Abel slowly made his way out of the city’s southern gates, decked out in brand new clothes. He had just gone on a huge shopping spree and was feeling the pain of being broke once more.

The money had barely warmed his virtual pockets before it was spent in a flash. He figured he’d get the ranger profession to boost his damage but without sufficient defense he’d just be setting himself up for failure.

Instead, he purchased some much-needed equipment. He first purchased 20 more loaves of bread along with 30 rolls of bandages, 3 bottles of ointments with 5 uses each as well as 3 minor healing potions for a grand total of 5 silver 80 copper coins.

He then went on to buy leather armor for added defense but it remained light enough to move around without hindrance.

The 3 pieces of equipment wasn’t anything fancy, the boots added +1 to AGI and +2 to defense and cost 1 silver and 30 copper coins. The pants added a little more with +1 to AGI and +5 to defense and he got them for 2 silver coins. The chest piece added the most with +10 to defense but it was also the most expensive at 3 silver coins.

‘At least my defense is no longer just half of my toughness’

Abel let out a sigh and fastened the quiver he got at the training citadel on his back. He had thought it prudent to get other supplies as well, such as a hand-held torch, a flint and a new bag.

He would need another bag to hold his loot and from what he could make out from the quest’s details as well as his prior experience with this monster, the Stone-toothed Rat’s nest seemed to be underground.

After this grand shopping spree, he was left with only 50 copper coins and he was feeling great pain but he knew he couldn’t skimp on these items.

He didn’t look like a level 1 newb at all with a sword at his waist and a bow on his back behind a quiver full of arrows. He got a couple of party invites on his way out of the city which he refused without a second thought.

Fortunately, it was still pretty early in the morning according to Veridia’s time and it was still 4 am on Luminara so not a lot of people were online at the moment.

He trudged his way through the forest and followed the map old man Rye had given him. Thankfully, he didn’t need to read it like a traditional map and it projected an arrow for him to follow into the woods.

He had barely crossed a kilometer before he came across his first monster, a stone-spine squirrel. They looked like their traditional counterparts except for their larger size and the stone spikes jutting out of their spine.

“Inspect”

[Stone-Spine Squirrel]

Level: 5

Attack: 25-28

Defense:8

HP: 180/180

‘No wonder players like hunting these guys, although they have slightly greater attack, their defense and HP are quite low’

Abel’s inspect still couldn’t see much more than the most basic details but that was enough as these low-levelled monsters usually had no skills. He drew out his sword as the monster was already running at him. He didn’t want to waste his arrows on such a weak monster anyway.

-45

-45

With a step back, he swung his sword with a double slash and the monster was already half dead.  The squirrel circled to his side and tried attacking again but got another double slash to the chest, which emptied out it’s HP bar swiftly.

-40

-55

+60 EXP

‘Ah so that’s another reason players love you… such generous EXP! It was so much easier to kill than an umber wolf. Although it was a level higher… but my stat’s and equipment also improved greatly since last night. I’m pretty sure taking on a pack of umber wolves would be easier now.’

A player’s attack value would be the attack stat of the equipment they equipped along with their STR stat and half of their AGI stat. Of course, a critical hit was different, it could ignore all defense and even multiply the damage dealt, like when Abel struck the first umber wolf in the neck last night.

Abel currently had an attack of 52-55 while the monsters defense was a measly 8. For a player, their defense would follow the same pattern as their attack except it added half the toughness alongside their equipment stats. There were probably other stats a player could gain that would further add to offense or defense but Abel didn’t know how to get them without the necessary profession.

Would you like the system to process [Stone-Spine Squirrel]?

Yes/No

‘Yes’ Abel didn’t want to waste time in the forest, besides he figured he’d have plenty of rat carcasses to experiment his skinning on so he got the system to process it for him.

*Ding*

Stone-Spike Squirrel Meat x1

Squirrel Spike x1

‘That’s it…?’

Abel was waiting for something more but it seemed the system would give less loot if the players didn’t process it themselves. Though higher leveled monsters would differ as they might drop weapons or equipment, they might also give body materials that could be used to forge higher grade weapons and armor. The humanoid monsters like goblins, lizardmen, bandits and others would also drop some money but there were no such monsters in the vicinity of Velskryn.

After packing up the little loot in his new bag, Abel carried on his way. He came across a few more Fierce Rabbit’s and another Squirrel which he made quick work of and had the system process. Fortunately, it was barely enough for him to level up.

*Ding*

+ Level Up!

+1 All Stats

+10 Health

+10 Mana

In Faeron, a player would gain +1 to all stats upon leveling up. However, if a person had a profession then depending on their class they would gain more points to specific stats.

For example, magic-oriented classes would gain more intelligence, wisdom and concentration stats with every level up while different physical classes would have points added to their particular specialties. It didn’t matter if you got your profession later on as those stats would be added depending on how many levels you had.

In general, someone with a profession would always have higher stats than someone without. This was one of the reasons why players always flocked to the guilds to pay for a profession as soon as they saved up 10 silver coins. Another reason was the skills you’d gain upon specialization like the weapon mastery passives as well as the access to skill-essence crystals for active skills.

‘Every bit of increase in strength will help, hopefully I can gain a few more levels clearing out this monster nest’

Abel carried on his way and 30 minutes later, he found the entrance to the quest location. It was in a secluded section of the woods, between 2 large trees. The entrance was hidden behind shrubs growing between the 2 trees, it was barely the width of half a carriage but seemed to widen the deeper one went inside.

‘I should try baiting them out and practicing archery. If it doesn’t work or takes too long, then I’ll hide my bow and arrows to have more maneuverability inside’

Having made his decision, Abel took out a piece of Fierce Rabbit meat and tossed it towards the entrance of the nest after picking out a good vantage point. He waited for a few minutes with his arrow nestled in place before he heard a rustling sound.

Whooooosh

-45

MISS

-60

His first shot held true and struck the Stone-toothed Rat head on. The rat had realized there was enemy just beyond its sensing range and screeched in anger, scurrying towards the source. His second shot missed due to the monster’s quick movement but his third arrow struck it again and dealt more damage.

Abel didn’t want to kite the monster further away from the nest so he tossed aside his bow and unsheathed his sword, with a quick slash followed by a stab he had finished off the lone rat.

EXP +25

‘It gives a little less EXP since I’m a level higher now. But it seems I just need to kill 100 of these critters for another level up, I’m quite certain there’s more than 100 of these guys in a nest’

Abel crouched down to start skinning the monster when he heard another rustle and looked up.

‘Damn it! it’s screech seemed to call on more rats’

Having realized he didn’t have anytime to try his hand at skinning, he sheathed his sword and readied his bow. A few seconds later he saw 5 more Stone-toothed Rat’s coming out of their nest.

MISS

MISS

-45

-45

He was barely able to get out a few shots, half of which missed their mark before he had to switch back to his sword again. Compared to the cunning Umber Wolves’, these level 4 monsters didn’t seem to think before they attacked. They would just jump in as soon as they got in range which made it a lot easier for Abel to deal with them.

-50

-45

-2

-2

-55

-100

He got nicked a couple of times due to their smaller size but with his much higher defense, he shrugged off the damage and dealt decisive killing blows to the monster that clung onto his leg. After he reduced their numbers, he easily made quick work of the couple of Rat’s still alive.

*Ding*

+25 EXP

+25 EXP

+25 EXP…

 ‘Although the damage they deal isn’t anything much, it would be a different story if I’m surrounded by dozens of them’

Abel took a look at his HP that was down by 6 points and then paid attention to the monster nest, looking to see if anymore of these critters would show up. Fortunately, it seemed that their screech could only reach so far and there didn’t seem to be any more of them coming.

He crouched down and took out a few loaves of bread. In Faeron, you could pull up your HP with food after your satiety reaches full but the increase was slow and you had to be out of combat for it to take place.

There was no such thing as HP regeneration before a class upgrade and that’s the reason Abel got as much as 20 pieces of black bread on this journey. After maxing his satiety level, he kept eating and downed another 2 loaves of bread before he saw his HP reach full.

He made quick work skinning the monster’s and he failed twice in his attempt but he didn’t mind. He had a lot more attempts to make inside the underground cave.

‘Time to head inside, baiting them out to practice archery is taking too long’

He decided to finally step inside the monster nest after seeing he took 15 minutes to kill 6 monsters. Although it was much faster than the day before, he felt it would be better if he finished his quest as quickly as possible.

He found a suitable bush to hide his bow and arrows along with his current loot and old starter sack. He then took out his torch and lit it up with the flint. He only took his sword and his healing supplies with the new bag.

As he crouched down to enter the monster nest, just as he expected, it got wider but also much darker. Dry, old roots from the plants above seemed to dangle from above his head. When he seemed to cross an invisible threshold, a notification popped up before his eyes.

*Ding*

You have discovered a new dungeon- Stonebinder’s Cavern! Every monster killed within the next 24 hours will give double EXP.

+20 Reputation

‘Of course! I should have guessed it’s a dungeon! Those monsters I lured out might have been the sentry or guards standing outside. Alright it seems I should put aside skinning, at least till I clear out all the monster on the floor.’

Abel was feeling pumped up and made his way forward when the caved seemed to open up. He found several ‘burrows’ on each side and a long, wide corridor that would fit several people side-by-side.

Although slightly confused as to why the rats wouldn’t have just made a large hole as their nest, he figured it was the system setting up the dungeon for players to navigate through.

He walked into the first burrow and came across half a dozen rats mingling around. As soon as they spotted an intruder the all turned to attack at once.

‘There’s more than a dozen rooms on this floor alone I think… I’ll definitely level up quickly!’ with some anticipation, Abel started his killing spree.