brushed his teeth before falling asleep.