Chapter 8
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Unusually for Debbie, she slept in on Monday morning. She was awoken about 9.30am by Claire loudly slamming the front door as she left for college. “Bitch!” Thought Deb, as she rolled over in bed and reached for her phone. A second unusual event for a morning, she had a message!

“What time u training tmo? There is a newb I want u to meet.”

It was from Kahlil. He'd said something about getting a training group together, maybe this was part of that?

“Not sure yet. Hurt bicep, will msg you l8r.”

Deb put her phone back on the bedside table. She peeled off her lime green nightshirt, dropping it into her laundry basket, would need to do a load later, and stepped into the shower. After quickly washing herself, she switched the temperature to cold and used the shower head to massage her sore arm. The chilly needles of water hammered against the taut skin of her bicep, and gradually eased some of the discomfort.

After dressing, and putting a tubigrip bandage on her arm, she sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and saw there was a letter waiting for her. It was from her university asking if she would be attending graduation, and if so how many tickets did she want? She'd speak to Dad and Claire later. Did she even want to go?

One thing Debbie really wanted to do, was another mission. She'd enjoyed the thrill of the last one, and now she desperately wanted to level up! She didn't dare do another one until her arm felt better though. She thought that hitting something with her mace right now would only make it worse. With a sigh, she brought up her status screen.

Debbie (Citizen)

Level 0

Experience (XP) 35/50

Intelligence 11

Strength 14

Stamina 11

Agility / Dexterity 12

Health 34/40 (regenerating)

Skills: Sudden Strike level 1.

Items:

Basic Clothing.

Backpack

Glow Ring

Mace

2 Silver, 3 copper.

Deb's arm had healed by two points since she finished her last mission. It would probably be another couple of days until it was completely fixed. On a whim she checked the online store to see what was available, immediately she saw the answer to her problem!

There was a “Minor Potion of Healing” for sale for 5 copper coins. It would immediately heal ten points of damage! She bought it right then, and clicked the “use” button next to it on the status screen. She felt a wave of warmth and calmness flow through her for a moment. It was like the best hug she'd ever had! She gave her arm an experimental flex, it felt fine. Her status screen showed her health back at 40/40. Amazing! Could she buy a few of these, and use them if she ever got sick? Worth thinking about.

Debbie quickly loaded the dishwasher, then the washing machine, getting them both going before she went up to her room, lay on her bed, and looked for a mission.

Option 1. Escort two carts full of produce from South Otten, to the marketplace in Great Otten where they will be sold. Danger: Slight, Reward 20xp, 1 Silver Coin.

Option 2. There are reports of villagers in Green Hills being possessed by evil spirits. Identify, and eliminate, those affected. Danger: High, Reward 40xp, 3 Silver Coins

At first glance, the second option was a big fat Nope! Guaranteed combat against an unknown number of “evil spirits” seemed a bit risky, even to Deb, especially as she could get enough experience to level up by watching over a couple cart loads of cabbages or whatever!

She felt herself falling, and then Debbie found herself standing outside of a large barn. To her left were two large u-shaped carts, the first appeared to be loaded with something similar to potatoes, the second with (you've guessed it!) cabbages. There was a large iron pole nearby, with several glass lanterns hanging from it, providing far more light than you would expect. A teenage boy in overalls was hitching a horse up to the cabbage cart.

“Now then girl, it's a simple job. The market opens at first light, and it will take about an hour to get there, plus some time to get organised when we arrive. I'll be riding on the first cart, you ride on the second. If anything is going to attack us, it will be just before we get to the bridge, about halfway. There are trees on both sides of the road there, so keep your mace in your hand when we go through that bit.”

The farmer who was addressing her was wearing clean clothes! He was also wearing a shiny metal chest plate, and carrying a menacing looking sword. He'd clearly done this before a few times. She felt better knowing that if anything happened, he would be on her side!

Moments later, she was sitting on the back of the cabbage cart, as it followed the first cart down the bumpy path. Although it was dark, Deb had slipped her glow ring on, and was keeping an eye out for anything approaching them from behind. As time went by, fields gave way to trees, and then they were slowing down as they approached the bridge. Debbie's hand clutched at the handle of her mace, and her eyes darted from side to side as she sought out a threat.

They crossed the bridge without incident, and were soon bumping along again. Deb now knew that the smell of cabbage would be with her for days to come, she hoped she wouldn't take the stench back with her! This side of the river had far less vegetation close to the road, and there were occasional small houses dotted along the road. She was feeling sleepy from the rocking of the cart by this point, and if it were not for the periodic jolt when one of the wheels hit a rock or a hole in the road, she'd have nodded off.

Finally, they came to a stop. The horse pulling the cart let loose a large grassy fart. Deb looked around and saw they were in a large open area. There were several voices in the distance, and she could make out another half a dozen carts, parked in a rough semicircle.

Deb hopped down from the board she was riding on, and looked for the farmer.

“That was easy!” she called out, as he started walking towards her.

“Yep! I wasn't expecting trouble, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Thanks for your help!”

Mission Complete! Reward 20xp, 1 Silver

Level Up!

Features Unlocked!

Debbie felt herself falling, and was back on her bed with her Johnny Depp poster staring across the room at her. She couldn't believe her luck! That had to be the easiest mission ever! Deb pulled up her status screen to see what had changed.

Debbie (Citizen)

Level 1 (Can distribute 3 upgrade points)

Experience (XP) 5/60

Intelligence 11

Strength 14

Stamina 11

Agility / Dexterity 12

Luck 12 (new unlock!)

Charisma 11 (new unlock!)

Health 40/40

Skills: Sudden Strike level 1.

Items:

Basic Clothing.

Backpack

Glow Ring

Mace

2 Silver, 8 copper.

Her first reaction was excitement that she had some points to allocate, then even more excitement when she noticed the two new categories! It was obvious what a luck skill would affect, and she knew that her Charisma skill would help influence how people would react to her upon first meeting her. It would also help with things like bartering, with a high charisma skill meaning she'd be able to get a better deal when buying or selling for example.

Now how to spend her three points? Should she go for a balanced approach, or concentrate on her best attributes? Right now, she didn't know exactly which path she was going to take, and it was still early days. She decided to go with a balanced approach, putting one point each into Intelligence, Stamina and Charisma, her three weakest attributes, slightly improving them all. After putting a point into her Stamina, she noticed her maximum health improved by two points, very interesting!

To level up again would take sixty points, rather than the fifty she needed for the first level, but she had 5xp already, so it probably wouldn't take long. Debbie could feel deep down that she could become very powerful if she played things right.

It was an exciting feeling.

The next thing Debbie did was check the shop to see if there were any interesting items available. She was shocked to see that instead of the handful of (mostly) useless items that were on sale previously, now there were several sub-menus, such as “Clothing” “Weapons” and “Jewellery” with around a dozen items in each menu! It seemed like Debbie had finished a “tutorial”, and now had full access to the game world.

What about missions? Deb pulled up the Training section and had yet another surprise. There was now an option to enter the Gameworld at any time, without being in a mission! The only restriction being, that she had to have already visited a place beforehand.

Debbie had a lot to think about! At that moment there was a sound of a key in the front door downstairs. She got to the foot of the stairs just as her father walked in, he'd left work a little early today, a good sign. He gave Deb a warm hug.

“Hi Love, put the kettle on Sweety! Oh, and open the window while you are there, it smells of cabbage in here!”

DEBBIE'S ATTRIBUTES:

Debbie (Citizen)

Level 1

Experience (XP) 5/60

Intelligence 12

Strength 14

Stamina 12

Agility / Dexterity 12

Luck 12 (new unlock!)

Charisma 12 (new unlock!)

Health 42/42

Skills: Sudden Strike level 1.

Items:

Basic Clothing.

Backpack

Glow Ring

Mace

2 Silver, 8 copper.

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