EFate: An MMO Story Chapter 41: Showing Off

Confirming that he was prepared to reenter Stillwood Forest, Eric quickly opened his status page to double check.

[Status]
Erick Kystfyr - Level 7
Health: 170/170
Mana: 70/70
t.i.tle: None
Weapon: Fine Yew Longbow (20 Fine Goose-feathered Iron Arrows, 20 Stone)
Common Iron Shortsword
Armour: Leather Padded Armour (Common)
Skills: Basic Magic (Arcane, Fire, Wind)
Basic Martial Arts (Beginner 10)
Militia Spearmanship
Militia Swordsmanship (Apprentice 2)
Basic Archery (Apprentice 6)
Basic Evasion (Apprentice 6)
Basic Herbalism
Basic Speechcraft
Active Skills:
Evasive Shot (Apprentice 2)
Charged Shot (Beginner 7)
Sword Technique - Guard (Beginner 4)
Sword Technique - Dashing Cut (Beginner 1)

The number of skills upon the list had grown considerably since his arrival only the day before. He'd also gained quite a few levels in most of his skills, resulting in a satisfying amount of apprentice ranked skills dotting the list. Confirming that he had indeed replaced his damaged armour with shiny new leather armour, and that his quiver of arrows had been replenished, he closed the status page. Heading towards the now familiar Northern gate.

As he pa.s.sed through the narrow village streets he called up his quest log to see which quests remained now that he'd turned in the two militia quests.
[Quest Log]
Hunt monsters in the vicinity of Tonbura Village.
Reward: Increased favour with village residents. Pay based on monsters killed. Possibility to earn skills if degree of completion is high enough.
Learn Magic from Lucy Morningstar, the village mage.
Reward: New spells. Chance of increased favourability with Lucy. ???
Visit the Mage Academy in Filoketh.
Reward: Possible admission to the Mage Academy.
Investigate the recent monster resurgence. Discover what the goblin forward camp is up to.
Reward: ???

For the most part, his quest log was the exact same as it had been before he'd gone off and saved Owin. The quest to purchase a better weapon from Tom had disappeared, presumably after he'd purchased one from Craig. Or perhaps after he'd acquired the sword from Wylls corpse. It seemed to have been replaced by a quest to learn magic from Lucy, although interestingly enough it seemed that he wasn't guaranteed to increase his favourability with her if he completed the quest like he had been with other quest givers. Eric grinned, it seemed silver was not the path to Morningstar's heart. Although it had been to Tom apparently.
The other big change was his final quest, to investigate the monster resurgence. Unlike before, there was now a specific direction to take. He needed to investigate the goblins, which most likely meant killing goblins, which meant skill levels. The perfect quest for a gamer looking to level up. Closing his quest list, Eric pa.s.sed through the northern gate, headed for the clearing where he'd met Owin.

Nodding to the guard who gave him a half-hearted wave, nodding off in the midday sun as he was, Eric strode towards the forest, intent on exploring even deeper than he had the day before. Although he hadn't heard the full story from Owin, it wasn't hard to deduce that the man was no simple militia scout. Instead it seemed that he was actually a member of the Kingdom's scout corps, most likely tasked with the same quest that had marked Eric's quest log for days now, to investigate the monster resurgence.
Since Owin had fled south after being saved by Eric, it made sense that he'd come from the north. This meant that the goblins who'd pursued him all the way up to their untimely deaths at the hands of Eric and Tamira's party had also come from the north, further north than the clearing where he'd slain the elite wolf.
All of this was to say that the plan for today's excursion was simply to travel north until he encountered goblins. As long as he maintained the element of surprise and didn't engage groups larger than three, he thought he had a fairly good shot at handling goblins. Or at least he hoped he did, Eric thought to himself nervously, using dashing cut to slay a red-maned wolf that was barring his path.
With a yelp the wolf died, Eric's sword leaving it no room for retreat. Harvesting the loot, Eric dismissed the skill level up notification as he continued north, the trees gradually giving way to more and more rock formations as he made his way through the woods.
Clambering over a particularly large boulder that had fallen onto the path he was following, Eric was greeted by the sight of an equally surprised player coming from the other direction. With a startled cry, Eric lost his grip on the rock, falling several feet to the ground below. The player above seemed to have met with a similar fate, as their face disappeared and an identical cry to Eric's own was heard from the other side of the rock.
Getting to his feet, Eric cautiously climbed back over the crest of the boulder, his sword drawn in case the other player was hostile. To his surprise, the player was still sprawled out on the ground below, being supported by a second figure that Eric had not seen at first. As he watched the second figure helped the first to her feet, glaring up at Eric.
"Oi you! What do you think you're doing? Pushing people off cliffs like that! She could have been hurt!" cried the second figure indignantly. Eric rolled his eyes at this. The fall was at most two meters. Even if the other player had hit her head on a rock, she'd be fine after the stunned status wore off. Deciding against p.i.s.sing off the two player party that outnumbered him Eric responded, "Sorry, I didn't push her. We both arrived at the top at the same time. I was startled and fell off, I'd imagine it was the same for her."
"Yeah it was. He didn't push me Turk. Ugh my head," the first player murmured, clutching her head as she did so. His expression softening, the second player knelt down next to her, "You sure you're okay, Aria? I think I've got a health potion around here somewhere."
"No I'm good, it's just a stunned effect. I think I hit my head on the rock as I fell."
As the two conversed, Eric got a better look at them. The first player was a girl, maybe a bit older than him with dark brown hair that fell halfway down her back, spilling out of the hood she'd been wearing when they'd first met roughly twenty seconds ago. Her ears indicated that she was an elf, with the tapered features and slim form that the elven race conferred upon players. Her eyes were a deep gray, although she kept scrunching them closed and shaking her head cutely. A long staff lay on the ground next to her, in any other game Eric would have said she was a mage because of this. But so far he had yet to see any staves that doubled as wands in Fate.
Scanning the rest of her body, he found a pair of daggers at her waist, and a quiver of arrows hidden along her thigh. She was well equipped, he thought with surprise. Even her armour was made of leather, with a telltale reddish tint to it. Red-maned wolf armour? Eric wondered as he continued to observe the woman, she looked fairly short, even with her sitting down on the ground Eric estimated that she couldn't be more than five and a half feet tall. And that was a generous estimate he thought, moving his gaze to her companion.
Her companion was quite a bit taller, standing above six feet tall with a thin, lanky build. A large wooden shield was held in his left hand, while a sheathed shortsword could be seen at his waist. As he stood up, helping Aria to her feet, Eric got a better look at the man's face. He was fairly handsome, with a strong jaw and determined looking blue eyes. Blue eyes that were now once again glaring up at him. It must be a talent to be able to anger nearly 100% of the players he'd interacted with so far in Fate, Eric thought sadly.
"Sorry. I was just heading north, I didn't expect to run into anyone while I climbed over the boulder," Eric tried to explain. The man seemed to accept this, though his gaze remained hard. The mage on the other hand had finished dusting herself off and was now gazing cheerfully up at him. Slightly confused by her happiness at being pushed off the rock Eric piped up once more, "So where are you two off to?"
"I'm Aria and this is Turk. We were headed north to fight goblins. But there's just too many, so we were looking for another player to join our party. Would you like to join?" inquired the lady. Her companion stood there with a grimace that told Eric he wasn't happy with his companion's decision to invite him, but wouldn't stop her either.
"I'm Kyp. But before that. Why me? You only just met me. Plus I am the reason you have a twig in your hair right now. Even if it was an accident," Eric asked. With a slightly fl.u.s.tered look Aria quickly ran her hands through her hair, brushing the offending branch out of her locks. Looking back up at Eric she smiled.
"Well you don't seem like the type to backstab us for our stuff. And it's way better to recruit you here than to have to trek all the way back to Vindammer Town and look for a party member there," she explained.
"How do you know I'm any good? What if I suck and you guys die because of me?" Eric pressed.
"Well for one you're out here. Most of the players we've encountered struggle with wolves in a party. But you're solo and pretty far north. That means you're either really good. Or really lucky. And either works with me. Also you're wearing leather armour and you've got some fairly nice weapons. It's not exactly rocket science to see that you've been pretty successful so far," Aria deduced. Eric nodded at this, her a.n.a.lysis was all on point. Plus it would be pretty helpful to have a party when fighting goblins.
"Alright I accept. But don't blame me if we die," Eric joked, clambering over the boulder and jumping down to land lightly next to the pair. Turk tensed slightly, his hand twitching towards his shortsword. But a stern look from Aria caused him to abandon the notion, simply watching warily as Eric stood up and brushed the dirt and dust off his leathers.
"So. Where to?" asked Eric, looking at the pair.
"We encountered some goblins to the north. They're wandering around in groups of five. With occasional pairs that can be found wandering further south," Turk explained.
"We've been hunting the pairs we can find, but it's dangerous as they can flee north and alert a larger group," Aria added.
"And you think that the three of us should be enough to deal with a group of five goblins?"
Aria and Turk looked at each other, "Provided you can do your part I think we stand a good chance," Turk responded evenly. Aria nodded her agreement, "I don't mean to brag. But Turk's pretty strong. And I'm not bad myself. As long as you can kill at least one goblin or even just keep it occupied then we should be able to handle the five-goblin squads."
"Of course, we're not going to just bring you in and fight a squad of five right away. We'll see how you fare against a group of two first. Then if you do okay we'll let you join. Sound good?" stated Turk. His tone making it clear that Eric's opinion on the matter didn't actually hold any weight.
Eric grinned, "Sounds fine to me. Let's do this."

Reversing direction, the group began to travel north, chatting along the way. It turned out that Turk and Aria were actually childhood friends who were going to the same university. They'd both managed to start in the same town and had thus been able to level up faster than most of the solo players could manage.
Probing a little, Eric discovered that Turk was playing as a fighter, focusing on defense to provide cover for Aria who, just like he had suspected, was indeed a mage.
"I got this staff as a reward for a quest we did earlier. One of the mages from Vindammer town took my wand and combined it with a stave to create a staff that also works as a wand. It lets me defend myself while also casting spells," said Aria, a hint of pride in her voice as she showcased her staff's ability to cast spells, an arcane bolt shooting forth from the tip of the staff. Turk just sighed at this, it seemed he was used to Aria's willingness to give away her party's secrets.
As Turk pushed his way through an overhanging branch he suddenly dropped to a crouch, motioning for Eric and Aria to be silent. Mimicking Turk, Eric dropped into a crouch and crept towards the brush. Peeking through the foliage he spied a pair of goblins walking along a game trail. Both goblins had weapons drawn, observing their surroundings warily as they pa.s.sed.
"Those two are yours," Turk whispered. Eric nodded, drawing his sword and casting a wind blade. As the runes completed, his palm glowing a brilliant white as the wind mana wrapped around his hand, he burst forward from the brush, firing the wind blade towards the foremost goblin.
Reacting to his sudden appearance the goblin raised it's saber, but the wind blade pa.s.sed through it's blade, slamming into it and sending it stumbling backwards into it's companion who made an angry sound, attempting to push its partner away as the two entangled together.
Giving them no time to recover Eric activated dashing cut, darting towards the pair, he covered the ten meter distance between them in an instant. As he reached the one meter mark he jumped up, his front leg lancing out and catching the still off balance lead goblin in the chest, knocking it off its feet as the full weight of his body slammed into the diminutive creature.
Landing heavily, Eric swayed backwards to avoid the cut from the second goblin, his own blade lashing out to catch the goblin in the shoulder. With an angry hiss the goblin attempted to bring it's saber around in another slash but Eric didn't give it the chance, sliding his foot inwards and burying his fist in its snout. With an agonized cry the goblin flew backwards, skidding several feet along the ground as blood streamed from it's newly broken nose.
Preparing a second wind blade, Eric leisurely fired it at the first goblin which was only just struggling to its feet. With a shriek it collapsed, blood flowing from an enormous cut running down it's side. Confirming that it was dead, Eric strode forward, kicking the second goblin's saber aside and burying his blade in it's throat, with a quick twist the goblin's remaining health vanished, the goblin's hand dropping powerlessly to the side as death overcame it.
With that the fight was over, despite the number of moves Eric had made, the entire fight had taken less than ten seconds from the moment he'd fired the first wind blade to him burying his sword in the throat of the second goblin.
"You guys can come out now," Eric called out, bending down to loot the second goblin. It's saber and armour disappearing inside his storage pouch. Looking up, the sight he saw almost made him burst out laughing. Aria's jaw hung open, while Turk looked like someone had just force fed him a rancid lemon.
"What's with the faces? I thought you guys wanted me to kill the goblins," teased Eric, looking from Aria to Turk and back. Shaking her head Aria looked at him again, her eyes now sparkling, "That. Was. Awesome! Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
"I did martial arts for years. I just combined martial arts with magic to overwhelm a pair of weaker opponents. It wouldn't be anywhere near as easy against someone the same height," Eric explained.
Turk sighed, "Well it looks like you pa.s.sed. And with flying colours too I might add," he said, smiling wryly at the scene of carnage.
"It looks like we should be able to hunt the five goblin squads just fine eh Turk?" Aria said with a smile that said I told you so. Turk laughed, "Looks like it. Alright Kyp, you're in. Ready to hunt some goblins?"
"Let's go. It's goblin hunting time," Eric responded with a feral grin.