Chapter 13: A Broader World Of People

Two HP was the damage he had done when cutting the nose of the hostile dog in pain near him. The only saving grace was the disoriented reaction as a result of the attack.

-Leek: The damage was not up to his liking, so he went about being frustrated. "This dagger is going to get me killed." If he didn't act on this he'd get stuck in combat forever, losing to his exhaustion.

A thought. He reached into his inventory quickly, and in one swift motion smashed an item over the tree he had laid his back on. The empty elixir bottle had its bottom shattered into jagged pieces, and any that broke off turned into sharp dust.

His toes gripped the ground, and again he tensed in preparation to jump at the wolf. Before he could do that he waited for it to look at him.

After shaking off the pain from its nose, the creature went to look at its foe. Its eyes ate the sight of a piercing weapon flying at it.

The broken glass bottle went directly into it, forcing itself into the socket, and irreparably disconnecting its eye from its own head as he rotated it to ensure damage.

The attack dropped it immediately, a modest amount of blood dripping from its eye as it lay motionless.

Leek's face did conjure disgust at the sight, even with the knowledge of its being no more than a pile of code. He wasn't an avid animal lover, but he was wholly distant from being an emotionless sociopath urging to mutilate them.

The elixir bottle was made of a thick type of glass, one being far denser than that of a typical drinking glass. Taking his hand to the open bottom Leek let his ring finger glide across the surface, doing so to confirm an idea of his.

He then brought his dagger to the bottle's makeshift mouth, running them together at an angle. Ensuring to apply enough pressure he took multiple swipes, alternating the side of the blade.

-Leek: "Okay. This should do something at the very least..." He hoped this would increase the damage output, as the knife would have been sharpened from its dull state.

Two of the four wolves were still a passive threat. Luckily they had decided against trailing him into the thin forest. Observing them you would notice the pacing in circles they were doing in unison, waiting for a victor to return to the field.

One of the wolves had stopped for a moment, taking quick sniffs at the open air. Its attention then drew to its right, a small chunk of edible meat had been launched off into its peripheral. Instinctually it wanted to lunge at the free snack, but instead it shot to its left.

The monster made eye contact with a sprinting Leek, who had yet reached a point where he could attack without retaliation. It could decipher that he was caught by surprise, as he startled a little at the contact.

-Leek: "Guess the thing is learning... can only do that so many times I guess." As he left the tree-line he had decided to divert the wolves attention with a rotten Angora Tail, a tactic he had used since the early stages of the battle.

One of them had been properly drawn from its gaze, but he needed them both to do so. Their distance from the tree-line was too much, not enough for his speed alone to compensate for.

Having to change his plan Leek decided to clash with the monster head on. The other one, who did get drawn by the thrown tail, would lag behind as a result. It eased the conflict as he needed now to fight only one.

After closing the distance Leek went to stab his dagger into his foe. Knowingly the wolf threw its head to the outside of his body and went for his arm, attempting to disarm and maim; it would not be caught with such a simple lunge.

Into the movement the wolf turned its head directly into Leek's arm, and jumped to clamp into him. Problematically he had perceived this and pulled his body back abruptly, gaining negative distance on the predator.

As he was in transition to his backpedal he let fly the shattered bottle at the further back wolf. The speed it traveled at was fast enough to catch the right side of its face and some of its ear.

The closer wolf was directly in front of him, as its speed was significantly ample when regarding Leek's backpedal. His right hand had thrown the object, and by result was still extended.

More than enough room of the wolf's mouth had overlapped its prey's arm, looking to take it out finally. As it went to chomp down a piercing pain split it head, clearing it of any life.

Leek had realized his inability to prevent the attack with his left arm, and reflexively unequipped his dagger, which he always wields in his left, choosing to immediately reequip it into his right; allowing it to face the roof of the monster's mouth as it bit down.

With that another member of the pack had been taken out, though it could be questionably said to have incidentally taken its own life.

-Leek: He was not anticipating the single bite to take the rest of its HP, as a previous hit did only (1)HP. "Yeah, that was the correct choice it seems..." He began to question how exactly damage was calculated in this game.

Before he finished his thought the last standing had leapt over its deceased kin, with just enough height to not clip it.

Leek had prepared his lunge at anticipation of the coming bug. He spent thought into predicting where it would go for first... likely the leg.

As it hit the ground the creature pivoted and fled towards the forest Leek had just been in. This was an odd admission of defeat, or even a potential Hale Mary retreat to gain reinforcements.

Taking this in, Leek darted in the opposite direction, away from where the wolf was running. Instead of taking chase he chose to retrieve the makeshift item he thoughtlessly threw before.

Getting his hand on the bottle he whipped himself around, and with little precision hit the fleeing monster. Doing enough damage to take it out of the equation.

-Leek: ..."FINALLY!" The man collapsed onto the ground. He did little but take deep gulps of air, catching his breathe from the mildly frustrating ordeal. "Why the hell was that such a pain... am I weak?"

Leek had ventured to the section of mountain plain that was above the Guild Capital of Faerilm, under pretense of completing the request stapled onto the bulletin board. Deciding to check his progress on this he opened his UI/Inventory.

'Cull The Population Of Dark Wolves Above Faerilm. They Have Begun To Destabilize The Ecosystem Through Overpopulation And Excessive Hunting. | Kill < 27, Gather Their Paws For Additional Compensation' [COMPLETED]

-Leek: "Could I turn in the quest for reward, then do it again?" He looked off into the distance, squinting as he tried to answer his own question. "I guess not, I'll just do the 27 wolves then take a look at other guild quests."

"What a mighty fine job you done did here." A voice had come from a bit away, belonging to an approaching man.

This person who had called out in attempt to pull Leek's attention from its thousand yard gaze was a man. He had little in the way of height, though his guts width was considerable as it seemed to even stand on its own.

The hair on his head was also fickle, as his hairline had progressed deeply into a recession.

The saving grace of this individual was the highly apparent garb his person was consumed by. His bloated hands were studded with many types of golden items, most being rings topped with a high quality jewel.

"Just what exactly is your class, for you to wield such a crude set of items? And to come out relatively unscathed. I wonder..." His words quickly darted between points and focus', as did his expression as he failed to properly convey his goal in conversation. "Maybe a type of hidden talent. Skill proficiency with off the cuff weapons. Over-leveled in the range of multiple multiples...?"

When Leek had turned to the man he simply stood in wait, trying to figure an actual response to his meandering.

-Leek: He scratched his head in confusion, though that was in his own head, but his expression did convey this same sentiment. "You're going to have to give me a more direct question than that, I have no idea what you want."

"Oh, me! I don't want much, just to gain your cooperation in understanding your character... I am a Fallen Arc Scholar after all. Ample compensation is due if you can provide intriguing information as to your build in specific."

The man put his fingers together as though a villain giving a monologue, or speech, depicting how everything that had/could occur was apart of their plan

-Leek: "Uh, huh. My character..."

...

No path within the Capital was barren, people venturing through the bustling roads all seemed to ignore one another. Mindfully traversing as efficiently as possible.

The occasional group being caught stopped in the least imposing area to interact with one another.

The housing of nearly every Guild within the outstretching walls of Faerilm has allowed for the intermixing of otherwise independent groups. Many would seek out this place to gain a network of acquaintances that would translate to benefit in the future.

Leek had gotten better at understanding the flow of traffic, but he was still getting roughly thrown by the sheer amount of people. He was set on an establishment that had a very slim footprint, as other places outwardly advertised themselves to passersby.

"Welcome In Traveller!" These words greeted him as he took a step into the cooled air. "If You Are In Search We Have What You're Looking For!" A stiffness was apparent in the workers voice, likely coming from their routine statement of those exact words to any who enter.

-Leek: "Ye-Yeah, I'm looking to check out any attack weapons you might have." He had no specific type in mind so instead he gave a broad idea as to what he may be looking for.

"Yes, I See. You May Take A Look At This Floor In Its Entirety. For Anything That May Deviate To Defensive, Or General Item, Then I Would Recommend You Check Out Our Second And Third Floors Respectively!"

She guided her pointed hand through the room they stood in, and turned openly until she stopped on the visible staircase in the back right part of the store.

Continuing without help from the woman, Leek went on to search for something he could add to his character's offensive presence.

...

Going back and forth for some time Leek and the man, Zenrael Aheldir, whose name had appeared over his head after the beginning of their conversation, discussed what it was he wanted to know.

Zenrael let it be known that he had learned of the player Leek, hearing from the grapevine of his interaction with the high Volun Sarek.

A man new to the capital, guild, and even game managed a unique interaction with the Frozen Blade of The South. Leaving mostly unaffected by his expanding dominion, the one that left even the Exponential Karyel petrified in the incident.

A 'Fallen Arc Scholar' dedicates their time collecting information on any prevailing methods of character construction, interesting collection of effects through item matching, undervalued skills, and anything else that would be useful to competitive players.

With little delay he had set out to intercept this man and negotiate terms, which would allow him to divulge his character's build. With the state of an VRMMO that evolves with time, and the release of new content, there are constant changes to what is meta.

Over anything his job was to stay a step ahead of it all. Gaining monetary gain from the monopolization of this knowledge. Selling it to any player who wished to perform at a professional level, and keep form being overtaken by another.

-Zenrael Aheldir: "Just wow. I would question if you were some kind of admin, but I don't find that likely. Your character 'Leek' is something any person would want to get their hands on!" A mild sweat had broken out on his head. "I'd like to buy it from you, just name your price. I'd prefer in game 'Bids,' but if it be so I can do actual cash!"

After having digested the particular situation of Leek, the account not the man, he saw no reason to hide behind anymore pleasantries. He did learn what it was he originally wanted to know, but with this he realized the account was what he needed to satiate his craving.

-Leek: In the face of the man's genuine offer he did not give much of an expression. "I don't need money or whatever else you'd offer. I actually started this game cause I freed up a lot of my time. So, I'm good." The proposal was definitely one he enjoyed to imagine, but he had no need.

-Zenrael Aheldir: "I see..." An almost popping belly, held back with a deep purple undershirt, had been wiped clean of any dust/debris. After this his hands fell to their sides. "I have made a promise, so take this. The Ware Emporium would be most useful, their catalog is fairly diverse. Though I myself prefer t-"

Zenrael had cut himself off as he began to meander a bit. His mouth had even been slightly agape as he licked his teeth ever so slowly, possibly trying to wipe the taste of defeat from his mouth.

With nothing left to discuss Leek went on his way, not wasting another moment of his or the man's time. He strutted by the complacent Zenrael, into the far stretch of the field, and away from sight.

He got far enough away that shouting would be necessary to regain his attention.

A foot imprint, which subtly pressed down on the grass, took a step forward and with it a force of wind blew past Zenrael.

A figure dressed head-toe in stereotypical Japanese ninja attire showed himself to Zenrael, a mere two feet behind where Leek stood. "He is no threat."

A deep baritone voice came from under the sharply angled black demon mask it wore. Hanging on its back, with the blade nearly touching the ground, was an oversized scythe.

Turning enough to glimpse at the unassuming man, Zenrael retorted. "For now at least. I need to ensure he is not found out by the public, lest I wish for a bidding war without me at the helm. I do wo-" Again he cut himself off, in exchange for simplicity.

"Yes. As you'd wish." Taking a shallow bow, to then step closer, the figure dispersed back into the passing wind, which followed in trail of the departed man, who had faded from view by this point.

Now alone in the field Mr. Aheldir took a couple breaths, as one or two happened to get away from him at some point. Lack of cardio seemed to be something he had to deal with on a daily basis.

His head shook with a twinge of anxiety on his face, "What a shame, really..."