A simple life of an NPC
There is a game called "Dungeon Hunt". It is a game for hunting in the dungeon. The goal is to reach the end of the dungeon to defeat the Dungeon Lord and get the treasure that belonged to the Royal Empire. Players play as the hired mercenaries. The game is played alot and there are lots of achievements acquired by players as a prize.
When entering the game, you will first meet the first NPC in the dungeon. That NPC is the tutorial instructor. A retired mercenary with a scarred eye, scarred cheek and a man in forties with big built. You have to pass his tutorials in order to advance further in the dungeon. All his quests were pretty much easy to accomplish, such as swinging a stick to a straw dummy ten times and collect herbs for crafting a simple potion.
Nobody likes listening to tutorials. People who are excited to play the game now listened to veterans of the game. There is an official guidebook for the game on how to level up faster and earn more money. The newbies will follow an experienced player to clear a stage. All the teachings of the NPC tutorial instructor are simply outdated. The developers didn't updated this character and ended up making a new system for tutorials so it wasn't missed.
This particular character, the tutorial instructor, is simply living a small life in the stage 1 in the dungeon. There is a small house and a small farm and a small barren training field. He smiles at the sight of the herbs growing in his farm. He said, "The herbs are growing as usual. The synthesist will find it useful."
The name of this tutorial instructor is Lou. He is usually farming in his free time but everyday he can be seen hunting monsters with a simple swordfighting in the dungeon. His techniques are not sought after as they were only basic techniques that can be learned easily. And also not flashy enough for the player's taste.
"Step one: ready your stance. Step two: move forward. Step three: strike when in range. Step four: move back to safety." he said as he fights the goblins one by one. He raises his sword and thrusts it to the goblin's body and kicks the monster back to remove it from the sword. He moves out of the way when the goblins attempt to strike him with their club.
Lou will use a basic sword technique called "Hard edge". Hard edge is used if the user strikes the enemy hard with a sword. Simple and low stamina cost. The goblins and slimes are simply crushed if they get hit. Their drops will become his. He said, "The vendor will have use with this items and the weapons will be a fine collection in my basement."
While walking, Lou sees a group of players fighting against slimes. They were exhausted from swinging their weapons too much. There are bunch of scorch marks around the area meaning there is a mage in the group. "They killed alot. But they are simply gonna die if this keeps up." he said with his eyebrow raised.
He thinks about saving them, but he changes his mind when he remembered an incident when he saved one group. "How dare you steal my EXP you stupid bot!" one shouted. "Go away! You aren't needed here!" another one shouted. Lou tried to reason with them, but they insulted him and went to their own way. "If one has a death wish, they shall have their wish come true." he said as he sighed in disappointment.
Lou has returned in his home but met with a group of mercenaries wearing high grade weapons. "You're back for more you brats?" said Lou to the group. "Yes. I want to see if I can beat you." said the leader of the group. "Go get him boss! Kick his ass!" cheered by the leader's group. This is a grudge match between an NPC and an experienced player.
Lou grabs his steel sword while the experienced player unsheathes his sword. Lou whistles and said, "Monarch66, that's a cool sword you have there." Monarch66 smiles and said, "Thanks. This is Berserker Blade. A level 35 Berserker dropped this in stage 12. I believe this can beat your sword." Lou nods and said, "Show me what you got, Monarch66."
Monarch66 enchants himself with "Warrior Spirit" and "Stoneskin". Warrior Spirit is a buff skill that buffs the user's combat strength while Stoneskin is a buff skill the user's defense. Monarch66 then used "Flash Step", a movement skill that moves to a targeted destination quickly. Combined it with "Smash", a powerful skill to smash the opponent with their might. All the skills Monarch66 has are easily learned by the Warrior Class.
Lou steps aside to avoid the Smash skill from Monarch66. "I am not done yet!" shouted Monarch66 as he attempts another move. This time, "Rising Upper" followed by "Earth Stomp". Rising Upper and Earth Stomp are both crowd control skills, that being Rising Upper is a aerial single target skill and Earth Stomp is a ground AoE skill. "Too slow!" said Lou as he bashes Monarch66 with a "Bash". Bash is a primary sword skill for stunning quickly. This is a weak stun skill but can be performed faster and be used for stopping an action.
Monarch66 tries to use Bash but Lou was out of reach. Lou simply attacks Monarch66 two times and backs off after that. "Boss! Use that skill!" cheered by his group with anticipation. Monarch66 nods and raises up his sword. The Berserker Blade shines yellow. He swings it hard and Lou gets grazed. "How do you like that?" asked Monarch66 with a smile. Lou snickered. The skill Monarch66 used is an active skill called "Cleave". It is a skill primarily for AoE. Lou was in the range of the fan of the skill, that is why he got hit although it is a graze.
Lou asked, "Why are your techniques very sloppy? Do you always just smash monsters with your strength without thoughts?" Monarch66 didn't answer. He is busy recharging his skills at the moment. Seeing this, Lou takes this chance. "In a duel, you should never wait for the enemy to make a move." said Lou as he begins his assault.
Lou strikes Monarch66 with simple slashes. Monarch66 is buffed with Stoneskin, so he gets little damage from Lou's attack. Monarch66 is simply swatting Lou's basic attack with his sword. But he expended his energy so much that after the skills are ready to use, he cannot use his big skills at the moment. Both Lou and Monarch66 used the first skill "Hard Edge" and their swords clashed on one another.
Even if the Berserker Blade is stronger than the Steel Sword, when it comes to user and their condition, Lou has the better hand than Monarch66. After the clash, Lou simply shoved Monarch66 away and used "Double Thrust", an medium level skill that thrusts an enemy twice in quick succession. The attack is weak against Monarch66's Basilisk Armor Set.
Monarch66 lost his patience and said, "I lost." His group were disappointment that Monarch66 quickly gave up. Lou drops his sword in the wall and speaks to Monarch66. "Your skills are very sloppy. You can't just go learn something new without improving your skill." he lectured with strict tone. Monarch66 clenches his fist and nods reluctantly.
Just like that, the group of mercenaries left Lou's home. Lou looks at his shaking hand covered with bruises. "That boy has become stronger like the others, yet his sword skills are unpolished." he thought. He looks at his farm and again, had his herbs stolen. He scratches his head in dismay and said, "Shameless."