HC:Pacifist | Ch. 36 - Polyglot

Roth was ecstatic. One more title! The upgraded version of bilingual.

Title: Polyglot (uncommon)

Title description: You have worked hard and are now fluent in six languages. You have become a bridge between peoples. Your intellect expands by learning different ways to express yourself.

Title effects:

• Grants +2 wisdom;
• Grants +2 intelligence;
• It's easier to learn new languages;
• Voice-related skills are more effective.

Conditions to unlock [Polyglot]:

• Learn five languages inside the game {complete};

It was a significant improvement over the [Bilingual] title. He gained one more of each stat compared to before, and it even added a new effect: Voice-related skills are more effective. Two of his skills involved using his voice. Could it be that this title would make those skills better? If so, that would be helpful.

With boars, he had already started to notice that [Shepherd Shout didn't work as effectively as it used to. This title effect could go a long way toward making his [Taunting Shout] and [Shepherd Shout] skills more consistent.

He finally crossed the threshold to the next reputation level with his mud-loving friends. All boars now esteemed him. This had been by far the longest grind he had to make to unlock a reputation status. He hoped the rewards would be proportional to the effort he'd put in. Roth felt reinvigorated.

Now that he was fluent in Boarish, Roth tried to talk to a mob to see if anything special happened.

"Hello! The mud is quite pleasant today, isn't it?"

"Human! You speak our language. I thought you had just come here for a skin treatment. Are you the hero whose feats are being sung about in the woods?" Sung about? Are there singers in the woods? What race likes to sing? Roth hadn't heard any song so far.

"No. Not at all. I'm nothing special."

"Someone as humble as yourself... our prince must meet you." Prince? Not king? That meant that the wild boss wasn't the ruler of the boars in these woods. Roth stayed in character.

"I don’t deserve it."

"But you do. Our prince needs to see you! He appreciates humble, heroic folk like yourself."

"Can you lead me there?"

"I will give you the coordinates of his location."

Quest: Meet the Piglet Prince (rare)

Quest description: The strongest, wisest boar in these woods has heard of your reputation and wishes to meet you.

Mission objectives:

Meet the prince at the following coordinates: -12821308, 09821387.

Rewards: Unknown

Happy to finally have unlocked the meeting with the ruler of the boars, Roth left the mud and headed toward the location. He couldn't wait to finally travel toward the city and get the juicy rewards of all his pending quests. The time had come to reap the fruit of his labors.

As he was now officially esteemed by every faction in the woods, he didn't bother traveling the paths; he just crossed the bush straight toward his destination. Whereas the mobs would hinder other players along the way, Roth could save much time traveling from one location to another.

He bumped into a familiar group of people at the boundary between the boar and badger fields. The old sergeant and his crew of veterans were finishing a day of hunting in the woods. They all had changed gears since the last time he'd met them outside the Fox Tunnels, but it was hard to miss a group of old-timers such as this.

"Hello there."

"Sargeant! Great to see you." Roth had worried that the Sergeant would ignore him. he was elated that he was being so friendly to him.

"How have you been lately, son? You seemed out of it a couple of days ago. We had to throw you toward a pack of boars several times." Roth looked down, not knowing what to say, as he heard the older man and his squad laugh heartedly. They must think he was crazy.

"Oh, man. I made a video of you running around. I will make sure to send it to you." Charlie nudged the sergeant. Reminded by his friend, he continued. "Has anyone told you what that [Martyr's Killer] curse does?"

"Uuuh. No." Roth had forgotten about that.

"One of my squad members turned in a quest... I don't know why he bothered doing one here."

"It was supposed to give me righteousness, Sarg!" Protested Charlie.

"Well, it didn't. All guides say that quests are only worth it after level 10. I told you this before! He went through all the trouble of completing it to gain positive alignment. It's good for medics.

When he went to receive his reward, the NPC gave him XP and money but no righteousness. When he asked the NPC why, he said that he couldn't in good conscience speak well of someone who'd killed a martyr.

Oh, man. Our Charlie was pretty furious." Roth felt a sick feeling in his stomach as the burning gaze of the medic landed on him.

"And after that, did the curse disappear?" The sergeant nodded. "Yes, it did. Hey, Charlie, knock that frown off your face. You know how PTSD is. The guy can't help himself more than you can stop yourself from speaking nonsense." The whole squad let out a chorus of laughter. "Anyway. I thought you should know."

"Thanks. And sorry about all the trouble I have caused you and your friends." Roth reached out his hand to the Sergeant. The old man, smiling, did the same.

Would you like to forgive SeargantSarg for killing you? [Y/N]

"Oh? What's wrong?" asked the Sarg.

Roth accepted, and the sergeant widened his eyes in surprise. Wow! The curse was lifted.

"Charlie, get here! Try shaking hands with him." The short man walked toward Roth. " The same notification appeared for Roth, and Charlie let out a squeal of surprise and happiness! "Yes! I've got +10 righteousness! Yes! Yes! Thanks, young man!"

You are merciful and ready to forgive others who've wronged you. +1 Righteousness.

"So that's how it works. Boys! Line up. I want all of you to shake hands with my friend here!"

Roth shook hands with all of them. He only got a bonus to righteousness from forgiving Charlie.

After that, he hung out with the old men. He learned they were a group of veterans who had decided to try this MMORPG. They were trying to get to level 10 to get to the city. The only reason they had stayed here so long was to give them to a friend who had arrived later to reach level ten so they could all teleport to the city together.

"Well, I've got to go, gentlemen. Good bye everyone. Good bye Sarg."

"Good bye, son. By the way..."

"Yes?"

"I still haven't heard from your mother. But I sent the letter. OK?" Roth teared up at the mention of his mom. "Thank you, sir."

"Stay in touch, young man!"

*

As Roth ran away, he felt mental relief after talking with other people, specially Sarg. They were all nice guys.

The implications of knowing what the curse did and how to lift it were fascinating. He also had to decide whether to send a message in the forums to lift the curse. The only obstacle to doing that was that he would call too much attention to himself. Additionally, most players who had been cursed were long gone to play in the cities! There was nothing he could do about it now.

With his mind back on the quest, Roth studied his destination. The location signaled in his map was a clearing slightly off the center of the map. Curious. The clearing bordered fields of all races in the woods. The boars to the west, the badgers to the east, the ravens to the northeast, the foxes to the northwest, and the mice to the south. Strange. He didn't remember seeing any other location on the map where this was the case. Probably a coincidence.

After a 20-minute jog, Roth arrived. It was empty. There was no mob in sight. There was complete silence. In the woods, there was always sound. The rustling of the leaves, the crackling of the branches dancing in the wind, or the noises of the many mobs roaming. In this clearing, there were no sounds but the ones he made.

Roth felt his breathing grow louder. As his heartbeat drummed in his ears, he walked toward the center of the clearing, waiting to see if anything had happened.

"Hello? I have been summoned here to meet the prince. Is anyone there?"

You have been hit with [Curse of the Hogs].

All titles have been disabled.

All skills have been locked.

From one moment to the next, Roth was paralyzed. Now that his [Martyr] title had been stripped away, his negative stats came back, making him go into the negative hundreds. He was hit with more debuffs than he cared to name and became paralyzed. What a scary curse. To silence all titles and skills was way too overpowered.

Two yellow eyes became visible in the shrubbery's shadows along the clearing's border. A man-sized figure stood up and walked toward Roth. Even though they were the same size, the creature approaching was much heavier, which was felt more than heard in its purposeful stomps on the ground. As the name implied, this was a prince. Roth didn't know how he knew it, but it was a young boar. Maybe it was because its damaged tusk wasn't as large as others he'd seen. It was the first of its kind that Roth saw walking on two legs.

Its only tusk was broken but had metal rings holding it in place. The boar dragged an axe through the ground toward Roth. He lifted his axe and prepared to cleave him in two.

"Human! You have some nerve in trying to befriend our kin. Do you know how many boars have been hunted by your kind? You wear our pelts like coats, feast on our meat, and steal our calves. Give me one good reason not to kill you where you stand."

It took some time for Roth to put the words together. What could he answer? His mind returned to all the hurt he had caused others throughout his life. What good reason did he have to receive special treatment or to claim to be different from other violent people he knew? He couldn't think of anything.

"I can only think of reasons to be killed, not spared." The prince stood impassive.

"So you see it too. Confess your sins to me, you putrid human."

"I used to be no different from others. I deserve to die. Kill me."

The Piglet Prince stared Roth down. He then let the axe drop to the ground. The axe was so heavy that the ground quaked, and leaves fell in the whole vicinity of the woods.

The Piglet Prince likes your courage and humility.

+100 reputation with the boars

+10 righteousness

"Ahaha. So the stories are true! My fellow monarchs told me about you. I had to see for myself if they were overestimating you. I can see they weren’t."

"I don’t know what they've told you, oh king. All I know is that I mean neither you nor them any harm."

"You are something. Here. Forgive me for my little test earlier; I just wanted to see what you were made of."

The Curse of the Hogs has been lifted.

Special Quest Unlocked: Boar Trade (Unique)

The Piglet Prince is a champion of his kind. He has been greatly injured in a battle and sent here to recover. Although he wishes to help his kin prosper, he lacks the strength to do so. He seeks your help establishing a trade route with humans, hoping his kind will have a better life.

Quest objective: Take some of the boars’ specialty products to a human town and sell them for the highest price possible.

Quest rewards: It depends on how much profit you generate.

The Piglet Prince wants to trade you 5x [Power Truffles]

This seemingly worthless fungus was one of the most sought-after items in the game! Roth couldn't believe he had just been given five in one sitting.

"Do well, broker, and perhaps we can do business again."

"I thank you, oh Prince. By the way, Prince, I'd also like to ask if you have been a victim of any robberies lately." The prince's eyes went wide, and the temperature of the clearing seemed to climb. He had been robbed and didn't seem happy about it.

"My left tusk. It was broken in a battle, and my father gave me some bands to hold them in place. One day, when I woke up, it was missing."

"Sir, I know who did it."

"Who?" roared the prince. His majesty and dignity had been offended. It was ready to pick up its axe and settle the score with whoever had done him wrong.

"It was Oli, the cat burglar." The Piglet Prince stopped for a moment and slumped. "Oh no, I dare not mess with him."

"Your majesty, but isn't he just a cat?"

"Just a... You have no idea what you're talking about. Oli is far stronger than any of the rulers in these woods. Not even King Rattatoile can fight him without the help of the Mouseketeers. And they could only do so to a stalemate."

"I see..." If this NPC was so strong, there was very little Roth could do. "Could you at least tell me where to find him?"

"I have only seen him once. It was in the southeast corner of the woods. I think he lives around there somewhere."

[Cat Burglar] updated

Oli, the cat burglar, has stolen from everyone in the woods. The piglet prince tells you that he is not someone who can be messed with. He hopes you find a way to trick the thief and return his precious tusk. He lives somewhere in the southeast of here.

Quest objectives: Find Oli and return what he stole to its proper owners.

Quest rewards: Unknown

Roth had been right to invest time in connecting with the different rulers of the woods. He wouldn't have gotten so many clues if he hadn't done it. He still had to figure out the meaning of Count Crow's riddles and then tackle how he would retrieve something from such a powerful NPC. Would he have to negotiate with it somehow?

"Prince Piglet, thank you for your audience and trust in me. I'll do my best to assist you with your requests."

"Thank you, human," answered the prince. Right before Roth's eyes, the figure faded until the prince disappeared. What had just happened? Were Roth's eyes playing tricks on him? How had the prince disappeared? Could it be some cloaking skill?

After looking around for a few minutes, Roth decided it was time to leave. He would go to the city and try to complete all his trade quests. As Roth turned to walk away, he received a mysterious notification.

[The Lord of the Woods has noticed you.]

The Lord of the Woods? Was that the Piglet Prince? No. It couldn't be. The prince had hinted that the strongest ruler in the forest wasn't himself but Rattatoile. That made sense since he was the highest in the hierarchy. He had met a king, a prince, a baroness, a count, and a council of poets. None of these seemed to be the Lord of the Woods. Who was it, then? And was it a good thing that he had been noticed? He just hoped the ruler wasn't Oli; otherwise, he was in trouble. Roth chuckled. What a fun game. It was time to turn in some quests.

*

From inside the illusion in the clearing, the Piglet Prince saw Roth leaving. It was leaning against a massive tree that stretched toward the heavens.

Ch. 35 - Wallowing

INDEX

Ch. 37 - Greensburg