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HC:Pacifist | Ch. 22 - Little Foxie

Added 2023-04-24 16:30:21 +0000 UTC

Roth drew out the objectives for the following days of gaming. He had two quests to complete. There was the [Ratan Trade] quest, which required him to travel to a human city. He doubted he could get the items' worth from selling them in a beginner village. He had to make his way to an auction house. Those only existed outside of the beginner area. Auction houses were where the real money was.

What got Roth thinking was that since this specific quest made him the broker for the Ratan faction, could there be other trade routes to open in these woods? Perhaps they were also up for grabs. If he could get overlapping quests, he could complete different objectives and gain extra experience and rewards. It was worth looking into.

He also had to find and recover the two missing rodent tapestries to complete the [Tapestry Heist] quest. For both quests, currying favor with other races living in the woods seemed to be the right thing to do.

From what he'd seen, players had overlooked many details and missed out on hidden quests in this area. Players were so rushed to unlock their classes and move past the beginner zone that they completed the quests here as quickly as possible. Many considered that the game only began once they left the beginner zone. Roth, however, knew that he was playing the long game. He had all the time in the world. Where else could he go, anyway? For a moment, Roth thought about whether he would have had time to play the game so much had he been the one to purchase it. Back in his day, virtual reality helmets were already expensive. Despite being considered the worst type of interface for augmented virtual reality immersion, this is. His squad had bought him a pod. It was an old one, but it was still a pod. That couldn't have been cheap. Roth would never have been able to afford it, being fresh out of prison and broke.

On top of that, the game itself couldn't be cheap. Many of these games involved subscription fees. Very rarely were they one-time purchases. Then there was the whole life support system, the nutrition fluids, the electricity, the internet, the rent, etc. Loki had given him expensive lemons, and he had to make lemonade out of it.

Roth wanted to explore this region fully. He didn't want to leave any stone unturned. There was no way to skip a good foundation; he had already received good quests here. He would make the most of this map. If most players were elsewhere, there was less competition and more chances for him to explore. So far, things had gone well for him. He would try to repeat the formula that had granted him success with the rats and mice. First, he would grind for reputation with the next group of mobs: foxes.

After hunting mice, beginners moved on to hunting foxes. Although many mice and rats were in the woods, players preferred hunting them closer to the villages. Players leveled reasonably quickly in the first few levels, and it was worth staying close to the village's shop or the trainer who taught skills. That way, they could save plenty of time traveling. Once they reached level three, many went straight to Rat's Cave, where they could get better drops and start to work toward unlocking the [Boss Hunter] title. This was why Roth hadn't bumped into any players hunting in the mouse fields that took him to the Rat Cave. Thank goodness for that. If Roth had seen any of them hunting, he couldn't tell if he would black out again and go on an animal-saving spree.

When players came to the woods, it meant that they were ready to target foxes. Compared to mice, foxes were more formidable foes. They had wider aggro zones, and it was easy to become surrounded and overwhelmed. One had to be much more mindful of their surroundings. Foxes were also more intelligent than mice. They dodged much more than Ratans. On the other hand, their experience and drops were better than Ratans, so players from level four to six would often seek fox dens out to clear them.

Roth consulted his complete and thorough map, courtesy of the [Package Run] quests, and saw that he wasn't far from a field with foxes. He started heading there. As he arrived, he noticed something that he had never seen before. He saw a player running and a horde of foxes chasing him. Twenty or thirty foxes were barking and running. Occasionally, the player used a skill similar to the one Roth had bought. It had the opposite effect, though. It was meant to draw mobs instead of scattering them.

Taunting Shout (Common)

Skill description: The surrounding creatures react to your threatening grunts and sounds and feel enraged. They will chase after you.

Skill effect: Active. Draw all mobs in a 2(+INT+DEX) radius. The more health a mob has, the more effective this skill is.

Roth curiously followed the player with his gaze and saw that he was hunting with a party. It was a group of over ten players. They were herding the foxes into big groups and slowly whittling down their health with area-of-effect attacks. AoE skills had a wide range and dealt much less damage than single-target skills. However, if one targeted enough mobs inside the AoE skill, the total damage was greater, and the hunt became much more efficient.

Many of the members of the group seemed to be espers. They weren't really espers because they weren't level 10 yet, but one could tell that that was what they were going for. There were also a couple of players clad in armor and one player with tunics that stood to the side, using [Healing Rays] on the other players. The one chased by foxes was a rogue, using his faster running speed to outrun the pack of foxes he was aggravating. He started to run toward his fellow players.

"I'm running out of stamina! I gathered as much as I could! Are you ready?"

"Bring them over," signaled one of the espers.

The player brought his train of foxes along, and the espers started channeling their AoE skills. From what Roth had read, only one AOE skill could be learned before level 10. The skill card dropped from the Rat Cave dungeon.

Rat Poison (Common)

Skill description: For ages, humans poisoned the mice. In doing so, mice became experts in the art of poisoning.

Skill effect: Active. Release a cloud of poison in 3x3 meters, poisoning everyone in it. It can stack up to six times.

Class Restrictions: Can be learned by all classes

As the train of foxes entered the green, sickly fog, they gained the poison debuff, and their hit points began ticking away. Some of them started coughing and wheezing.

"Another pass and they will be done for. Keep running! It's time to make our XP bars soar!"

Taunting Shout!

Roth was already in the middle of the scene.

Shepherd Shout!

Healing Ray!

Roth's face was that of a wild beast as he went on a saving rampage.

"Little foxes! Run away. They will get you. You poor things. How could they poison you?

You monsters! You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

"...?" All players were speechless hearing Roth. Because he used the [Shepherd's Shout], the aggro of the group of poisoned foxes was dispersed. The lower HP of the group of foxes had greatly enhanced the skill. Now that their focus was no longer on the rogue runner, they were immediately drawn toward the espers. As for the rogue, he kept running, but Roth caught up to him in no time.

"Dude! Are you on steroids? How do you run so fast?"

"Why are you going around herding these poor creatures as if you were running a fox trafficking network? Have you no shame?"

"What are you talking about, man? I'm just... ugh!" Roth had caught up and latched on to him.

"Stop running! Talk to the foxes. Look at them. You will see they are beautiful creatures with feelings like yours!"

"Dude, let go of me. The foxes are going to get me; I'm..." Three of the foxes had caught up and started attacking the rogue. Roth soon reversed roles. He dropped the player and tried to hold on to one of the foxes. "No, foxie! He's not going to hurt you anymore."

Healing ray!

"That will help you, sir. Ouch! That hurts! Stop biting, little foxie!"

The hunt fell into chaos. With foxes running wild and attacking players in all directions, soon one of the espers fell, then the other, and then another. After a couple of minutes, everyone but Roth was dead. Of the thirty foxes, only five had died. The other twenty-five were swiftly recovering. They all stared at him dumbly, except for two foxes biting Roth. He held on to an orb that one of the espers had dropped on the ground. He was crying and screaming.

"What did you do, little foxies? You hurt those humans. No... no... Noooooo!"

"Woof? Woof?" they said one to the other.

"They also attacked you first, didn't they? You poor creatures."

Healing Ray! Healing Ray! Healing Ray!

After a few seconds, Roth got a few notifications.

You have rescued a great group of foxes. They regret losing some of their companions but are grateful for your assistance.

+34 reputation with all foxes

Foxes noticed how you tried to help everyone and stop the conflict. Although they are still mad at humans, they admire your effort to pursue peace.

+10 righteousness

+7 reputation with all foxes

Roth immediately snapped out of his trance since no other players were around this time. Looking at the loot on the ground and the foxes looking at him curiously, he realized what had happened. He had again gone on a spree. He hadn't meant to hurt any of the players. After scratching his head in confusion and picking himself up, he clenched his fists and set his jaw. He would try to do things a bit differently next time.

Anyway, that had been an impressive boost to his reputation. Was it because he had saved many foxes in one single bout?

Roth moved on to the next hunting field. He was too embarrassed to face the players he had just wronged. Before long, he heard another cry. His senses became alert, and he started walking toward the noise. There was another group with a similar configuration, clearing foxes. This seemed a trendy way of leveling up from level 4 to 6 or 7. Roth saw another pack of foxes being attacked and felt his muscles tense. He couldn't help himself. He was already running toward the hunting party. He tried to hold on to his slipping thoughts. This time, he managed to warn the players of what he was about to do.

"Everyone run from me. I'm crazy! I'm damaged! Players, please leave. I can't help myself! Run away. Run awaaaay!"

The group of players spared a glance at Roth. "What are you doing? Do you expect us to leave now that we are about to finish off this group of foxes?"

Shepherd Shout!

"Run, foxes! Run, humans! Please, run!

"What's wrong with you, dude? Why did you use [Shepherd's Shout]? You idiot!"

"Sargeant, I lost control of the pack."

"Shoot! The warriors form a line and try to hold them off. We'll try to finish them off one by one."

This team seemed to be more experienced and didn't panic. They managed to get the situation under control, and because this group of foxes wasn't so low on HP, the rogue could regain some of their aggro and take them away from the rest of his hunting party. Roth wasn't going to give up, though.

"Stooooop!" He was holding onto one of the players in the back.

"Just get lost, dude."

[Throw Rocks]

-7

-5

-3

"Is this guy clad in rare gear or something? So little damage."

Shepherd's shout!

"You idiot! That skill only works on mobs! Not humans!"

Healing Ray! Shepherd's shout!

"Someone just finish this dude off!"

This time, Roth was killed before he could save the foxes.