Farming For Gold 6 Chapter 5

Winston awoke on Sat.u.r.day morning to his face hitting the short-carpet of his room. He panicked slightly as his consciousness came back to him. He didn't know where he was or why his body was in such a weird position. Morning light was streaming into his room through the window on the east side of his room. While someone large stood over his p.r.o.ne form. His panic grew for one fraction of second before he recognized Josh and he finally woke up enough to figure out was going on.

"Wake up little bro!" Josh called cheerfully. "The sun is up and adventure awaits!"

"Common seriously?" Winston groaned. He felt like s.h.i.t and did not have the mental const.i.tution necessary to deal with his brother this morning. His muscles all seemed to have turned into old knotted wood and he was wondering if he was physically capable of getting up.

"Get up, seriously. I've seen you shuffling around like an old man since you started playing. You're not used to real exercise and you're sending your body into a tailspin. Exercise is good and I'm glad you're finally doing some real work, but the exercise itself is only a part of an exercise program. You're pounding the h.e.l.l outta your body but you gotta take care of it too. So get your a.s.s up." He said, giving Winston a soft kick.

Winston gave a half-hearted swat at his obnoxious brother but 15 minutes later he was standing on the front porch in jogging clothes and shivering slightly in the cool morning air. Josh stood beside him in a tight under armor long-sleeve shirt that showed his rippling muscles to good advantage. He would probably cause car crashes for the old ladies heading to the post office this morning.

"Step one; stretching." Josh said, bending over and grabbing both his feet with almost no effort. Winston rolled his eyes. "Get your a.s.s stretching, you need to unknot your muscles." Josh said without even glancing up at his brother. .

"I'm not really down for a.s.s stretching. I mean that's cool if you're into that but I'll take a pa.s.s ." Winston said, sounding mock horrified.

"Stop stalling and stretch." Josh snapped. Winston looked down at him for another moment, then sighed and tried to touch his own toes. It did not go well. His hands barely made it down past his knees. "Oh for the love of G.o.d you can do better than that. Push yourself it'll make your muscles feel better."

Winston scowled but obeyed. His muscles pulling and heating up as he tried to bend over farther. He stayed like that for a thirty count before changing to a new stretch and then another. He and Josh stayed like that for a few minutes, both standing on the porch in the morning chill as the sleepy little town came awake around them. Then Josh put them into a light jog.

"So what have you been doing that you look like such a mess. I mean I've started playing some with some guys on the football team, and it's a bit of a workout when you're in combat but nothing like what you've been doing apparently." Josh asked curiously, having no trouble holding a conversation while jogging. Winston wasn't doing nearly as well but he managed to at least keep us his end through his puffing lungs.

"Farming." Winston gasped out. He was already breathing hard and his legs were hurting, but the slow speed seemed to be loosening up his body.

"Farming? I've been farming with the guys that's mostly a few seconds of chaos followed by minutes of wandering around not doing much." Josh said. "So why do you look like you've run a marathon carrying a baby rhino on your back."

"I don't mean…. Farming mobs… I mean farming, farming... as in amber waves of grain." Winston panted as they jogged up a nearby hill. A few people were already out and about, watering flowers or doing other yard work.

"And that's somehow turned you into such a mess." Josh asked incredulously. "I mean I knew you were pretty outta shape but d.a.m.n man."

"Have you ever tried to farm? Without modern machines.... No rototiller, no combines, or even modern tools. I had to clear nearly an acre of weeds and tall gra.s.ses with a scythe and my bare hands, I had to dig nearly an acre of ground with a hoe and my f-ing claws. I had to pull weeds, pick up and carry stones and dig. It was terrible and I'm going to have to log back in after breakfast and do it all over again." Winston snapped.

"Alright, dude simmer down." Josh laughed good naturedly as he plodded along without effort. "So why are playing dirt farmer instead of kicking goblin a.s.s." Josh asked his brother.

"It's my job. Mom and Dad still won't let me get a real job in the RL. I've been asking since I turned sixteen, so I sorta did an end-around, to use one of your meat-head football a.n.a.logies." Winston said as he plodded along. His breath actually seemed to be coming easier now. They were only jogging a little faster than a walk and this really did seem to be helping his body. That didn't make him feel any better about being yanked outta bed though.

Josh gave one of his hearty laughs. "That's why I always envied you a little Winston. Dad always spoiled me. h.e.l.l I always knew that but you always managed without them. I'd get bought a new computer, than you'd managed to build one of your own by yourself. Dad buys me a bike when were kids, and you manage to get one from a yard-sale with your own money. You've always been like that. Self-reliant in a way I've never been." Winston just shrugged at his older brother.

"Ya do whatcha gotta do." He said with an uncomfortable shrug. "This is getting a little to k.u.mbaya for me." He said as he slapped his brothers chest with the back of a hand. The two rounded the corner on the way back to their house. "Let's get inside before Mrs. Winkler has a heart attack ogling you." Winston said. The boys turned to see their sixty-year old neighbor watching them from across the street. Josh gave a smile and waved at the older woman and Winston was pretty sure he could hear her heart palpitating from from the middle of the street. Josh laughed as they jogged into their front yard.

Josh cooked breakfast for them both, watching Winston like a hawk as he forced his brother to eat, eggs, sausage, and milk, along with some onions, peppers, and other green things Winston didn't know the name of. Winston drank Orange juice as Josh waxed poetic about protein and Omega 3's or some c.r.a.p. Winston argued briefly about all the meat, but his brother just waved him off.

It was nearly ten before Winston actually got to logged into Otherworld again. In game it was overcast and misting slightly at the keep, not a true rain but just enough to make the day miserable. The dark grey clouds above the gray keep, and miserable rocky wasteland surrounding the keep made everything look even more miserable. Rimmi was already working as usual, and Winston quickly joined him They nodded to each other as they both toiled in their own fields.

Winston cycled his field once more. He harvested the wheat that had grown over the last 12 hours, then turned the soil and replanted, adding another few bushels of grain to the chest in the shed and updating his quest. Now he had all day to waste and Winston was excited to finally get things done. Although he hadn't quite decided what those things were. Getting levels would be a good option but this wasn't a noob zone. Noob zones had level caps for mobs and had high concentrations of low level mobs to help users level up. Normal zones sp.a.w.ned monsters based mostly on the level of the players in the zone.

A zone like this one, so far from for denser players populations would be a wild west. Winston might climb over the walls of the keep and find a level four badger ten steps from the walls or he might find a level forty ogre. Levels weren't the be-all end-all in Otherworld and leveling was much slower than in most games.

Even three years after launch the top players were only around level seventy. Skills ranks played as much as, or an even bigger role in the game than levels. The highest skill rank belonged to a dwarven blacksmith that had apparently been playing since launch day. He'd made it to Renowned IV. That meant he still had 11 ranks to max out the skill and at high levels the last 11 ranks would take another couple years at least.

Winston absently rubbed his whiskers. It was a habit he'd picked up the last couple of days without really noticing when he'd started. He decided to focus on upping his stats and unlocking a few basic skills. He decided to start with magic. Magic was primarily handled by the resonance stat, which dictated a player's mana pool. Players started with 0 mana and could only get mana by unlocking the meditation skill. Apparently, the game company never told players how to do it and only a handful of people figured it on their own before someone finally posted it on a wiki.

Lucky, now all you had to do was sit on the ground and blank your mind a bit. Sitting was actually fairly awkward for Winston. His body was not made for sitting. He started in sort of a weird lean as he tried to balance himself around his short legs and ma.s.sive stomach. That failed as he kept having to re-right himself. Eventually he gave up and just ended up flat on his back with his eyes closed as he concentrated on his breathing and felt the world around him.

[Blip]

[You Have Unlocked Meditation!]

[You Have Gained + 10 Maximum Mana!]

[Current Rank: Novice I]

[Meditation]

[This skill is unlocked when a character makes a mental effort to clear their mind and connect with the world around them. Increases a character's mana regeneration when meditating. This skill will gain mastery as a player meditates.]

Winston had to roll over onto his stomach to stand back up. His fat belly made him feel oddly like a turtle. He really, really needed to get some stats and trim down a bit. He rolled back to his feet and turned his senses inward. He'd done enough reading online to know what to expect but the sensation of gaining mana was an odd one. He could feel it in his chest, like a pool of warmth and took a few seconds to manipulate it based on what he'd read. Pushing it out of himself, then turning it into fire, water, earth and air. Unlocking elemental magic, mana manipulation and all four elements in about two minutes.

Winston waved away all messages. In Otherworld there was no limit to the number of skills someone could learn. Someone could learn every single skill in the game if they wanted. The key was the skill system. Winston was pretty sure he had it down, but decided to bring up the game's actual help and double-check everything.

[Skills System]

[The skill system in Otherworld offers an unmatched level of customization and depth. A player unlocks a skill by completing a hidden objective through combat, crafting, diplomacy, or exploration. These skills fall into one of five basic categories, combat, magic, faith, general, and crafting. After a skill is unlocked a player will gain experience in a skill through use. Finding new and creative uses for a skill will give you a large skill experience boost. There are ten skill ranks ranging from Novice to Legend. These ranks are then subdivided into five sub-ranks.

At level 10 a player will receive one primary and three secondary skill points. A primary skill unlocks a skill to rise as high as a player wishes. A secondary skill allows a skill to rise, but to a maximum value of 3/4 the rank of any primary skills in that grouping. If there are no Primary skills in a particular group, then a secondary skill is capped at 3/4 of your lowest primary skill. Secondary skill caps will only become active once a skill advances to Apprentice I. For example If a player was to select One Hand Weapons as a Primary Skill and Heavy Armor as a Secondary skill. When One Hand Weapons reaches Apprentice I that would cap Heavy Armor at Beginner III.

A player may receive additional skill points as quest rewards, achievements, cla.s.s bonuses, or in other ways. If a secondary skill is made into a primary skill the secondary skill point will be refunded. Be careful. All skill choices become permanent once confirmed.]

[Sub-Skill Specialization]

[Some skills have a number of sub-skills. These sub-skills have levels independent from the main skill, but large amounts of the XP gained in a sub-skill will be shared with it's parent skill.

A player may, if he or she chooses, select a specialization. This gives the player a bonus to a particular sub-skill but will limit a player's advancement in the other aspects of the parent skill.

For example a player who chooses to specialize in fire magic, will suffer penalties in water magic in exchange for bonuses in fire. ]

Winston read quickly, taking it all in and nodding. It was pretty much what he'd suspected although the specialization options were interesting. He wondered briefly what bonuses a person might gain from specializing in a particular sub-skill of farming. He sorted through his menu until get got a virtual web-page to open. It was a premium feature to access a web-page in game, but the Swords had already picked up that bill.

Winston sorted through information and found none about farming, not really surprising. There were very few people who'd ever messed with farming, and those who had weren't telling. On the other hand information about magic and weapons was everywhere, especially the basic and mid level stuff. Only the top level players really hid things.. Winston was going to bring up the G.o.ds page and starting looking for a G.o.d of agriculture but he was board. He'd been playing for days and had done nothing at all interesting. Winston considered options for about two seconds, then picked up his scythe, shoved it in his pack, walked over to the wall surrounding the keep and climbed over it.

Otherworld punished death in two ways. A player who died dropped a percentage of their gold and resources and lost a level if they were over 10. Winston had no levels, no gold, and no resources, he wasn't particularly worried, even horrible death would cost him little since he'd resp.a.w.n inside the keep.

The wall was uneven and rough, making climbing easy. He managed to hoist his bulk up over the wall. The land surrounding the keep was as bleak. The land and soil was rocky with small twisted trees and thick dry gra.s.ses. A cool breeze blew down from the nearby mountains. The land was split by a river that ran west down from the mountains and pa.s.sed by the keep about a mile from where he stood. The entire zone was cold, dry, and not terribly hospitable.

Winston waddled forward crunching the dry gra.s.ses under his feet as he walked over uneven rocks and dry soil. This whole area was dry even with the falling mist and Winston realized he'd need to do some irrigation if he was going to keep farming here. He might need to look into water magic. He couldn't really imagine how a large-scale irrigation project would work without magic, maybe some sort of enchanted object that would keep drawing water until it's charge ran out?

Winston leaned over and scooped up a handful of the dry dirt, kicking a rock out of the way with one of his stubby legs. He concentrated on his newly unlocked mana and tried to summon up some water. Magic in Otherworld was a bit of a process. There was a lot of concentration and visualization involved. You had to take your mana and pull it out of your personal store then flavor it. There were many such flavors. You could push it into wizard runes, witch circles, form it into elemental mana, infuse it into music, use it to bind spirits or souls, all sorts of things. Each of these methods had its own skill that a player could focus on. Most of those skills players had already discovered and posted the process online, but Nexus swore there were branches of magic that no user had yet discovered.

Winston used the simplest application of water magic. A small stream of water dripped from his finger with the force of a half-clogged kitchen tap. A bead of sweat ran down his face even as water poured over the small chunk of soil. Winston was staring at the soil in his hand as he walked, which is why he didn't notice the danger until he literally walked into it.

Winston hit something hard and fell backwards onto his well padded b.u.t.t. He blinked up at the figure looming over him in a truly mole-like fashion, eyes blinking at the sun behind the large shape. The creature was large, muscular, green, and looking very p.i.s.sed off. It had a flattened ugly face, with large tusks pushing up out of it's lower jaw. It wore a rough-leather cuira.s.s and gripped a ma.s.sive two-handed axe. It wasn't just some rough-made wild orc weapon either. It was awesome, polished to perfection,and inlaid with engravings and runes. That meant this wasn't some chump orc, this was an elite, or even a war-leader and it's level had to be way larger than Winston's level 1.

The orc reached out a huge hand and grabbed ahold of Winston's head. It shook Winston hard, making his teeth rattle as it spoke in a guttural and heavily accented voice. "Little mole... left wall, unwise." He said said shaking Winston again. Great, he'd been gone all of two minuets and he was already about to die. Winston looked up at the orc and ideas flashed through his mind. He could fight, that would be death. He could run, with his terrible speed that would also be death. He searched frantically for something that might help, found nothing, then decided to try something stupid.

"That's what I kept telling her!" Winston said angrily. "She's the one that wanted to make a deal and I TOLD her that she had to come to me but no!!!!! She makes me come out here and I get picked up not a quarter mile from the keep." Winston ranted angrily. He had no idea what he was saying but he was turning up his bulls.h.i.t meter to 11. He just knew that he had to keep talking or he was going to die. The more outrageous the lie, the more people believed it.

The orc looked confused but Winston had to clamp down on his terror as a few more orcs moved to encircle him. "Who she? What deal?" The orc asked looking confused. Winston's mind frantically tried to come up with an adequate lie but the orc shook him again. Winston almost pa.s.sed out from fear but then he remembered this was a game. His face instantly turned hard and he looked up at the orc unimpressed.

"Easy….." He said trying to break the orcs hold with a disdainful look. "You guys are the ones that invited me… If you didn't wanna trade then tell Helga the deal's off." Winston said, frantically trying to manufacture some sort of bull s.h.i.t story as he tried to keep a look of righteous outrage on his face.

"Helga?" The orc said looking confused but more angry now. Winston waved his arms as if was too impatient to bother with names.

"Helga, Olga, something like that." Winston said waving his arms and more than a little surprised he wasn't dead yet. The key to telling a good lie was to provide a framework and let your mark fill in the details themselves. He'd once been caught in possession of a particular book of cartoons that was not appropriate for young readers. After his terrible lie and the resulting grounding he'd done some reading online on how to lie better. It wasn't a skill he really used all the much. He wasn't a good liar, especially in real life but here… what did it really matter anyway?

"Ol'gar? Know Ol'gar?" The orc asked again his anger bleeding away into incredulity. Winston nearly broke into laughter then but kept it lodged in his throat as he kept his face stern.

[Blip]

[You Have Learned Deception]

[Current Rank: Novice I]

Winston pointed at the orc. "Ol'gar that's the one." Winston said nodding, as if his brain had just been jogged. "She said she wanted to talk to me but if not that's cool. I can just walk on back to the keep." Winston said, turning around and walking back towards safety. He made it about one step before the blade of the orc's axe was resting against his neck.

"You stay. See Ol'gar. Talk deal." The orc said calmly. Winston swallowed heavily as he pondered options. Going with the orc had about a 99% chance of him dying, then again not going had a 100% chance of him dying. He had wanted an adventure.

"Alright, if you insist." Winston said, trying to seem nonchalant. The orc grabbed a fistful of his short fur and jerked him around, before pushing him forward to the south-west away from the keep. Winston walked. The brush thickened as they moved farther from civilization and into the wilds. Winston tried to strike up another conversation but the orcs weren't having it. They just prodded his body with their weapons and kept driving him forward.

Winston went along with them, not seeing any other feasible option. He'd heard stories about how life-like NPC's were in Otherworld but it was something you couldn't understand until you'd seen it. These orcs were ridiculously expressive in all their movements and Winston tried to study them as they walked. Their gear was good and they moved like they knew what they were doing. All at least level thirty if Winston had a guess.

As they walked, Winston started to get worried. They'd been walking for a while and Winston was on a bit of a schedule. He'd need to eat dinner at some point. Besides, he still needed to get back to the keep, although he should still have another five hours or so before the wheat was ready. He'd need a couple hours at least to get back.

They finally reached the orc village a good three hours after Winston had left. The village was a scattered grouping of squat hovels made of animal furs stretched out over short stone walls. A few orcs seemed to be milling around but there were only a dozen or so, including a few children and a few older and stoop-backed orcs. Their little procession gathered a great deal of attention and the entire village seemed to watching them as Winston was frog-marched up to the largest house in the village.

They stepped through a deerskin flap and into the building. It was actually fairly cozy. There was a large fireplace in one corner with some very rough stone and wood furniture covered in lush looking furs. To Winston it seemed like some ritzy caveman themed suite. It was all very interesting, but most interesting what an older orc-woman looking at them with an curious expression. She wasn't super old, maybe early-fifties and she was actually a fairly handsome woman although not what Winston would consider attractive.

It was the lead orc that spoke up first. "Mole say deal with Ol'gar. Bring Mole, say kill mole or no." The orc said, shaking Winston like some bear with a rac.o.o.n in its mouth. The orc-woman looked at Winston with a rather amused expression, then said something to the larger orc in a language Winston didn't understand and waved a hand in dismissal.

The big orc scowled then made some hand-signal to his men and they walked out, leaving Winston alone with the orc-woman. She examined him like he was some interesting bug. It made Winston more than a little uncomfortable. He felt in more danger here than he had with an axe at his neck.

"It's been a very long time since I've seen one of the wandering folk. I did not know any of you had made it this far from the river kingdoms.This is not a forgiving or fertile land, why have you come to these wastes?" She asked. Whereas the orc boss had been nearly unintelligible. The she-orc was very articulate and well spoken. Winston got the impression she was some kind of shaman or spiritual leader for the tribe, while the orc was the war-leader or chief hunter or something. Winston also had no idea what a wandering folk was, maybe that was what others called his race? He supposed it didn't really matter.

"Honestly, work." Winston said. Realizing his feeble deception no longer had purpose. This lady wouldn't buy what he was selling so trying to dupe her would only make things worse. "I've been hired as a laborer at the nearby keep. They've got me growing food for them." Winston said.

The she-orc seemed to think about for a while, her dark eyes looking thoughtful. "I'd always heard the wandering folk were deft at growing things, so unlike my own people. We have always followed the hunters path." She smiled, but it wasn't very friendly. "What was it that you told Or'grom to keep him from killing and spitting you?" She asked casually as if it was of little concern.

"Whatever I thought he wanted to hear." Winston said with a shrug. "I told him was coming to see the orcs to talk business when he caught me. I figured it might at least buy me a chance to live long enough to escape but instead he captured me and lead me to you at axe-point."

"And what If I killed you instead? My people are hungry." She said with a slightly feral gleam in her eye. Winston honestly didn't care at this point. This had been interesting and all but he wanted to get back more than he wanted to stay alive.

"That would be your choice, I could do little to stop you. I'm a farmer not a fighter afterall." Winston said with a shrug. Then he was. .h.i.t with sudden inspiration. "Although it seems I may be of more use to alive than as dinner. As meat I could only feed your people for a day or two but as I farmer we could reach a longer term agreement. I can't imagine there are many game animals in this waste." Winston offered.

The she-orc looked at him with an amused expression but Winston thought he could detect a bit of thoughtfulness behind her gaze. "A merchant to the end are you?" She asked with a wry smile. "You are right though, the is little game and even less forage in this cursed place. Our tribe was driven here from the valleys beyond the far mountains by another tribe. We've done our best but this is a harsh land even for my people. So what is it you offer little wanderer?"

Winston thought about that. His quota was already going to be tight for the week. He really couldn't afford to raise it any, but he supposed he could break open some new land and plant something else. There weren't very many orcs in the village after all. Maybe he'd plant corn since he wouldn't have to harvest it as often.

"Say… three bushels of corn a week in exchange for a quality animal hide?" He said, having no idea about the value of such things. He had no idea what he was even doing. He just wanted to get out here, but he was honestly a little curious what would happen. Maybe he'd unlock some super-secret chain quest or something.

"The she-orc raised a questioning eyebrow. You're not much of a merchant after all. An animal hide is hardly worth a hundred eighty pounds of corn." The wise-woman said cynically.

"Ahhh, but if you wish to pay me more I'll be more than happy to accept, but being wealthy will be of little use if you kill and roast me." Winston said. The she-orc laughed, which did not really make Winston feel better.

"I suppose that is true but we can strike a better bargain than that with you. We have little in the way of coin but many things to trade. We will not take advantage of you young wanderer. Do we have a deal?"

Blurp

[You Have Received A Quest]

[Food For the Village]

[You are to deliver 3 bushels of Corn, Wheat, or Rice to the orcs at Fire-Tooth village by this time next week.]

[Time Remaining: 168:00]

[Recommended Level: N/A]

[Difficulty: Normal]

[Rewards: ??]

[WARNING: Orcs are considered a monster race by many civilized peoples. Trading with them will likely lower your reputation with other NPC's if they find out.]

"It's a deal…." Winston said honestly excited. Now all his grain wouldn't be going to the Swords. He should be able to make some money or at least pick up some interesting items from the orcs. He'd no sooner spoken when a billion pop-ups flashed up on his screen.

[BDing]

[Blip]

[Blip]

[BDing Blip!]

[Quest Accepted]

[You Have Unlocked the Diplomacy Skill!]

[Rank: Novice I]

[You Have unlocked the Bartering Sub-Skill]

[Rank: Novice I]

[You Have Unlocked the Hidden Cla.s.s Merchant]

Winston mentally closed all the popups. They were interesting but not particularly useful for the moment. The she-orc nodded at him then pulled a bone-ring off one of her fingers. Show this ring to any of my people and they will leave you unharmed." She said as she handed over the ring. Then she stood and headed towards the door-flap. She called something out in what Winston figured was orcish, then Or'grom came back inside and gestured to Winston.

"Come." He said, so Wiston did, looking down at the ring and sliding it onto his finger as he stepped out of the hut.

[Ol'gar's Seal]

[Uncommon]

[A ring made from a human rib-bone. It's marked with the symbol of Ol'gar.

[Armor: N/A]

[Cla.s.s: Accessory]

[Slot: Ring]

[Durability: 70/70]

[Effect: +2 wis, +2 faith]

[Special: Showing this to any orc from the Fire-Tooth tribe will prevent them from attacking you.]

Or'grom pushed him forward with the b.u.t.t of his axe but didn't speak. Winston didn't bother walked dutifully ahead of him and his band of orcs. The trip back was equally as long as the trip out, but things got interesting about three-fourths of the way back. There was a rustle from the left, then a flash of light and dark brown patterned scales that blended amazingly well with the dry gra.s.ses and stones. One of the orcs screamed as long fangs from a huge snake pierced his body. The orcs reacted almost instantly but Winston was still trying to figure out what the h.e.l.l was going on, and the snake trashed it's muscular body and slammed one of the orcs back and away from the fight as it darted forward until it was in and among all the orc fighters.

The snake snapped at another orc but Or'grom blocked the motion with his ma.s.sive axe, before reversing the weapon in the circle and slamming it down onto the snakes hard scales. Blood poured from the wound and the snake went crazy. Lashing out at everything and everyone. Winston finally got with the program and pulled out his scythe with a thought. It was really a terribly awkward weapon, but he did manage to poke the snake a bit with the point of the blade.

Then the orcs were all chopping and slicing and soon the snake collapsed. The orcs seemed to be ecstatic, even with one of their allies dead. One pulled a skinning knife from his belt and started to work at the skin with it for about thirty seconds. Then the snake dissolved into black mist, leaving behind a rolled up snakeskin and a neat pile of snake meat, along with a large fang. Winston snorted as he looked down at the items. It seemed even the NPC's got the benefits of video-game logic.

[Bleep-be-deep-Bleep]

Blue light flashed around Winston and he grinned like an idiot. Apparently his single attack with his scythe had let him mooch some XP for the snake. Even if he only got a tiny fraction of the snakes XP value he was only level one and the snake had to be at least level 20. The best XP was XP that someone else earned for you. He quickly opened up his sheet to check up his sweet new level.

[ Name: Win Mills Level 2]

[ Race: Yawnshu Cla.s.s: N/A]

[ Attributes Status]

[Str: 11 End: 11 Hp: 13/13 Mana: 15/15]

[Con: 11 Agi: 9 Stam:12/12 Panic: 3/10]

[Cord: 14 Int: 14 Hunger: 68/100 Thirst: 35/100]

[Wis 13(+2)15 Faith: 10(+2)12]

[Res: 11 ]

[Guild: Seeds t.i.tles: 0]

[Fame: 0 Friend List: 0/0]

Winston whistled all the way back to the keep, happy his gaming career was finally on the right path.